[QCWA] Fw: Don Newcomb,W0DN - SK

[Norm Gertz]

Received from a friend in TX which may be of interest to the gang.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brian Hunsaker" <bhunsaker at rgv.rr.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 4:13 PM
Subject: Don Newcomb,W0DN - SK


>I just read in WorldRadio where Don Newcomb, W0DN became a silent 
> key.  If you don't know who W0DN is, he is the inventor of the 
> Butternut Vertical.  I had the good fortune to know Don when he lived 
> in this area (near Los Fresnos) for several years, and visited him on 
> many occasions at his home in Olmito, and his manufacturing facility 
> in Matamoros, MX.  He and I were negotiating the possible sale of his 
> company to myself and a non-ham investor friend of mine.  It didn't 
> work out, so he ultimately sold the company to Bencher, who owns it 
> now.  I helped him bring his inventory back across the bridge when he 
> moved his entire operations back into the States (in Olmito).
> 
> The article referred to him as "a bit of a renaissance man" - that is 
> an understatement !  If there ever was an example of the "fine line 
> between genius and insanity", W0DN was a classic example.  But a very 
> interesting person, nonetheless.  Don was an accomplished musician, a 
> college professor at the University of Minnesota, held a doctorate in 
> French, and could send/receive code at 35 wpm, while simultaneously 
> carrying on a conversation with you !!!  He held several patents for 
> his antenna designs.
> 
> A true legend.
> -- 
> Brian