[aprssig] New ham

[scott at opentrac.org]

I think everyone here knows that I'm proud of my OpenTracker project and the
new Tracker2, but there are a couple of (co-)creations of mine that I'm
infinitely more proud of, and I wanted to take a second to acknowledge one
here:  Charlie Miller, my 10-year old son, passed his Technician test on
Sunday and was just issued the callsign KI6FAL.  He met his goal of earning
his license at a younger age than his old man with a few months to spare.

I've already got a miniature T2 prototype set aside for a bike tracker, and
I'm looking for a good compact 5-watt 2-meter HT that's not too bulky for a
10-year old to handle comfortably.  Any suggestions?  The VX-150 looks good,
but looks can be deceiving - with the stock battery, my small-looking TH-D7A
barely fits in MY hand!

Maybe in a couple of years his little sister will be ready to try for her
license, and the family record, but Ohm's Law is tough when you haven't
learned multiplication yet.  For now it's Grandma, KK6AD, who needs to be
studying - she promised that if Charlie passed she'd ditch her old Advanced
ticket and upgrade to Extra!

Charlie's in Woodstock, VA through next week and he'll most likely be on the
local net on (I think) Monday.  If you're in the area, be sure to pop in and
say hi - I'm sure he'd love to hear from everyone.  Anyone know if there's
an IRLP node in the area?

73,

Scott
N1VG