One night in early June of 1970, I called CQ on 7195, and was answered by 
WN5ZQD.

I sent my name, QTH, and his report, then turned it back to him.

He said his name was Larry, and that he was in Carlsbad New Mexico. Then, he 
asked "What is your last name?"

When I told him he replied:

Mine is Higgins. If you are who I think you are, we were roommates at the 
Mississippi School for the Blind when you were in the first grade."

Neither of us had heard of Ham Radio in the first grade, but, we both had 6 
transistor radios which were almost permanently attached to our hands.

Each morning after breakfast, Larry and I would have a contest to see whose 
radio would play the loudest on WNOE, a Rock 'N Roll station from New 
Orleans, La, about 200 miles from the school. We never figured out that the 
winner was always the one who had the newest battery. All we knew is that it 
was great fun. Eventually, we also discovered that it drove the house mother 
nuts, which increased the fun factor by at least 10 times!



I left school 2 weeks early that year because of the measles. Larry moved 
away that summer, and no one had heard from him until he answered me on the 
40 meter Novice band.

We kept weekly schedules for the rest of that summer, and moved to the 
General CW portion of 40 meters on Weekends after we both upgraded.

He later let his ticket lapse, but we now trade messages occasionally via 
e-mail.





Mike Duke, K5XU
American Council of Blind Radio Amateurs