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Locked Owen Duffys blog closed
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owenduffy.net – Mostly electronics… ( )
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web.archive.org ( ) ( ) ( ) This is the most recent copy of the blog as found on the Wayback Machine. Jack.
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You can add my name to the long list of readers that will miss Owen Duffy's blog. There is a lot of misinformation on the Web when it comes to RF topics and many of his posts were a well written technical rebuttal to many of these myths and falsehoods. His treatise of a given topic was always backed up with facts, example calculations and graphics. His online calculators were very useful and unfortunately no longer available.
Owen reads this group's messages and he had a particular interest in how to get the most out of a NanoVNA. Many posts were about getting accurate results and methods to achieve this. His other contributions were his modifications and bug fixes to the NanoVNA app (which OneOfEleven donated to the community). He also corresponded with DiSlord and suggested improvements to the firmware which enhanced the NanoVNA feature set. On a personal level we communicated several times via email and I enjoyed the technical exchange. I appreciated his expertise and the mentoring that he provided to me. Publishing a blog that is technically accurate and has useful articles takes considerable time and effort. There is also the financial cost associated with keeping a domain name. I guess after many years he felt it was time to move on to other interests. Owen you will be missed. Roger Need in Canada |
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I must agree...? I will miss his blog greatly...? So sad to see it go...
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73, and thanks, Dave (NK7Z) ARRL Volunteer Examiner ARRL Technical Specialist, RFI ARRL Asst. Director, NW Division, Technical Resources On 1/27/25 09:43, Roger Need via groups.io wrote:
You can add my name to the long list of readers that will miss Owen Duffy's blog. There is a lot of misinformation on the Web when it comes to RF topics and many of his posts were a well written technical rebuttal to many of these myths and falsehoods. His treatise of a given topic was always backed up with facts, example calculations and graphics. His online calculators were very useful and unfortunately no longer available. |
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Folks:
Roger is spot on with respect to misinformation offered on the Web, supported by Dave W0LEV's frequent plea to be wary of unsupported wisdom offered on YouTube. Two real-life examples come to mind, with quotes from published e-mails: In the first example, an internet "expert" advises that a full wave horizontal loop antenna solution will offer the user a 6dB gain over a dipole., or a signal that is 4X as powerful off the wire as a dipole. I hope the guy reading the advice didn't really think his KW was going to sound like 4 KW. In the second example, the internet "expert" has decided that the relationship between wavelength and frequency is 1 Lambda = 1005/f. Wherever this guy is, the speed of light must be different than what it is in the rest of the world - 983.571056 feet per second. If the author "forged it himself" he copied the wrong figure. *Example 1:* *"Well in that case, the very best antenna (performance-wise) would be a full-wave horizontal loop for 5 MHz.Unfortunately it is not small and not inconspicuous. But it will have the best performance for the distance and directions youwish to cover.The loop must be approximately 200 ft. long, with 4 equal-sides of 50 ft.The exact length must be adjusted for your exact frequency.The formula for calculating the overall length in ft. is 1005/f (where fis frequency in MHZ).This will work fine at a height of 20 to 30 ft, but requires 4 elevated supports.Alternative: you can build a horizontal delta-loop. Sides about 67 ft.Either one of these will give you about 6dB gain over a dipole."* *Example 2:* *"Subject: [Aerial-Talk] Velocity Factor SolvedI have a short explanation and a long explanation.The short explanation is, all that crap is just mental masturbation; creating work for the sake of having something to do.In practice we use a formula, regardless of which one, cut the antenna longer than necessary, then shorten to get resonance where we want. Most important is that we have a stake in the ground and then cut it longer.The Long Answer.1 Lambda = 1005/f? Lambda = 502.5/fThe vf of coper wire is about 0.98; 0.98 × 502.5 = 492.45 (differs slightly, depending on whether it is solid or stranded wire).If we put insulation on the copper wire, the vf is about 0.96 to 0.97, depending on the type of insulation.0.96 × 502.5 = 482.4 (but we still haven't considered end effect).End Effect shortens it another (about) 3%; 0.97 × 482.5 = 467.93 ... or 468.* *Never believe a statistic unless you forge it yourself"* One might just chuckle and move on, but the author actually worked for a company that made antennas! Owen will be missed, as will Roger and others like him, when they decide they've done enough. Sincerely, Ed Mccann AG6CX On Mon, Jan 27, 2025 at 9:43?AM Roger Need via groups.io <sailtamarack= [email protected]> wrote: You can add my name to the long list of readers that will miss Owen |
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Also sorry to hear the news, I was very much a fan of his articles and his
no stones unturned thoroughness in his research. I will miss his reference library and will have to go download it for posterity. Vy 73 Adam Moss G0ORY IO92JO England On Mon, 27 Jan 2025 at 15:47, Fred_M via groups.io <dl4zao= [email protected]> wrote: Sad news: |
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Owen will be sorely missed.
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I had a habit of saving his excellent blog posts by performing a "print to pdf" and saving them to an Owen Duffy folder. I am always referencing them. Mike N2MS On Mon, 27 Jan 2025 at 15:47, Fred_M via groups.io <dl4zao= |
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Mike-
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You and your stash may become a most useful resource if you can spare the time and energy. Thank you in advance! Ed McCann AG6CX On Jan 27, 2025, at 11:41?AM, Mike N2MS via groups.io <mstangelo@...> wrote: |
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Is there any chance of someone else hosting the info on their site?
We lost a treasure load of info when The Radioboard was lost after the long time owner turned it over to someone and then they got a severe case of Covid. They were so sick they didn't pay the website fee and it was all lost. Very sad. Mikek |
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I don't have them all but it that information protected an any way? I did not see any notice.
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Mike n2MS On 01/27/2025 2:44 PM EST AG6CX via groups.io <edwmccann@...> wrote: |
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I was not aware that Owen discontinued his website. I enjoyed his insights. A great loss. I hope he is OK.
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You can find owenduffy.net, and its predecessor vk1od.net, on the Internet Archive, -- Art Greenberg WA2LLN art@... On 1/27/25 10:47, Fred_M via groups.io wrote:
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Here is another YouTube story...
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A friend asked me to help him diagnose an antenna problem he was having, high SWR at any power over around 200 watts, on some relatively new antenna he had installed on his tower.? I came out to his place to assist, started looking around and upon spotting a PL-259 with the shield left unsoldered, announced, "Eureka", found it, easy fix!? I pointed out he had forgotten to solder this connector. He got a very sick look in his face, I asked him what was wrong, this is simple to fix...? He then told me he had not soldered ANY of his connectors on his tower, or in the shack, because he saw a YouTube video telling him all he had to do was to just screw the connector onto cable and shield, no soldering needed, as long as it was RG-8 or LMR-200... This was on his brand new 70 foot tower install, consisting of several dipoles, several V/UHF antennas, a Discone, and a few other antenna...? All in all he replaced around 30 connectors in his installation.? Rotor loops, jumpers in his shack, etc...? Not a single connector had the shield soldered... All because he trusted a YouTube video...? Cost him a bunch to have the tower people come back out, climb the tower again and replace all the cables he had pre-built for them to use on install day... Granted he should have known this, but he did not, and he used YouTube as a teacher...? At this point, needless to say, he no longer trusts anything he sees on the net... 73, and thanks, Dave (NK7Z) ARRL Volunteer Examiner ARRL Technical Specialist, RFI ARRL Asst. Director, NW Division, Technical Resources On 1/27/25 10:33, AG6CX via groups.io wrote:
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Indeed, hopefully temporary.? But meanwhile it seems that most posts are available via the web archive at archive.orgSent from my Galaxy
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-------- Original message --------From: "Mike via groups.io" <mail@...> Date: 28/1/25 7:54?pm (GMT+10:00) To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [nanovna-users] Owen Duffys blog closed I am so sorry to hear this. I made a lot of use of Owen's online calculators and he reviewed a couple of projects I'd been working on (favourably). Sometimes Owen would pick up on posts I'd made to qrz.com and email me with his advice.We can only hope that it's a temporary glitch?-- Mike G8GYW
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If I were to get a suitable URL; would anyone be willing to reconstruct his site as a project?
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Lester B Veenstra K1YCM M?YCM W8YCM 6Y6Y W8YCM/6Y 6Y8LV (Reformed USNSG CTM1) lester@... 452 Stable Ln Keyser WV 26726 USA GPS: 39.336826 N 78.982287 W (Google) GPS: 39.33682 N 78.9823741 W (GPSDO) Telephones: Home: +1-304-289-6057 US cell +1-304-790-9192 Jamaica cell: +1-876-456-8898 -----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Roger Need via groups.io Sent: Monday, January 27, 2025 12:43 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [nanovna-users] Owen Duffys blog closed You can add my name to the long list of readers that will miss Owen Duffy's blog. There is a lot of misinformation on the Web when it comes to RF topics and many of his posts were a well written technical rebuttal to many of these myths and falsehoods. His treatise of a given topic was always backed up with facts, example calculations and graphics. His online calculators were very useful and unfortunately no longer available. Owen reads this group's messages and he had a particular interest in how to get the most out of a NanoVNA. Many posts were about getting accurate results and methods to achieve this. His other contributions were his modifications and bug fixes to the NanoVNA app (which OneOfEleven donated to the community). He also corresponded with DiSlord and suggested improvements to the firmware which enhanced the NanoVNA feature set. On a personal level we communicated several times via email and I enjoyed the technical exchange. I appreciated his expertise and the mentoring that he provided to me. Publishing a blog that is technically accurate and has useful articles takes considerable time and effort. There is also the financial cost associated with keeping a domain name. I guess after many years he felt it was time to move on to other interests. Owen you will be missed. Roger Need in Canada |
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I am willing to get and support a site but I do not have the web HTML etc skills to resurrect his site. Who can and will?
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Lester B Veenstra K1YCM M?YCM W8YCM 6Y6Y W8YCM/6Y 6Y8LV (Reformed USNSG CTM1) lester@... 452 Stable Ln Keyser WV 26726 USA GPS: 39.336826 N 78.982287 W (Google) GPS: 39.33682 N 78.9823741 W (GPSDO) Telephones: Home: +1-304-289-6057 US cell +1-304-790-9192 Jamaica cell: +1-876-456-8898 -----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mikek Sent: Monday, January 27, 2025 3:25 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [nanovna-users] Owen Duffys blog closed Is there any chance of someone else hosting the info on their site? We lost a treasure load of info when The Radioboard was lost after the long time owner turned it over to someone and then they got a severe case of Covid. They were so sick they didn't pay the website fee and it was all lost. Very sad. Mikek |
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I now own and can host RFDUFFY.com
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Who will step up and recreate the site from Duffy's orginal? Lester B Veenstra K1YCM M?YCM W8YCM 6Y6Y W8YCM/6Y 6Y8LV (Reformed USNSG CTM1) lester@... 452 Stable Ln Keyser WV 26726 USA GPS: 39.336826 N 78.982287 W (Google) GPS: 39.33682 N 78.9823741 W (GPSDO) Telephones: Home: +1-304-289-6057 US cell +1-304-790-9192 Jamaica cell: +1-876-456-8898 -----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mikek Sent: Monday, January 27, 2025 3:25 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [nanovna-users] Owen Duffys blog closed Is there any chance of someone else hosting the info on their site? We lost a treasure load of info when The Radioboard was lost after the long time owner turned it over to someone and then they got a severe case of Covid. They were so sick they didn't pay the website fee and it was all lost. Very sad. Mikek |
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Has Owen expressed any opinion on someone resurrecting his content?
He's the copyright owner. It' s his choice on whether or not this should be brought back. As a simple courtesy, before you decide to do anything, I'd reach out for permission. Better that than getting a legal demand to take the site down after a bunch of work. -Rick On Tue, Jan 28, 2025 at 9:18?AM Lester Veenstra via groups.io <m0ycm= [email protected]> wrote: I am willing to get and support a site but I do not have the web HTML etc-- Rick Murphy, D. Sc., CISSP-ISSAP, K1MU/4, Annandale VA USA |
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If anyone is willing to do the work, please raise your hand. Obvious first step is to get his permission. In that context of a contact, if here wants to just get out of supporting the site, I am willing to add his site registration the one I already hold.
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Again I have no skills in this area but will support anyone who does have skills and intent with site registration and hosting services. Lester B Veenstra K1YCM M?YCM W8YCM 6Y6Y W8YCM/6Y 6Y8LV (Reformed USNSG CTM1) lester@... 452 Stable Ln Keyser WV 26726 USA GPS: 39.336826 N 78.982287 W (Google) GPS: 39.33682 N 78.9823741 W (GPSDO) Telephones: Home: +1-304-289-6057 US cell +1-304-790-9192 Jamaica cell: +1-876-456-8898 -----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Rick Murphy via groups.io Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2025 9:27 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [nanovna-users] Owen Duffys blog closed Has Owen expressed any opinion on someone resurrecting his content? He's the copyright owner. It' s his choice on whether or not this should be brought back. As a simple courtesy, before you decide to do anything, I'd reach out for permission. Better that than getting a legal demand to take the site down after a bunch of work. -Rick On Tue, Jan 28, 2025 at 9:18?AM Lester Veenstra via groups.io <m0ycm= [email protected]> wrote: I am willing to get and support a site but I do not have the web HTML etc-- Rick Murphy, D. Sc., CISSP-ISSAP, K1MU/4, Annandale VA USA |
Roger Need
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