By K5KVN, on the scene

NORFOLK, Va. –  Mitch Eversdale blames it on “Three Lovely Ladies.” Those are the phonetics a ham in Michigan used when talking to a station with a callsign suffix of “TLL.” And it was the last straw for the long-time ham radio operator.

“It happens all the time and I’m sick of it. Just the other day, I was tuning around 40m and someone made ‘WB’ into ‘Wild Bill,’” said Eversdale.

A retired Navy radio operator, Eversdale admits he’s a “hardcore traditional man” when it comes to phonetics.

“Can you imagine saying something that ridiculous on a Navy frequency? I believe you’d get thrown into the drink if you did,” he says.

His ham radio friends, like Benny Roddenfall, have told him he needs to lighten up.

“I don’t know why he gets so worked up about it. Heck, he nearly punched me at the club meeting last week when I referred to QST Magazine as “Q Street,” says Roddenfall.

After overhearing the contact between the Michigan ham and the station ending in “TLL,” Eversdale says he’s through with being on-air.

“I’ll focus my attention on a hobby that takes things more seriously, like embroidery. There’s a hobby that can’t get things wrong.”