Wayne Green W2NSD, SK

[jeff_duntemann]

It's hard not to have an opinion about Wayne Green. Depending on whom you listen to, he was a visionary, a crank, delusional, eccentric, generous, lecherous, honest, optimistic, boundlessly energetic, or all of the above and maybe a few more. Someone wrote a bogglingly angry book once (I had it but have misplaced it) that spent its entire length

Comments

[beamjockey]

Wayne published books, too, including George Ewing's Living on a Shoestring, which George called "my scrounge book" and I consider a marvelous technical memoir.

If I were willing to speak ill of the dead, I would point out that this book has a terrible binding, for which I blame Wayne Green-- may he rest in peace. (Maybe I should just let the pages fall out and then scan them.) On this solemn day, let's just refer to the binding as "eccentric."

RIP

[anonymous]

As a teenager, I would look forward every month to the newest issue of 80 Micro. That was just the best mag around for TRS-80 owners, and Wayne always had an interesting editorial, that even teen-ager me found fascinating, and a bit crazy.

[samwinolj]

Woof. That's spooky.

I'm pretty sure I read that article some years after it was published. I bought a bunch of old 73s from a place called (I think) The Radio--TV Lab on Irving Park just west of Central back when it was a wonderful place for a tinkerer to get parts--a few of which I even knew the function of.

I didn't know you or WN9OVO at the time, of course. I did spend some time in your neighborhood; I had a friend who lived just a bit west of you. I don't recall noticing your address; if I ever find myself in a Peggy Sue Got Married scenario, I'll walk a few blocks east and ring your doorbell.

The Wikipedia article seems... inadequate for a man who had so much influence on so many. I wish I knew enough about him to expand it.

[jeff_duntemann]

Radio-TV Lab. Right across the street from Portage Park, I think. Owned by George Sopocko. I bought the parts for my first CW transmitter there in 1973, and later bought the Knight T-60 that I used for most of my Novice work. Bought a great deal of other stuff there for the following several years, before we left town in 1979. I assume the shop is long gone now.

[samwinolj]

Long gone, as I'm told, is George.

After it closed, there was an epic "yard sale" behind the building--they set up a bunch of tables and just kept carting out more and more gear to replace what was sold. IRRC it took three weekends to clear the piles.

I bought (among other things) a vacuum capacitor that I kept on my desk for years just to puzzle other techies.

[ext_1749925]

Thinking way back to the late 60's when I was beginning to get enthralled with electricity and electronics, I got my first ARRL Amateur Radio Handbook in 1969 and read through it addictively. It made me yearn for advanced math, and especially trig, so I could make sense of what the heck they were talking about, particularly regarding antenna radiation patterns. (yeah, go figure

fantastic

[ext_1749925]

> I'd say Wayne Green was the Larry Flint of high-tech

Great analogy. I love it!