View Full Version : Famed antenna guru W4RNL now SK
From another list. We must ensure that his website information is maintained....
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jack L Stone" <xxxx@xxxxxxxx.com>
To: "Discussions of Antennas and Related Topics"
<xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 11:14 AM
Subject: [Antenna-discussion] LB Cebik
> It is with a heavy heart and infinite sadness I report the passing of
> LB Cebik, a friend to us all.
>
> I had called the local Sheriff in Knoxville, TN to go check on him
> since I hadn't heard from him in over 5 days (either email or phone),
> which is highly unusual.
>
> The Sheriff called back to tell me this sad, devastating news. He was
> like family to me and was loved and respected by so many. I remain in
> shock as I tell you this.
>
> I need to locate his next of kin as he did not have family in Knoxville.
>
>
>
> --
> (^o^)
> Happy Trails,
> Jack L. Stone
wb5ydk
04-22-2008, 07:26 PM
I found this nice story, by L. B. Cebik, that is both an account of his earliest Amateur Radio days as well as a tribute to his father: http://www.novice.bappy.com/whats_new_49.html
I am so sorry to hear this. What a great mind and a great contributor. Please let us know what his family plans to do about his website material; I use his calculations and theories all the time!
The fast answer is that somebody needs to mirror that website....
Really sad news.
I would do it, but I am just a customer of a hosting company.
With quite a few hams owning hosting companies, I hope one of them picks up the site and keeps it alive.
A71AN
04-22-2008, 07:40 PM
From another list. We must ensure that his website information is maintained....
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jack L Stone" <xxxx@xxxxxxxx.com>
To: "Discussions of Antennas and Related Topics"
<xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxx.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 11:14 AM
Subject: [Antenna-discussion] LB Cebik
> It is with a heavy heart and infinite sadness I report the passing of
> LB Cebik, a friend to us all.
>
> I had called the local Sheriff in Knoxville, TN to go check on him
> since I hadn't heard from him in over 5 days (either email or phone),
> which is highly unusual.
>
> The Sheriff called back to tell me this sad, devastating news. He was
> like family to me and was loved and respected by so many. I remain in
> shock as I tell you this.
>
> I need to locate his next of kin as he did not have family in Knoxville.
>
>
>
> --
> (^o^)
> Happy Trails,
> Jack L. Stone
I am very sorry to hear this sad news my friend, I do not know what to say in English about such lose but I will pray for him to be in heven, all with the good people.
Sad news, indeed. This is a great loss to the amateur radio community.
N4AUD
04-22-2008, 07:51 PM
Oh, man, that is terrible news. His website is on I go to when I want to REALLY know something about an antenna. He modeled and built so many antennas. I do hope someone rescues all the information on that website because it is a priceless resource for hams.
ae5hl
04-22-2008, 07:51 PM
I will gladly host the site, provided someone can mirror it. I tried using "Winhttrack" but an error was returned (basically no mass downloading). If someone here has the capability to download the site, let me know and I can setup an account for it. My e-mail is listed here on QRZ.
W4RNL's articles were informative and well written, he was a tremendous asset to the community and he will be sorely missed. I read his wife passed away 6 or so years ago so I hope he is at peace now.
73's,
Garry (AH2DR)
KB9BVN
04-22-2008, 08:01 PM
I am seeing messages popping up on several reflectors indicating LB Cebik has passed away.
Anyone else seeing this?
Man I hope it isn't true.
AC0FP
04-22-2008, 08:04 PM
This is very unfortunate news. I have many times emailed questions to LB and he always returned answers and opinions very rapidly. His death is indeed a loss to the RF engineering and Amateur radio communities.:(
Frank
Truly a sad day for the amateur radio community, LB Cebik was my "elmer",and I'm sure an Elmer to many others,either thru his writings or in person.
I constantly referenced his writings,and have spent countless nites just reading over and over his work on antenna theory.
My greatest joy in ham radio is homebrewing and experimenting with antenna's,and W4RNL was always there to help and reference to.I wish I had had the pleasure to meet him in person,but that will never be,I did however exchange a couple of emails with him,and will be forever grateful.
Thru his work, he was always pushing me to try something new,and helped me thru his writings understand antenna theory and propagation. I will truly miss him.
I hope someone can continue on his great work and contribution to amateur radio,and that his web site will continue on to help those who desire to learn.
Thank you LB, rest in peace.
w6ire
04-22-2008, 08:17 PM
http://www.etdxa.org/lbcebik1.JPG
KB1NIV
04-22-2008, 08:21 PM
I too frequent LB Cebik's web site and back in early March I exchanged some emails with him and found him very courteous and informative. At the time I thought it was very nice of him to take the time to give detailed answers to my questions, considering the volume of email he must have received and the wide disparity in the levels of our understanding of the subject matter. I feel that he went above and beyond.
My condolences to his family and friends.
w7lpn
04-22-2008, 08:27 PM
I spent a lot of time on his web pages. A great resource and a talent which will be missed.
W4INF
04-22-2008, 08:35 PM
Cebik has been a great source of information and theory to me not just when I first started the hobby, but even now.
He will be missed by many.
Anyone know where we can send flowers/cards?
Andrew
WA9SVD
04-22-2008, 08:39 PM
http://www.etdxa.org/lbcebik1.JPG
I will say thanks for the picture. It puts a face to the great mind and contributor to Amateur Radio for those of us who never had the privilege of meeting Mr. Cebik in person.
With the passing of AC6V, and now W4RNL, there will be fewer sources of Amateur wisdom and reference for us to access, both OF and newbie alike.
kc2rgw
04-22-2008, 09:00 PM
You will be missed OM!
Easily the biggest single source of information I use....I've traded sleep for reading his material more times than I can count.
I hope it doesn't wind up on one of those $5 per data-sheet scammer sites.
I'll be happy to host the site. I have a high end dedicated professionally 24/7 staffed server with a T3 equivalent pipe. All I need is the ftp login info. Anyone know how to get it?
Mike WY6K
Quote:
"With the passing of AC6V, and now W4RNL, there will be fewer sources of Amateur wisdom and reference for us to access, both OF and newbie alike."
I was thinking the same thing,and add to that Doug DeMaw, W1FB, and Joe Carr, K4IPV, between these 4 pioneers,who else did you need??
It will be interesting to see who the voices of wisdom in amateur radio are 5 to 10 years from now....Thank goodness I am never going to give up my library !!!
L. B. and I exchanged emails just last week and this really comes as a big surprise. Ham radio has lost a great friend.
RIP,
Ray
W5EW
G0GQK
04-22-2008, 10:03 PM
It is sad to hear that Mr Cebik has passed away, from the descriptive note it would seem that he lived alone and died alone. Many of the most important contributors to Amateur radio on both sides of the pond have passed away in the last 20 years, all contributors to magazines, QST, 77, CQ, RSGB,their words of wisdom in books and monthly articles have helped everyone to enjoy the hobby. Mr Cebik was the complete expert on matters concerning antenna's, and his life's work will continue to help radio amateurs throughout the world.
May he rest in peace, G0GQK
This is sad news indeed. I've read a lot of great articles on his site after a friend told me about it.
Condolences to his relatives and close friends.
N8GAV
04-22-2008, 10:28 PM
Wow this is a shock. I was on his site yesterday, hope his family will let someone keep his good work going as a memoral.
kl7aj
04-22-2008, 10:28 PM
Wow. That's a shocker. I just corresponded with him a couple of weeks ago. I've been getting his AntennX posts for a long time.
He was indeed a pioneer...and one of the few rational voices in the field of antennas. I will really miss him. He was a "pro" radio amateur if ever there was one.
73, OM.
.-.-.
Eric
SRI to hear this news.
He was really a great Elmer.
He contacted me once on a question I had and was quite friendly when I called him at his invitation.
WA2ZDY
04-23-2008, 12:30 AM
This is indeed sad news. As others have said, the loss of LB Cebik, AC6V and as one poster mentioned, some of the greats of yesterday, Demaw, George Grammer, even dating back to the loss of Ross Hull in 1936, are serious blows to the technical knowledge trust of amateur radio. Yet we move forward and other bright hams will carry us forward.
May LB Cebik, friend of amateur radio, rest in peace.
KJ4AUR
04-23-2008, 01:19 AM
Removed...
N0WVA
04-23-2008, 02:25 AM
I was thinking the same thing,and add to that Doug DeMaw, W1FB, and Joe Carr, K4IPV, between these 4 pioneers,who else did you need
Bill Orr!
Jeeez, all these great guys are passing away. We are at such a loss.
KJ4AUR
04-23-2008, 03:13 AM
Removed...
KC7YPJ
04-23-2008, 06:49 AM
first reaction was to look around my shack at all the wonderous toys I've built from his site, well over half of my homebrewing was inspired by or researched heavily from the imense amount of knowledge he shared with us.
He will be greatly missed...
And thank you Nathan for mirroring and providing the site contents for download.
PA5COR
04-23-2008, 06:55 AM
He will be missed, R.I.P
Read his articles from his site many times as it's in my favourites...
73's
Cor
EI8DRB
04-23-2008, 10:26 AM
RIP W4RNL, you will be missed.
ki4twb
04-23-2008, 12:22 PM
KJ4AUR - Thank you for mirroring the site. I would like to download the entire thing, but I'll wait a few weeks for the traffic to tail off a bit. Again, many thanks!
KJ4AUR
04-23-2008, 01:42 PM
Removed...
KJ4AUR
04-23-2008, 05:15 PM
Removed...
PA5COR
04-23-2008, 05:42 PM
KJ4AUR
Thanks for making the archive available, downloading as i type now, too much still to try from his site, will backup this on my ftp too.
An real gentlemen.
73,
Cor
KJ4AUR
04-23-2008, 05:45 PM
Removed...
KJ4AUR
04-23-2008, 05:56 PM
Removed...
KB3PXR
04-23-2008, 06:42 PM
Just a warning to KJ4AUR, your ISP will frown on this practice (unless your TOS says otherwise). I suggest that you move your content to a regular web hosting service ASAP, that way you won't have any trouble.
KJ4AUR
04-23-2008, 06:45 PM
Removed...
I would be far more concerned about copyright infringement lawsuits than violating an ISP's TOS. Did Dr. Cebik grant the right to allow distribution of his work, or place it in the public domain? If not, whoever owns those copyrights now may not be happy with the widespread distribution of their property. Note that the mere act of creating a work automatically grants full copyright protection to the author - no copyright notice is required.
Attemping to access cebik.com now brings up nasty copyright messages and requests for a login and password. It looks like antenneX has taken control of the site. Be careful!
KJ4AUR
04-23-2008, 11:26 PM
I would be far more concerned about copyright infringement lawsuits than violating an ISP's TOS. Did Dr. Cebik grant the right to allow distribution of his work, or place it in the public domain? If not, whoever owns those copyrights now may not be happy with the widespread distribution of their property. Note that the mere act of creating a work automatically grants full copyright protection to the author - no copyright notice is required.
Attemping to access cebik.com now brings up nasty copyright messages and requests for a login and password. It looks like antenneX has taken control of the site. Be careful!
The intent behind the mirror was preservation of content, I have taken the site offline now that it appears that cebik.com will continue to exist.
I have not got a C&D letter yet but the spirit behind the mirror wasn't infringement but rather to ensure that the content was not lost. I'm no copyright lawyer but I would assume that the content now belongs to his estate, not necessarily antenneX.
I do appreciate you pointing this out, I had not even considered the aspect of possible copyright infringement or distribution of copyrighted works. I believe I've acted fairly by removing all content and the DNS A entry.
KB1KIX
04-24-2008, 02:23 AM
The intent behind the mirror was preservation of content, I have taken the site offline now that it appears that cebik.com will continue to exist.
I have not got a C&D letter yet but the spirit behind the mirror wasn't infringement but rather to ensure that the content was not lost. I'm no copyright lawyer but I would assume that the content now belongs to his estate, not necessarily antenneX.
I do appreciate you pointing this out, I had not even considered the aspect of possible copyright infringement or distribution of copyrighted works. I believe I've acted fairly by removing all content and the DNS A entry.
Your sentiment was admirable.
Slapping a login on his site like it is now is just tacky.
Yeah, the material is free - but Cebik never had the login garbage and kept the material out there.
A great man I have learned a lot from passes away, I wanted to read content and then find the login screen.
Just plain tacky.
Jonathan
He will be missed. I never got to meet him but he sure taught me plenty. I did sign up for his site now we will see if the spam starts rolling in. (I sure hope not)
RIP
Brad
This is a real loss to the ham community. Hopefully the website will be preserved and accessible for a long time to come. When I was just starting out in ham radio my gurus were Lew McCoy, Doug DeMaw, Bill Orr, Bill Hoisington, and Ed Tilton. The reading material was QST and 73. Dr. Cebik ranks right up at the top. His comprehensive website full of knowledge was one of, if not the best ham radio technical site on the net.
Dr. Cebik, RIP.
73
George
K3UD
It is sad to hear that Mr Cebik has passed away, from the descriptive note it would seem that he lived alone and died alone.
L. B.'s wife Jean passed away from cancer several years ago. He was a long-time Knoxville resident; after serving on the faculty at the University of Tennessee for 30 years they elected to continue living here rather than retiring elsewhere.
Though living by himself here after her death, he had a great many friends and was active and well-known in the local ham community. I'd see him at hamfests or some other local ham-related event at least a couple times a year.
A great loss for us here in Knoxville and for amateur radio at large. L. B. was a patient, kind man with no end to his desire to help people. He will be missed.
k4avl
04-24-2008, 05:08 PM
I just found out about this today, when going to his site. They have a photo of him an an announcement of his passing on the front page of the site. Now also, to get to the info, you have to apply for a password, but it's free.
He will be really missed. I never met him, nor sent him any emails but was often tempted to. Even now, after upgrading to extra in Jan., I've found myself spending more & more time of late reading his articles, to learn more details of antenna theory & performance factors, it's an endlessly interesting topic.
A greater and more authoritative resource may never be seen as the body of his work.