Every so often a story comes along that's a genuine shot of good news for the hobby, and this is one of them.
A brand-new young ham in Arizona walked away with a lot more than just a call sign this month. 10-year-old Reynaldo Mangual passed his Technician class license exam, earning the call sign KM7HFU from the FCC — and the Maricopa Amateur Radio Association (MARA) decided that deserved a proper welcome.
A Station, Not Just a Certificate
MARA presented Reynaldo with an almost-new Yaesu FT-857D HF/VHF/UHF multimode transceiver, an LDG YT-100 automatic antenna tuner, and a power supply — a full working station handed straight to a ten-year-old on the day he earned his license. The gear had been donated anonymously to the club, with one condition attached: that it go to a deserving young person the moment they passed their exam. Reynaldo was that person.
The club didn't stop there either. Member Steve Miller, W6DSM, who collects and restores historic Morse keys, gave Reynaldo a fully restored World War II-era J-38 telegraph key to help introduce him to code — a nice touch linking a brand-new ham to a piece of radio history.
Already Getting Stuck In
Reynaldo has since joined ARRL, and he's also a member of the Pinal County 4-H Amateur Radio Club, a youth programme backed by 4-H, MARA, the Arizona 4-H Foundation, and a grant from the Amateur Radio Council of Arizona. He now holds the title of MARA's youngest member. MARA is an ARRL-affiliated club.
