[ADXA] Wayne Overbeck N6NB/K6YNB SK

Wed Apr 23 08:18:14 EDT 2025

Joel, I was going to add to my message, because I should not have neglected
the Quagi, and you beat me to it!   I have built several Quagis through the
years.  I think the first was the big one for 2M and I worked a lot of “DX”
on 2M SSB and CW.  I also listened to the big guns on 2M CW EME and always
copied some signals during high activity periods.   Later, I made a quagi
for 70 cm ATV, and when HB9Q asked for a sked on 432 EME, I tacked on a few
more elements and made the contact with 15 watts (JT65B).

I need to look back through Wayne’s material.  I took a brief look at the
web site but several of you have reminded me of other interesting things.

73,
Dennis/RZ

On Wed, Apr 23, 2025 at 7:02 AM Joel Harrison <w5zn at w5zn.org> wrote:

> Wayne was the inventor of the “Quagi” antenna that was quite popular in
> the very late 80’s and early 90’s for 144 and 432 MHz.
>
> For those who aren’t familiar with the quagi it has a quad loop for the
> reflector and driven element and yagi elements and has a direct 50 ohm feed.
>
> 73 Joel W5ZN
>
> On Apr 23, 2025, at 1:43 PM, Charles Korzendorfer <korzendorferc at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> 
>
> Dennis/Pat,
>
>   Thanks for your remembrance of N6NB.  He was a real pioneer in many
> aspects of the hobby.  If you go to his website, you can see how
> “rounded-out” he was.
>
>    I was living in the Los Angeles area in the late 70s & met Wayne at a
> meeting of the Southern Cal. Contest Club, & was invited to participate in
> the club’s Field Day effort.  This was in 1980.  We had four of Wayne’s
> tower-trailers, one had a motorized 70’ Triex tower on it.  We used 5 watts
> & large monobanders.  That effort resulted in a new record that stood for
> years.
>
>    If you click on the Field Day tab on Wayne’s website, there is a group
> photo of the 1980 crew at the base of the tower-trailer.  I am the skinny
> guy at the top (KA6CPL)…
>
>   Chuck. KM5G
>
> On Wed, Apr 23, 2025 at 12:03 AM <patw5vy at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Dennis,
>>
>>
>>
>> I don’t remember a FD with you using a Quad.  You have done a lot of
>> antenna testing at Field Day sites over the years.  I remember the Lazy H
>> you built for 10M one year and 10 was dead as a hammer the whole weekend!
>> Even with the gain of the Lazy H it was still dead.
>>
>>
>>
>> When I first became interested in VHF/UHF Roving I had the pleasure of
>> having dinner with Wayne, N6NB (SK), Marshall, K5QE (SK) and Army, AE5P at
>> a restaurant in Nacogdoches, TX.  I was on my way home from the Belton
>> Hamfest and Marshall had a couple of HP Server power supplies for me and
>> invited me to join them for dinner.  Wayne had been in the area with a
>> Rover Pack to operate in one of the VHF contests.  He had his Tower Trailer
>> (6M-10GHz on a 45 foot crank-up). The added elevation provided by the tower
>> trailer really helped on the microwave bands in the “Piney Woods” of East
>> Texas.   Marshal had a very nice Multi-op VHF/UHF/Microwave contest station
>> in Hemphill, TX.  Wayne was a perpetual winner in the VHF Roving category.
>> Army had a very nice 10 band Rover and was very active in East Texas.
>> Needless to say, I mostly listened during dinner!
>>
>>
>>
>> The next weekend I attended the Mt. Airy VHF Radio Club (Pack Rats)
>> conference in Ben Salem, PA  My youngest daughter was living in
>> Philadelphia so I got to do radio and visit with her.  When I drove into
>> the hotel parking lot there was Wayne’s Tower Trailer with the crank-up
>> fully extended!  He was one of the presenters at the conference…topic was
>> probably some aspect of VHF+ Roving.   Early on, Wayne did extensive
>> testing of a HF 2 Element Quad versus a 3 Element Yagi.  He operated from a
>> beach in Southern California.  I don’t recall the results….think it was
>> close to a tie in most cases.  I think his testing was a response to the
>> notion (at the time) that a 2l Quad would beat the socks off a 3L Yagi!
>>
>>
>>
>> Wayne was a regular at VHF Conferences.   Check out his website N6NB.com.
>>
>>
>>
>> As Dennis stated, he had many talents and significant accomplishments in
>> all his endeavors.  He had a kind nature and never bragged about his
>> accomplishments (probably means he wasn’t a DXer!).
>>
>>
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> Pat, W5VY
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* adxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net <adxa-bounces at mailman.qth.net> *On
>> Behalf Of *Dennis Schaefer
>> *Sent:* Tuesday, April 22, 2025 9:13 PM
>> *To:* ADXA <ADXA at mailman.qth.net>
>> *Subject:* [ADXA] Wayne Overbeck N6NB/K6YNB SK
>>
>>
>>
>> Wayne Overbeck had significant professional and amateur radio
>> accomplishments.   He had several articles in QST about portable operation,
>> and was largely responsible for my interest in portable ops.  He covered
>> portable abtennas and VHF/UHF  roving, etc.
>>
>>
>>
>> Based on one of his articles, I built a 10/15M cubical quad for Field
>> Day.  It had separate feedlines for each band and we were somehow able to
>> use both bands simultaneously without blowing anything up.  We were
>> probably using tube rigs.   There may be someone in this group who
>> remembers running pileups on both bands at the same time on one antenna
>> with no filters.  (Nick, Pat, Steve??).   I think it was somewhere in
>> Eastern Arkansas in the 70’s.
>>
>>
>>
>> I hadn’t heard much about him for several years, but he came up as a
>> Facebook friend a few months ago.  Although of advanced age, he was still
>> very sharp and interesting.
>>
>>
>>
>> He seemed to be doing well, but his wife announced a few days ago that he
>> passed away.   I don’t think he was a DX chaser, but it wouldn’t surprise
>> me if he had achievements in that area, too.  He was a good man and a good
>> ham.
>>
>>
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> Dennis/RZ
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