David May of St. George, Utah

Two children and twenty-one adults took the FCC General Class ham radio operator exam in July 1984. David May, then nine years old, was the only one who passed it! He sends and receives messages in Morse code at better than thirteen words per minute! Because of David’s enthusiasm, his grandmother in California became a licensed operator, too, and now they send each other messages in code.

After David contacts someone new, he and his new friend exchange radio cards, called QSL cards, by mail. QSL cards from more than thirty states and several countries are proudly displayed in David’s “ham shack.”

Besides his QSL card, David sends his contacts mazes that he has drawn. He considers that you (readers of the Friend) are his friends, too, so he sent one for you to do!

David, his parents, and his sister, Heather, have a flower shop in their home. Upstairs are the ham shack, a puppet theater, and a railroad museum, where David sometimes operates miniature trains.

Besides all this—and school and chores—David keeps busy attending Webelos and pack meetings (his father is Cubmaster for their ward), helping out in the flower shop, creating computer programs, playing ragtime music on the piano, and helping take care of the family pet, Bo.

Photos by Dick Brown