Passages… K7JA, DL6RAI, WB2D, Silent Keys

Chip Margelli, K7JA, became a Silent Key
in late May. (WB6NOA photo)

The ham radio community lost three well-known amateurs in about as many weeks in late May and early June. The best-known was Charles "Chip" Margelli, K7JA, who was a leader of the amateur radio industry for over 40 years. You'll find a full obituary and remembrances of Chip in the July issue of CQ. 

In mid-May, just before he was to be inducted into the CQ Contest Hall of Fame, Bernhard "Ben" Buettner, DL6RAI, died as a result of a tower accident at his contest station in Aruba. Ben was a leader of the contesting community in Germany, and indeed, worldwide. He served on the CQ World Wide Contest Committee and was a major part of the organizing team for the 2018 World Radiosport Team Championship (WRTC) in Germany. In 2014, he purchased the P49V contest station in Aruba from Carl Cook, AI6V/P49V (now an SK), and he was working on antennas there when his key was silenced by a tower accident.

Finally, former ARRL and CQ staffer Peter O'Dell, WB2D, passed away in early June. Peter and CQ columnist Wayne Yoshida, KH6WZ, were the ARRL's public relations team in the 1980s when Owen Garriott, W5LFL, took ham radio into space for the first time, and Pete was the founding editor of the ARRL Letter. At CQ, O'Dell was involved in a variety of special projects, including the launch of CQ's long-running series of buyer's guides, and he authored Ham Radio Horizons – The Book to introduce new and prospective amateurs to the hobby. After leaving CQ, Peter launched his own business helping hams learn Morse code through hypnosis.