Nate, KB1MFH, operates from Studio One at W1AW, ARRL HQ in Newington, CT.

Dan Meloche, W1DPM has been a ham for many years. But, as with a lot of hams, the demands of family and business has consumed much of his time and his Amateur Radio activity had fallen by the wayside. Then one day after a friend had mentioned something about ham radio Dan dusted off some of his equipment and started tuning the bands again. This time his young grandson, Nate, was with him in the shack. The more questions that Nate asked the more Dan became excited about Amateur Radio again.

Dan assembled his station again and one weekend while Nate was visiting with his grandfather Dan let the youngster take the mic and attempt to break a DX pile up. Nate worked a DX station on his first call. Sounding like a real contester, Nate told his grandfather "I could do this all night." Dan said "After that the fuse was lit."

Nate began studying the material to earn his Technician class license and with Dan's help Nate was learning CW, too. It wasn't long before Nate took the exam at a local hamfest and earned his Tech license. Nate had been bitten by the DX bug and was already studying for his General class license. Less than a week after receiving his new callsign, KB1MFH, Nate passed his Element 1 CW exam with solid copy. The future member of the DXCC Honor Roll has already applied for his vanity call and it looks like he will soon be N1IDX.

Dan was rediscovering Amateur radio again and Nate was experiencing it all for the first time. Their enthusiasm was so overwhelming that they decided to visit ARRL Headquarters and W1AW during Nate's spring break from school. What an experience it was. Nate sat at the controls of the big Yaesu FT-1000MP Mark V transceiver that was connected to one the mono-band antennas of W1AW and with his control operator next to him he talked to hams in Florida and Kentucky. The other operators were very happy to be able to talk to this new ham and they welcomed him to the friendly world of Amateur Radio. Nate said that working DX station and operating from W1AW were the highlights of his short ham radio experiences so far. These are things that take some hams years to accomplish if they even do it at all.

Dan has been helping Nate assemble a station and Nate now has an Icom IC-735 HF transceiver and a 3 element tri-band yagi. Their plan is to erect a small tower this spring and mount the tri-bander and some wire antennas. Dan also bought two code keys and now the two of them send and receive CW together.

Ten year old Nate is an honor student in the fourth grade and also enjoys playing little league baseball and basketball. He has set a goal of earning his Amateur Extra license by the time he turns twelve years old. He has been generating some interest in radio and electronics among his classmates at school. Nate would like to see more young people get involved with Amateur Radio and is looking to make scheduled contacts with other kids that are hams. He hopes to form a club at his school if there is enough interest. This outgoing and enthusiastic youngster may be sparking more people than his grandfather when it comes to ham radio. He may soon find himself president of his school's new Amateur radio club.

Dan enjoys helping Nate learn about Amateur Radio. He says that after being off the air for ten years he is now getting another opportunity to relive the excitement that he had when he first entered the hobby. Nate enjoys doing ham radio activities with his grandfather. Everyday he is able to learn or try something new and meet interesting people. When Dan took Nate to a VE session at Worcester Polytechnic Institute for his CW exam Nate told Dan that he would like to someday attend classes here. Amateur Radio may have exposed Nate to more that just fun and friendship. It has also allowed a grandfather and his grandson develop a bond that they can share forever.

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