QRZ DX and The DX Magazine Publisher and Editor Carl Smith, N4AA, of Asheville, North Carolina, died on October 20. An ARRL member, he was 77 and had been a radio amateur and DXer for more than 6 decades. Smith and his late wife Miriam, KB4C, bought

 the two publications’ parent DX Publishing in 1997

“Carl was a ham’s ham, as he dabbled in many aspects of our great hobby,” The Daily DX Editor Bernie McClenny, W3UR, observed. “He did a lot for Amateur Radio over the years.”

Licensed in Kansas City in 1954 as WN0YFT (later W0YFT), Smith served in the US Air Force from 1958 until 1966. He became W4NQA after moving to North Carolina. From 1968 until 1970, he was on the ARRL Headquarters staff and held the call sign W1ETU. When he moved to Virginia in 1970, he regained W4NQA and, after moving back to North Carolina, obtained N4AA in 1976.

An avid DXer and at the top of the DXCC Honor Roll, Smith was inducted into the CQ DX Hall of Fame in 2012.

Smith was a member of the Potomac Valley Radio Club (PVRC). He re-established QCWA Chapter 145 for the primary purpose of establishing the Southern Appalachian Radio Museum — now the Asheville Radio Museum — on the campus of Asheville-Buncombe Community College. He also was a long-time Roanoke Division Assistant Director. For many years, he was the owner and manager of Georgetown Communications, an Amateur Radio store in Asheville.

In the 1970s, Smith was instrumental in the formation of the Western Carolina Amateur Radio Society and served a few terms as president. Through WCARS, he instituted the annual Asheville Hamfest. WCARS became a Volunteer Examiner Coordinator in the 1980s.

He also established the KB4C Miriam Smith Award, in memory of his late wife. The award, presented annually by the ARRL Roanoke Division, honors an Amateur Radio operator from Western North Carolina who has demonstrated an active commitment to public service and emergency communication through ARES/RACES.

Smith was among the founders of the SouthEastern DX and Contesting Organization (SEDCO) W4DXCC Convention, and his wife’s call sign is used on the air at the annual convention and for various operating activities.