06/30/2009 | W8UM My Field Day was made even before we started operating. About 1:30 pm EDT, we got a visit from 13-year-old Stuart and his mother. Stuart had been listening to ham radio operators for several years with his little hand-held Yaesu, but had never met a real ham radio operator or seen ham radio in action. Imagine visiting a Field Day site (we were category 4A, with a GOTA station and a VHF/UHF station) as your first peek at ham radio!

Because he had listened for so long, Stuart already knew a lot about ham radio. But, one thing that was really surprising is that Stuart had taught himself how to copy Morse Code, and, to top it all off, he could copy CW at 30+ wpm!

As we had a few minutes before the start of the contest, I walked him over to one of the CW stations and gave him a demonstration. Fortunately, I got a call to my very first CQ. Stuart was so excited by the contact that he was shaking.

Unfortunately, Stuart and his mother couldn't stay long, but they promised to come back the next day. They again appeared about 1:30 pm EDT. After a short visit to the VHF/UHF station, I sugggested that we head over to the GOTA station. Before long, we were sitting at the controls.

After giving him a demonstration of how the paddles worked, I had him practice a bit at 15 wpm. Even though he'd never touched a key before in his life, he was sending near perfect code! Then, I asked if he'd like to try to make his very first contact. "Yes!" was the excited reply.

I coached him to tune around for a strong signal, and we found K2ZR. I gave him the nod when to send our call--W8PGW--and he sent it perfectly. K2ZR came back to us immediately. I had already told Stuart about the exchange, and he replied, "R 4A MI." When K2ZR sent "TU" Stuart's first contact was complete. I showed him how to log the contact, and then he was off the to races.

In the last 21 minutes of Field Day, Stuart made 12 contacts! Not a bad rate for someone who'd never touched a key until about 20 minutes earlier, wouldn't you say?

Even if we accomplished nothing else over the weekend, I'd call our Field Day a success based on this one experience. Stuart's mom says he'll be getting his license at our club's test session in August (he's going to be at Boy Scout camp when we test in July) and then become a regular at our meetings. Welcome to ham radio, Stuart.

For a little bit longer version of this story, visit my blog, www.kb6nu.com. -- KB6NU