A CAITHNESS boy has become one of the youngest people in the UK to gain an amateur radio licence. Danny Morrison, who is eight-and-a-half, has just passed the Amateur Radio (Foundation) Licence which will entitle him to transmit to other enthusiasts anywhere in the world.
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To pass the exam the youngster, who lives at West Murkle, had to get to grips with a host of technical information and learn about VHF and UHF signals, Ohm's law which deals with voltage, amps and current for electrical circuits as well as the ionosphere – the upper part of the atmosphere – and Morse code.
His dad, Denny Morrison, who has been an amateur radio enthusiast for 25 years, was delighted with the lad's success and pointed out that Danny began to show an interest when he was about six.
The event that attracted him to the hobby happened over two years ago when Denny and Donald Mackay, from Sarclet, made radio contact with and talked to American astronaut Bill McArthur aboard the International Space Station which was orbiting above the Earth at a speed of around 17,000 miles an hour. Denny recorded the conversation so that Danny could let his teacher and classmates hear it.
Shortly afterwards Danny began to take an active interest, as his father explained: "Just after that he started coming in and listening when I was using the equipment, and then this summer he decided he would like to do the exam. It was something he wanted to do.
"Jim Moar from Castletown took him under his wing in July, and last Thursday night he sat and passed the exam in the Nethercliffe Hotel in Wick.
"I am very proud of him – it is quite an achievement. I would think he is the youngest ever in the Highlands to get the licence and must be one of the youngest in Scotland and, indeed, the UK, although I know there have been kids aged seven and eight who have passed the exam in England."
Danny was also delighted to have got his licence so young. "I never thought I would get it but I did. It was pretty difficult but I worked hard for it," he said.
Danny, who now has his own logbook to record his calls, hopes his hobby will come in useful not only at the moment but also in his working life. "I would like to be a sea captain and the radio licence would be good for that," he added.
Denny, who works with Scottish Water, is the voluntary North of Scotland regional manager for the Radio Society of Great Britain.
Jim Moar, who took an interest in amateur radio as a boy and got his licence in his early twenties, has been providing his expertise to enthusiasts on a voluntary basis for about six years. He says Danny is the youngest person he has taught – most are in their forties, although his oldest was in his seventies.
"It's nice to see an eight-year-old taking an interest in the hobby and it is refreshing from my point of view," said Jim, of Stanergill Crescent, Castletown. "It's a daunting prospect for a youngster of that age as there is a lot of technical stuff to learn but Danny took it all in, no problem at all.
"Passing the exam is an achievement he can be very proud of and could prove useful later in his life."
The youngster's success has inspired his mum, Rona, to take up the challenge and she now plans to be the next in the Morrison household to sit the exam.
Danny's achievement may also influence his five-year-old brother, Andrew, to follow in his footsteps when he is a bit older – but Denny is making no predictions about that at the moment. "It is too early to say yet," he said. "We will just have to wait and see what happens."
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