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Author Topic: Reflections from Walt  (Read 28952 times)
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Steve - K4HX
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« on: January 17, 2011, 01:01:44 PM »

We are most fortunate to have Walter Maxwell, W2DU as a regular here on AMfone. His experience and knowledge is vast with 70 plus years in ham radio and an amazing career in engineering. Hey, how many guys have a balun named for them! Walt has posted some of his experiences and work in the past. These are too valuable to disappear after some time in the QSO section. So, I've moved them here for all to enjoy.

Walt, you are welcome to post more reflections here, if you wish. Many thanks for sharing.  We are all richer for it.
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W1UJR
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« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2011, 01:12:21 PM »

Outstanding idea Steve, and we are indeed most fortunate to have Walt here.
I know that he is a real gentleman and far too humble to share his accomplishments here, but do check his bio at the link below and you'll see how blessed we are.
Walt is one of the sharpest writers on feed line and antenna theory that I've ever had to pleasure to read, he has the knack of taking even the most esoteric and complex theories and boiling them down to a point that any one can understand. If you have not read his "Reflections" series, I would strongly encourage you to do so.
I'll have a review of Walt's latest Reflections book coming out in the next month or so...but you don't need to wait for my review, its well worth a read right now!

Walt's bio -->> http://w2du.com/about.htm

Walt's website -->> http://w2du.com/
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KB2WIG
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« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2011, 01:24:52 PM »

Very good idea. WM's content and writings are always appreciated.


klc
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W2DU
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Walt, at 90, Now 92 and licensed 78 years


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« Reply #3 on: January 17, 2011, 01:27:00 PM »

Steve, I can't think of any higher honor than what you have bestowed on me by placing a new category on the board especially for my posts describing my experiences during the earliest days in the space era. I greatly appreciate this honor and I will fully respect it. I am totally pleased that this great group of AM people has found my experiences of such interest.

A cordial thank you to all for your consideration in this manner.

Walt
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W2DU, ex W8KHK, W4GWZ, W8VJR, W2FCY, PJ7DU. Son Rick now W8KHK.
k4kyv
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Don
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« Reply #4 on: January 17, 2011, 02:05:16 PM »

I have always enjoyed Walt's writings, and had the pleasure of meeting and talking with him in person the past two years at Dayton.

Maybe just a coincidence, but still, I can't help wondering if Walt's genealogy might share a common thread with James Clerk Maxwell.
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Don, K4KYV                                       AMI#5
Licensed since 1959 and not happy to be back on AM...    Never got off AM in the first place.

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W2DU
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« Reply #5 on: January 17, 2011, 03:03:04 PM »

In response to Don's question about any relationship there might be with the great James Clerk Maxwell--wish I could say there was--but no, it didn't happen.

On research of JCM I found that his real name was James Clerk, of Clerk family (pronounced Clark. He simply chose to add the name Maxwell to his own--it wasn't clear as to why.

Walt
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W2DU, ex W8KHK, W4GWZ, W8VJR, W2FCY, PJ7DU. Son Rick now W8KHK.
k4kyv
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Don
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« Reply #6 on: January 17, 2011, 10:51:33 PM »

...his real name was James Clerk, of Clerk family... He simply chose to add the name Maxwell to his own--it wasn't clear as to why.

Walt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESwtizE0l5U

I always thought those lyrics to be simply whimsical until I learned of a real association between death and a silver hammer. When Pope John Paul II died, a news story described the method used prior to the 20th century to confirm a pope's death: he would be struck on the forehead three times with a silver hammer. (This method was not used with Pope John Paul. According to the Catholic News Service, "This time, instead of the silver hammer, papal doctors used an electrocardiogram to make sure the pope was dead. ")

Regarding JCM, he died of natural causes at a young age.  Had he lived a normal life span, he would have seen the phenomenon predicted by his equations demonstrated as physical fact by Hertz's experiments, and finally the dawn of its practical application with the advent of wireless telecommunication.

I once read somewhere that Maxwell has been considered the third greatest physicist of all time, surpassed only by Newton and Einstein.
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Don, K4KYV                                       AMI#5
Licensed since 1959 and not happy to be back on AM...    Never got off AM in the first place.

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This message was typed using the DVORAK keyboard layout.
http://www.mwbrooks.com/dvorak
Steve - K4HX
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« Reply #7 on: January 18, 2011, 01:25:19 AM »

It's interesting to note, the four equations most people know as Maxwell's equations were actually developed by Oliver Heaviside. He utilized vector calculus to reduce the twenty-some equations in Maxwell's original work to the four we know today.

Most of us probably know Heaviside from the Kennelly-Heaviside Layer, Heaviside's theory of an ionized layer above the earth, first proposed in 1902. The existence of the ionosphere was confirmed in the early 1920's.

Heaviside also came up with the ever more popular Poynting vector (independently of Poynting and others), a major element of electromagnetic theory. He also created terms we commonly use now like impedance, inductance, conductance, electret and many others. And he was one of the main developers of transmission line theory.

Where would ham radio be without Maxwell and Heaviside?
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aa5wg
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« Reply #8 on: May 13, 2011, 10:14:41 AM »

It is wonderful to have Walt here at AMfone.  Further, it is a honor to communicate with one of the Greats!  Thank you sir, Walt, for this rare privilege.
Chuck
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W2BX
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« Reply #9 on: March 20, 2020, 11:58:29 AM »

Dang!.. this old guy just learned something new!. "Maxwell's Silver Hammer"

I had no idea of the meaning behind that!  Smiley
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