Bill
Rolf PY1RO asked my help to post his e-mail
on the topband reflector. I think it is bouncing back.
Regards
Carlos
N4IS
----- Original Message -----
From: <mailto:py1ro@terra.com.br>Rolf_PY1RO
To: <mailto:topband@contesting.com>topband@contesting.com
Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 5:06 PM
Subject: Earl K6SE - how it all began
It was certainly a sad to hear about Earl´s
passing. Earl and I go back all the way to 1964.
I´m sure many of you have heard the story of how
Earl got interested in Top Band, but let me tell the story from my end:
Early january 64 I knew I was going to spend some
3 months in Detroit (I worked for Burroughs
then), and not yet licensed, I got on 20 CW from
a friends station and called "CQ Detroit". It
didn´t take long and W8DGP (then Earls call) came
back and he sure wanted to meet me and gave me his phone number.
Once in Detroit I made contact and was promptly
taken to his QTH where I also met his wonderful
wife and kids and where this long friendship started.
Being an avid 160m SWL, obviously the subject of
160m came up, but appearantly Earl didn´t seem
very impressed nor interested, or at least that
was my impression at the time! In any case it was
a very enjoyable evening and in passing I
mentioned that in only a couple weeks time the
"big" topband event of the year, the CQ 160
contest was gonna happen. Earl was a Heathkit
SB-line user in those days which didn´t have 160m and had never been on 160.
But I was in for a big surprise when, just a few
days before the contest weekend, Earl called me
and invited me to spend the contest at his place!
He had managed to loan a Viking Valiant TX and an
National RX for the weekend and had bonded all
his wire fences together and loaded up his
multiband vertical on 160 (in Detroit´s january
climat)! Another hamfriend of his was also part
of the "team", but I cannot remember his
call/name. I had an E-mail only some months ago
from Earl in which he happily recounted his
"beginnings" but unfortunatelly I lost it in a recent computer crash.
Well, we din´t break any records during the
contest, but it was more then anough to get Earl
hooked for life on Top Band! The rest is history!
After Detroit I only met Earl personally once
more during a short stopover at the Houston/TX airport, when he was W5RTQ.
He surely will be missed! RIP my friend!
73 to all - Rolf PY1RO
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