About Us

KA Electronics was started by Byron Kirkwood in the 1970s to provide the hobbyist and professional engineer retail access to electronic components. From its humble beginnings in a rented "mini warehouse" selling surplus components, KA grew into an electronics distributorship in the pre-internet 1980s. The KA Computer store was one of the first stores in Texas to sell personal computers including the "newly-released" Apple I computer built by a couple of guys in a California garage. The early 1980s proved to be a difficult time for electronics distribution. Byron Kirkwood moved on to work for Novell as one of its first 20 employees and later became an author and founder of B and A Products.

My name is Wayne Kirkwood. In the mid-2000's I wanted to experiment with THAT Corporation ICs. At that time THAT had no distribution in the United States and like many manufacturers had minimum order requirements. I decided to buy THAT ICs and re-sell them in small quantities to provide the same service online to hobbyists and professionals that my brother Byron had decades earlier. Byron died in 2002. KA Electronics is named for him.