Ernie/KB7HCW SK

Part 1

By Scott Laughlin / N7NET

2007

Ernie was one of my best amateur radio friends. He retired as a Navy Chief after 22 years, and serving on 11 ships. He had lived a colorful past and he often shared his adventures during a late night roundtable on a two-meter simplex frequency. We heard about the ship stuck on a mudflat. He also told about loosing an anchor and how the crew knew no peace until it was retrieved. Short and stocky, Ernie did not look the part of an Electrical Engineer, nor would one suspect he held a Second Class Radio Telephone License.

His blue Ford glistened in the Oregon rain, while the garage served as a radio shop. His love for tinkering compelled him to service CB radios as well as amateur radio transceivers. And with that came a never ending exchange of radio tales, most repeated on the late night simplex frequency.

The DX and rag chewing tales fueled this old Navy man. In a few short weeks he earned his Novice ticket and he became KB7HCW. Then be became a Technician, then a General. But Ernie was no kid and Morse code delayed his Extra Class. Theory, on the other hand was not a problem. Armed with a calculator, he and I headed for a testing session. Later, while we awaited the scores, he assured me that he’d aced it. He was left gaping when the examiner reported that 80 percent of his answers were incorrect. After checking his answer sheet a fourth time someone concluded his answers were correct, but he’d that gone the wrong direction on the answer sheet when he answered numbers 2, 3, 4, etc. He went home, but not before giving them an earful.

Part 2 Next week