03/29/2024

While attending the North Carolina State School for the Blind (now known as Governor Morehead School for the Blind) in Raleigh, Hampton met several sighted friends involved in the amateur radio community and began attending radio club meetings with them. As a result, he became a licensed amateur radio operator at the age of 12, despite the requirement that an operator must be able to read, copy, and send Morse code, all of which he learned by ear. After graduation from Wake Technical Community College, Hampton founded a company that maintained commercial two-way radio systems across the southeastern US. For many years, he was a broadcast engineer for WRAL-TV in Raleigh, often working at the top of the station's 2,000-foot tower. Hampton made his last climb in 2023 at the age of 79. He was named Hamvention¿ Amateur of the Year in 2009 for his design of the Piedmont Coastal Repeater Network, which links more than 40 repeaters. He was also awarded North Carolina's highest civilian award, The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, in recognition for adding broadcast translators to the fringe service area of the Raleigh National Weather Service office. He leaves behind his wife Rose, six children, 11 grandchildren, and five great grandchildren.

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