SILENT KEY: AUTHOR, ANTENNA INNOVATOR JOHN PORTUNE, W6NBCMany hams who have wanted to get more out of their antennas - or simply learn more about them - no doubt turned to the words and writings of John Portune, W6NBC. The retired KNBC TV broadcast engineer, an experimenter and an innovator, was always generous with his time and wisdom on the subject.
John became a Silent Key on the 6th of July. Born in 1938, he had been a ham since 1965.
https://www.arnewsline.org/news-text/20 ... tune-w6nbc
John was second only to the late L.B. Cebik, W4RNL, when it came to antennas. The Bifilar Helix I built for the Field Day class was one of his designs (with W6OEK). I also built his 2m Slot-Cube Antenna, but - in spite of using his measurements - haven't been able to get an acceptable SWR in the band. I emailed him about it, and he replied, but his suggestions didn't fix the issue. Someday I'll get back to troubleshooting it.
His work is documented on his site, https://www.w6nbc.com/lectures.html, although now that he's gone, it may not be online much longer.