My Elmer

Back in 2006, I was at a crossroads in life. I had just moved back to Indiana from Illinois the year prior and realized the management job I was working wasn’t worth the pay or the stress. I needed a change.

A friend from the internet who became one of the best friends I ever had in real life threw me a lifeline, and that decision changed the course of my life in ways I never could have imagined.

A lot of people have asked me over the years, “How did you get into Ham Radio?”

Let me introduce you to Kevin W7XF.

(Might be a good idea to have something nearby to get the sand out of your eye after reading this. Just saying.)

Here is the full story:

Back in 2009, my best friend Kevin W7XF was the one who got me into ham radio. At the time, he was also my co-driver when I worked for Swift Transportation from 2008-2010, so we spent countless hours on the road together talking about computers, CB radios, ham radios, other tech, and life in general.

When we first teamed up on the truck, he had moved over from another company that was partnered with Swift hauling chemicals for the mines out in Arizona. Now you see where the W7XF callsign comes from. The “7” call area covers places like Arizona, the neighboring state to the west California, is call area 6.

He had installed a Yaesu FT-857D next to the CB radio and had this wild-looking Hustler antenna setup on the truck. It had one main mast with mounts for multiple HF antennas. I still remember the 80m, 40m, and 20m Hustler resonators on it. At the time, I thought it looked like something straight out of a sci-fi movie. It was incredibly cool learning how all of that worked while rolling down the highway.

Kevin made one thing very clear early on: before I ever touched that radio, I had to get my ham license. You could always tell when he was joking and when he was serious, and this was one of those times he was absolutely serious.

So I started studying. Once he felt I was ready, we got ourselves routed through a town in Indiana that was holding a testing session one evening. I took my Technician exam and, to my surprise, only missed one question out of the 35-question multiple-choice test. I honestly thought I was just going to barely pass. Kevin, on the other hand, never doubted me for a second.

That was in 2009.

In 2010, after leaving Swift, I went to a hamfest in Terre Haute, Indiana and took my General exam. I passed that one too.

Later on, when I went back to trucking in 2011, I bought my first HF radio, an ICOM IC-7000, which I still have to this day. Kevin and I stayed friends and kept talking radios and life for years afterward.

Unfortunately, Kevin later suffered a stroke and had to stop driving truck and sell his motorcycle. He was still a ham, though. Through and through. He took the 857D and set it up as a base station at his home. Operating on HF on voice and packet modes.

Not long after that, his mother passed away. Then he suffered another stroke. His stepfather kept me updated for a while and let me know he survived, but sadly after that we eventually lost contact over the years.

He helped ignite the spark that started everything for me in this hobby. A lot of what I know today, and the passion I still have for learning, improving, and helping others, started with the time and patience he gave me when I was first getting started.

I still think about how much of an impact he had on my life and this journey.

Looking back now, finding these old photos and remembering all those years on the road made me realize something I don’t think I fully understood at the time. A big part of why I try so hard to help people today is because somebody once took that same time and patience with me.

Ham radio is more than just radios and antennas. Sometimes one person taking the time to help someone new changes the course of an entire future.

Kevin changed mine. Whether I knew it or not.

This is why I put as much effort as I do into helping people. Carrying on that effort he put into me, to be the person, the mentor, and the Elmer that he was for me, to others.

So wherever life has taken him these days, thank you Kevin.

73 my friend. I miss you.