IN LOVING MEMORY / 1946–2024
Les Carpenter · G4CNH
Self-taught engineer. Radio enthusiast. Maker, mender and a true gentleman. A home for his knowledge — and for the memories that keep him close.
16 OCTOBER 1946 — A VERY SPECIAL BEGINNING
On what would have been your 80th birthday, we’re keeping the light on.
THE WORKSHOP
Valve & hi-fi
A place to begin exploring Les’s work with valve phono amplifiers.
Sound & recording
Following the circuits of a reel-to-reel recorder, one explanation at a time.
Test & workshop
Les’s documentation of his interpretation of Mike Rowe’s original design.
Catalogue and document links: Les’s original website. Original PDFs remain on the existing site; this edition does not contain downloaded copies.
REMEMBERING LES
A kindness. A conversation. A piece of advice. Something he helped you understand. Keep the little things, too.
LES CARPENTER · G4CNH
We remember the engineer, and the gentleman behind the engineering. Les’s writing is the starting point — not a replacement for the man we knew and loved.
WHERE IT BEGAN
In his autobiographical account, Les recalls his father introducing him to a crystal radio at nine. His brother Tom’s valve receivers added to the fascination. By eleven, he was learning resistor colours and experimenting with germanium transistors.
He also records work at Elliott Brothers and the transition to GEC-Marconi’s Mobile Radar Division. The full account belongs in his voice.
Source: My Career in Electronics, opening recollections and career account. These short summaries use indexed text; the complete PDF could not be retrieved during this build.
To his family, Les was a self-taught expert whose interests reached across electrics, electronics, radio, radar, valve amplifiers, sound systems, computers and much more.
That range deserves to be celebrated. So does his good nature. This memorial holds both together: the depth of his knowledge and the warmth of the gentleman who possessed it.
Family recollections supplied by Les’s nephew. This memorial prose is newly written; it is not an extract from Les’s autobiography.
A FEW THREADS OF HIS STORY
A beginning, not an exhaustive biography. Dates and details can be expanded as family and friends add their own records.
16 OCTOBER 1946
The birth date used here follows the family’s confirmation of his 80th birthday on 16 October 2026.
CHILDHOOD
A crystal set, glowing valves, and the curiosity Les describes in his own account.
HIS TECHNICAL WRITING
Repair accounts, modifications, test equipment and reference material, gathered on G4CNH.com.
2024
Les died in 2024. His family remembers a true gentleman at heart.
16 OCTOBER 2026
This memorial honours what would have been his 80th birthday.
THE G4CNH TECHNICAL CATALOGUE
Thirty entries from Les’s original homepage. Explore the equipment, the questions and the careful explanations he left behind — then open the original documents.
Catalogue source: G4CNH.com. Researched 15 October 2026. This is the homepage catalogue, not a claim to have recovered every historic file.
30 of 30 documents
Valve & hi-fi
A look inside the Yaqin valve amplifiers.
Indexed PDF; direct retrieval timed out. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Valve & hi-fi
Les’s notes on the MS12-B.
Listed; retrieval exceeded the research tool’s size limit. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Valve & hi-fi
The modifications Les documented for the MS22-B and MS23 phono amplifiers.
Indexed PDF; direct retrieval timed out. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Valve & hi-fi
The construction document for the Yaqin MS22 / MS23 board.
Indexed PDF; direct retrieval timed out. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Valve & hi-fi
The companion installation document.
Listed; the source returned a browser-verification page. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Valve & hi-fi
A study including reverse-engineered circuitry and repair notes.
PDF text and page count read. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Valve & hi-fi
Les’s account of the MC100B amplifier.
Indexed PDF; direct retrieval timed out. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Sound & recording
An exploration of the RA1 headphone-amplifier circuit.
Indexed PDF; direct retrieval timed out. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Valve & hi-fi
The original site’s guide to building a Les-Box RIAA amplifier.
Listed; the source returned a browser-verification page. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Radio
A staged fault-finding guide for the linear amplifier.
PDF text and page count read. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Sound & recording
An analysis of the circuitry of the four-channel reel-to-reel recorder.
PDF text and page count read. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Sound & recording
A repair account from Les’s original technical collection.
PDF and page count available. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Valve & hi-fi
Les’s repair notes for the iTube 182.
PDF and page count available. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Valve & hi-fi
A look at the 728A preamplifier.
PDF and page count available. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Test & workshop
Les’s interpretation of the Sussex tester, credited to an original design by Mike Rowe G8JVE.
Indexed PDF; direct retrieval timed out. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Radio
A replacement control unit for an AEA ISOLOOP antenna.
Indexed PDF; direct retrieval timed out. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Test & workshop
A workshop resistance box covering 1 ohm to 1 megohm.
Listed on the original homepage; download not verified. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Test & workshop
The original guide to 8-ohm, 60-watt test loads.
Listed on the original homepage; download not verified. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Sound & recording
The speaker-switching box document.
Listed on the original homepage; download not verified. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Sound & recording
A separate source-and-output switching box.
Listed on the original homepage; download not verified. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Test & workshop
A monitor box for amplifier servicing.
Listed on the original homepage; download not verified. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Test & workshop
A test box for examining power-supply ripple.
Indexed PDF; direct download not verified. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Sound & recording
Les’s turntable strobe-generator document.
Listed on the original homepage; download not verified. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Test & workshop
The original site’s voltage-reduction project.
Listed on the original homepage; download not verified. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Sound & recording
A tone-control project based on a Baxandall arrangement.
Indexed PDF; direct retrieval timed out. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Test & workshop
An audio-test attenuator from the original catalogue.
Listed on the original homepage; download not verified. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Test & workshop
A headset test box and training aid.
Listed on the original homepage; download not verified. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Test & workshop
Les’s emergency-lamp project.
Listed on the original homepage; download not verified. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Life & reference
An index to the Radio & TV Servicing books.
PDF and page count available. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Life & reference
Les’s own account of his interest in electronics and his working life.
Indexed PDF; full direct retrieval timed out. Listed on G4CNH.com, researched 15 October 2026. Linked here, not backed up in this edition. Page counts are from the source where available.
Try a different title or topic, or clear the filters.
Search covers catalogue titles and descriptions, not the full text of the PDFs. Saved documents are bookmarks on this device, not downloaded files. All originals open in a new tab.
YEARS SINCE YOUR STORY BEGAN
Les Carpenter
16 OCTOBER 1946
G4CNH · ALWAYS REMEMBERED
16 OCTOBER 2026 · A SPECIAL DEDICATION
Your life was filled with things that could be measured: voltage, resistance, frequency, the signal hidden in the noise. But the qualities we remember most do not fit on a meter.
Your curiosity. Your good nature. The depth of your understanding. The gentleman you were.
On what would have been your 80th birthday, we have made this place for you: a home for the work you left behind, and for the memories that belong beside it.
Here, your knowledge can still help someone find an answer. A circuit can still make sense. A reader can still discover something they did not know before.
And here, beyond the diagrams and the equipment, we will keep remembering the man we love.
You are missed. You are celebrated.
The light you brought into the world has not gone out.
With love, your family and friends.
A new dedication written for this memorial, based on the family’s recollections. Not a quotation from Les.
A MOMENT TO REMEMBER
A QUIET GESTURE
Not a visitor count. Not a public performance. Just a small, personal moment to remember him.
Sound plays only when you choose. It is a synthesised tone, not a recording of Les.
Your light is remembered only in this browser. Nothing is sent or published.
THE LITTLE THINGS MATTER
There is no perfect way to put someone into words. A small, honest memory is enough.
FROM HIS FAMILY
“A true gentleman at heart.”Les’s nephew, remembering his uncle
It might be a conversation, something he explained, or simply the way it felt to know him. It does not have to be a grand story.
This form does not send memories to the family or publish them online. Save a draft on this device, or download it to keep and share yourself. A public guestbook needs a family-approved submission and moderation service.
Browser data can be cleared or lost. Download an exported copy of anything precious. On a shared computer, delete local drafts after exporting them.
Visible only in this browser, on this device.
KEEPING FAITH WITH HIS WORK
No website can honestly promise forever. What we can do is make Les’s work easier to care for, easier to move and harder to lose.
CATALOGUED
The links on Les’s homepage have been transcribed into a searchable catalogue. This is not an exhaustive historical crawl.
LINKED, NOT BUNDLED
This site links to the documents on G4CNH.com. No original PDF files have been successfully downloaded into this package.
PORTABLE
Plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript. No framework build, database or subscription service is needed to display the memorial.
The archive opens Les’s original documents rather than rewriting his technical explanations. New summaries and family tributes are labelled separately. Contributors such as Mike Rowe, whose original design is credited in the Sussex tester guide, retain their credits.
Some of Les’s papers carry explicit non-commercial copying conditions. That is not a blanket licence for everything on the site. Keep each document’s authorship, notices and permissions intact; review rights before distributing copied material or family photographs.
Make a full backup of the existing hosting account. Keep the original homepage as well as the entire /public/ directory and any other existing folders. Existing links from radio and audio communities should continue to reach the same files.
The supplied Windows PowerShell backup tool can attempt to save the 30 known PDF links and the original homepage to a separate folder. It reports each success or failure and records SHA-256 checksums. It has not been run successfully against the remote files in this build.
Keep copies with more than one trusted family member, in more than one place. Record who controls the domain and hosting, how renewals are paid, and who can take over. Test that backups can actually be opened. A disk full of unreadable files is not preservation.
PRIVACY
The memorial includes no advertising, analytics, external font service or social-media embed. The remembrance light, reading list and saved memories use this browser’s local storage only when you choose those features. They are not sent to a server by this website.
The hosting provider may keep ordinary access logs. Opening an original document or another external link takes you to that site and its own practices. Downloading a notebook creates a file on your device; take care where you share it.
When opened directly as a local file, browser storage behaviour can vary; download anything important rather than relying on it. To remove saved information, delete individual memories or clear this site’s data in your browser. Export anything you wish to keep first. This first edition has no public guestbook and no automatic email submission.
THE ORIGINAL ORDER
The document links from his original homepage, kept in the same order. This is a newly typeset index, not a saved copy of the original HTML.
“Repaired, Modified, Designed or Researched.”Les’s description on his original homepage
Source: Les’s original homepage. The live domain may later display the memorial instead. Save the original HTML before replacing it.