So Charles “Chuck” Carpenter didn’t do SOTA but he was a long distance elmer of mine and I feel like a lot of people will have been touched by his input to ham radio unknowingly.
I learned yesterday that Chuck has become a silent key.
Chuck seemed to know his stuff but always played his knowledge down, he was always amongst the first on the email lists to chime in with help when it was asked for. I first crossed paths with Chuck when I was building K1SWL RockMite kits. When I started experimenting with RockMites, Chuck was there to help, indeed my well known 9V LA1KHA Challenge RockMites use modifications developed by him.
Chuck had a hand in a lot of the QRPme kits, including the red QRPme RockMite][. You’ll find Chuck’s call sign W5USJ on the RM][ PCB if you look.
I last exchanged emails with Chuck in mid October and I’m glad that I told how much I’d appreciated his help over the years.
Chuck gave me an original K1SWL RockMite (green) PCB earlier this year and it’s a prized possession, even more so now.
I’ll miss Chuck’s helpful emails and excellent circuit diagrams. I heard that Chuck was nominated for QRP Hall of Fame, but quietly turned it down, not sure how true that is, but I could believe it.
