Hello to all; My interest in ham radio started at an early age when my dad took me to Cutler Naval Radio Station in a remote section of eastern Maine when they held their annual "open house". At that time, Cutler was the largest VLF transmitter in the world. The Navy would allow licensed operators to use some of the gear there and what a thrill it was to watch some of the contacts that were made. My neighbor and best friend's dad was also a ham and we were always watching him operate. As kids, we saved up our allowance and paper route money to purchase the little $9.95 Knight Kit walkie-talkies and his dad watched over us as we built them ourselves which only increased our hunger for ham radio. I've always kept my original callsign, KA5NXT, and probably will even though I progressed up thru the licensing ranks. Today, I try to promote ham radio as much as I can with the younger generation thru the use of digital communications, but don't be surprised to find my call going out on cw on the low side of 40 meters once in awhile. 73's. Larry, KA5NXT