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 20th is just over a month away!!! We could use about 5 more … Read more >>
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 Rover category and in … Read more >>
Gene/N4HFW shares a picture of his shack from the early 2000s. Gene introduced the OVH to the horizontal loop for field day and had one in his back yard fed with balanced line. In the picture, you can see both a balanced line tuner and a coax tuner. Gene has fond memories of code keys, a paddle and a straight key. They are shown above the transceiver. You also see a trusty Alpha amp on the right. For a larger picture, click on the image. If you would like your old shack picture featured, contact John/KG4NXT.
On April 18, 2026, W4OVH conducted our second exam session this year using the new ExamTools online system. Everything went smoothly and we added two new ham radio operators to our hobby! We also had our first opportunity to offer an exam to a 12-year-old and submit an “ARRL Youth Licensing Grant Program” application. This ARRL program reimburses the $35 FCC application fee, encouraging those under 18 years of age to become newly licensed hams. The 12-year-old earned his Technician class license. Four applicants were present at the exam session. Two new Technician Class licenses were earned and two hams qualified for an upgrade to General Class. Holding VE sessions in-person provides valuable face-to-face engagement with prospective members, allowing them to learn more about the club and its activities. All the applicants … Read more >>
Regretfully, Art/W1CRO has passed. His widow Hajia is selling his equipment which had accumulated over his lifetime.
There is a lot of stuff. The link for the pictures:
https://www.k4gvt.com/w1cro/index.html
The sale is on Saturday April 25 at 8:30 AM to noon at 12212 Woodlark Ct, Manassas.
President’s Letter – April 2026 Welcome to spring ! As it gets warmer, we get closer to our two big events of the OVH year: Hamfest and Field day. As you all know, Hamfest is our only fund raiser and we got bills to pay. For the first time, we are having Hamfest at Colgan High School which has loads of parking. We are having a combined Hamfest and Field day planning meeting on Monday April 27 at Hog Shack 10470 Dumfries Road, Manassas, VA at 6 pm. Please come and help us with these events. We have been working on publicizing our hamfest by distributing flyers at the Middle Peninsula hamfest, the Vienna Hamfest and Thawfest Hamfest. Here is George K4GVT at our table at Junk in the Trunk: … Read more >>
OVH went to Winterfest which is also know as the Vienna hamfest. They again had it at the Oakton high school and all tables were sold out. Unlike other hamfests, this is a BYOC event where you have to bring your own chairs. OVH had a table and distributed flyers to our upcoming hamfest in June. George K4GVT distributed flyers in the tailgate area and also in the inside. Theresa KG4TVM also distributed flyers inside. There were a number of OVH members including Bill AF4LL, Jim KM4SXM, Gil KM4OZH, Bruce KG4DGX and Karl W4KRL. This is probably the last time we will see Bill since he has taken a job in Kentucky. He has helped a lot with contacts on field day. The food prices were impressive – $4 for … Read more >>
In his own words: We did it our first POTA activation on our own. Ev was great support staff, Ev gave me encouragement to continue when we couldn’t find the first POTA spot, Ev suggested we go to another, that worked out for us. 13 contacts, possible more but we had a time constraint. Thank you John and Theresa for your mentorship Click the picture for more pictures.