Hi. My name is Ben and I am a General class ham radio operator from Missouri. I am twelve years old. I have always loved to work with electronics. I used to take broken things apart to see how they worked. Because of my interest in electronics, ham radio came naturally to me.
My elementary school was a Partner in education with Union Electric. One day, an employee of theirs (Tom Mills, KB0POS) came to our class to demonstrate ham radio. I knew at that moment that I wanted to be a ham. I studied for my Novice license and got it when I was ten years old. Later on, I upgraded to a Tech Plus and then to a General.
I like CW for the challenge of it, and I like SSB because you can have conversations on the air using it. I decided to buy an inexpensive rig that would let me do both. I chose the Kenwood TS-820S, and it works great. I then put up a simple multiband dipole and got on the air! Tube radios are the most fun for me. I like the challenge of using them, and I can easily understand how they work. All of the radios in my shack, except for my two meter HT, use tubes. I enjoy listening to the BBC on my Hammarlund HQ-129-X from the late forties. I also have a working Gonset G-50 for 6 meter AM that is currently for sale.
Overall, I think that ham radio is the best hobby that I have ever had. It is interesting and educational, and there is always somebody new to talk with.