Sunshine Corner – July 2026

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SUNSHINE CORNER – JULY 2026   Sending Happy Birthday wishes to the following club members:  Jack KN4HHQ, Steve KM4WVP, Philip KI4WGC, Jeff KM4FTK, Bruce KN4TS, George K4GVT, Jim KB0HSA, Sandy KM4JUS, Rosalie KN4ZLY, Jeff K9VEG, Luther WA3FMO, Stephen KO4GQR, William WB4KLC. I just recently went thru our membership list and compared it to the birthday list I have.  There are quite a few members who I don’t have birthday months for.  So, if you don’t see your name listed in your birthday month, please let me know at kg4tvm@hotmail.com Condolences to Ken KN4DD, his wife Paula passed away this month. Her final resting place is in New Jersey.   Please keep Ken in your thoughts and prayers, he is still having issues with his knee and needs another surgery. Condolences to … Read more >>

Field Day 2026

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The weather forecast predicted rain all day Saturday and Sunday. However, it did not rain on Saturday and we only got a few hours of rain on Sunday. Although we had no rain on Saturday it was very cloudy and we had to cancel the the balloon launch because the radio package would pick up cloud moisture.  Also, with the clouds, we did not put up solar panels. We had a lot of OVH members turn out: Theresa, KG4TVM; Byron, AK4XR; George, K4GVT; Wayne, AG4ZZ; Gene, N4HFW; Jay NQ4T; John, KG4NXT;  Butch, W4HJL; Paul, W4ZB; Lillian, KK4WX; Gil, KM4OZH; Mark, WA4KFZ; Scott, KR4BNF and Bruce, KN4GDX. We had many guests this year and the most distinguished guest was George Stewart who is the new Gainesville supervisor. He also visited Heritage … Read more >>

Sunshine Corner – June 2026

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Sending Happy Birthday wishes to the following club members: Jan, KE4TMW; Edward, KQ4DPP; Jim, KM4SXM; Sean, KQ4FRQ; Robert, W4PHX; Seth, WA4FZY; Wayne, AG4ZZ; Gene, N4HFW; Bob, K4HJF; Nick, no callsign; Daniela, KQ4IKQ; Noah, KQ4IDI; David, KQ4BDS; Dana, KM4TTP; Ron, K3FR and William, KO4QDL. Well, I can now say KG4NXT and I have been to Hamvention in May! What a crazy, but very organized event; it was massive. Even though we were in Ohio, we still ran into several OVH club members and had a great time! Congratulations to all the graduates over the last month. I know several club members including myself have graduates this year and we wish the best to all of them! Safe travels to Ron, K3FR, as he has moved to Johnson City, Tennessee. We will … Read more >>

President’s Letter – June 2026

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Welcome to June. This is the most important month of the year for the Ole Virginia Hams. We start with our Hamfest on June 20th. This is a bigger lift than the tailgates we have had in previous years. We host the Virginia QSO party and have free tables for ARRL and SKYWARN and a room for VE testing. This is our only fundraiser and we need to fund our repeater, internet and equipment insurance, liability insurance as well as provide for any needed equipment repairs or replacement. This is an all hands on deck event. If you have not already volunteered, contact Chair Theresa at kg4tvm@hotmail.com The week after that, we have our field day at Nokesville park. George, K4GVT, has his satellite set up working again. He has … Read more >>

OVH POTA activation

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Rob KR4EEV, John KG4NXT and Bruce KN4GDX operating digital

On the last day of May, Theresa, KG4TVM, called for a OVH club POTA activation at Manassas National Battlefield Park. There is only one area for POTA at the park, the Groveton Road picnic area. It has a shelter and bathrooms but the trees are puny. We used a hot spot provided by Byron, AK4XR, for spotting ourselves, using the POTA app on the web and for uploading the digital log. We had excellent weather and band conditions. We put up a vertical and George’s big ears antenna. OVH members attending were Theresa, KG4TVM; George, K4GVT; Bruce, KG4GDX; Rob, KR4EEV; Ken, KD4VA, and John, KG4NXT. George set up a sideband station and John set up a digital station. John and Rob made 16 contacts and George made 15. A good … Read more >>

Our First Hamvention

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Hat with Yagi on top

Hamvention to hams is like Mecca to Muslims and you should make the trip at least once. Back in 2003, I asked Theresa, KG4TVM if she wanted to honeymoon at Hamvention and she said no, but this year it was a birthday present from Theresa to me. We stayed at a state park cabin about 30 miles away from Hamvention at a place called Cowan Lake State Park. We arrived a day early and activated the park and nearby wildlife area for POTA. We did not park at Hamvention and instead parked at the high school and rode a school bus to the site. Interestingly, the town cancels school for Hamvention, so there was an abundance of parking and numerous perky high school students. Hamvention is a huge event and … Read more >>

Sunshine Corner

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SUNSHINE CORNER – MAY 2026   Sending Happy Birthday wishes to the following club members: John, KM4VCJ; David, KG4GIY; Bill, WA4FIC; Rob, KR4EEV; Dick, KM4UXE; Susan, K3SSP; Bruce, KN4GDX; Don, WA2SWX/HC4DA; Bob, KQ4PSE; Jim, WI4EE; John, KG4NXT; Kenneth, KI4EOH and Lynn, KX4HR. John, KG4NXT, and I are looking forward to going to Hamvention in Ohio in the next few days. There are several OVH members also going, so I hope we can all meet up at the event. This will be our first time going so I’m sure we will have some stories when we get back! Virginia QSO Party has preliminary results out and Gil, KM4OZH, is looking pretty good for a plaque and we will see if anyone else comes away with an award! Hamfest 2026 – June … Read more >>

President’s letter – May 2026

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President’s Letter – May 2026 I was not at the last OVH meeting because it was election day and I am an assistant chief election officer at Buckhall UMC. I am very pleased that Jason, K4APR, was able to present on his Radio Packet Network with audio/visual assistance from Byron, AK4XR. This coming May OVH meeting, we will have Scott, KE4WMF presenting. Scott is a competitor in the same class as our own Gil, KM4OZH.   Scott has a car with an impressive Antenna Farm on it. Scott will be presenting on what is in his car and how it evolved. The picture below is Scott’s contest car. The Virginia QSO party has posted (not quite final) scores and Gil has 74,420 points. This puts him at the top of the … Read more >>