Topband: Fw: W5DC, SK...

[Dan Edward Dba East edwards]

--- On Thu, 6/7/12, dan edwards <w5xz at att.net> wrote:

From: dan edwards <w5xz at att.net>
Subject: W5DC, SK...
To: dan.n.edwards at sbcglobal.net
Date: Thursday, June 7, 2012, 3:28 PM

W5DC, Duncan Carter. SK 6 / 6 / 12
 He earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from L.S.U and
  also studied at MIT and S.M.U. He received several patents  on antenna design and was self employed in the Mechanical  and Electrical Engineering fields since 1972. He founded  Vibrotek Vibration Technologies which partnered with  VibroAcoustical Systems and Technologies, Inc in Russia. He  also worked for Collins, and Hy-Gain.

First time i heard Duncan I was in Optometry School, in Forest Grove, Oregon, on 75m SSB.  He was ridiculously loud and working JA's. around 1976, or so.  I had no idea we would later meet.  I also did not know he was using a pre-cursor to the now popular "4 square".  His version was a parasitic array, with 2 driven elements and 2 reflectors; spacing
 was equal at 0.2 wavelengths, and the array was 4 verticals, in a square. " it minimizes the ground losses..." he used to say. 4 1/4 wave feedlines, tied in parallel at the center, and relays at the elements to select a loading coil and short a
 feedline, or select a feedline as a driven element.

Later, when i moved to Baton Rouge in 1979, we met.  He liked the low bands and  liked cw dx contesting, so we hit it off immediately.  Duncan had a pre-cursor to the 'Waller Flag' at that time, for 160m.  He used a rotary pair of small, resonant shielded loops, and introduced me to what is now called 'cross-fire' phasing. Mounted near ground level,
 the 2 loops were on a pvc boom, which was rotated with a Ham-M.  He said it had a pattern like a 3 element yagi.....on 160m !!!

Duncan was a master at locating huge rolls of low loss feedline, and sharing...

Even though Duncan was a 'quad guy', he encouraged me to explore the then-new W2PV designs.  I still contend Lawson's 4 element, 3/4 wave boom designs produce the most db's for the least dollars.  Duncan warned me about gamma matching:  "it is very easy to match the losses, if you're not careful"...so I stuck with split driven elements, and hairpin matches;  the 4 / 4 stacks on 20 thru 10m were
 a real treat, back when I had 3 acres out in the country as a bachelor.....Duncan was kind enough to loan me his General Radio 1606a rf impedance bridge to help understand the impact of guy wires on rotary, side-mounted yagis.  Soon
 thereafter I was ordering Phillystran...at least for the top half or so of my tower guys..

I know Duncan was instrumental in getting Bob Taylor, WB5LBT (SK),
 successful  results with a moonbounce array of quads on 2 meters.  Bob was, i think, a 'rock star'  on the moon, from his suburban lot in Baton Rouge.  Duncan had magic fingers  with long boom 2 meter quads....and we all knew it... 

I also know Duncan was instrumental in developing some long boom HF quads for "Cajun Iron Man, Emeritus" W5WMU.  Perhaps Dr. Sonnier can elaborate on this..


Later, we both left La. but stayed in touch intermittently.  In his later years he became a "k-3 guy", ultimately assembling an entire ' K-Line '... When I told him about LoTW, he was overjoyed. "the curse of the dx contester has been lifted !!!"  (paper QSL's) Never mind that I still haven't set mine up yet. He owned a microphone but
 heavily preferred CW...I'm sure he could send and copy 35 wpm in his sleep...

Duncan was a faithful spouse and father to
 his family.  He was generous with his time and resources.  We will surely miss him dearly.  If I make it, I hope to see him upstairs one day...      73 Dunc W5DC de W5XZ   sk
 "pay attention to the losses...." he always said...