Hello Everyone,
Well, with regard to the beginning of May, it sure looked like we were going to go directly into summer. While I don’t mind the warm days, I do like it cooler in the evenings. I sleep better in the cooler evenings, and I tend to think of it as “free air conditioning”. Thankfully, we seem to have returned to seasonal weather.
Theresa, KG4TVM, is once again proving herself to be a force of nature. As if May and June aren’t already the busiest months of our club’s year, she has acquired a cache of very old OVH Newsletters, and has been scanning them into her computer and uploading them into our website’s Newsletter Archive. With John, KG4NXT, assisting with the scanning, our website now has issues dating back to 1984. If you hadn’t already gathered, Theresa is the Ole Virginia Hams’ Club Historian. If you want to see what used to be, just go to “About the Club –> Newsletters” and scroll down.
Our last Tailgate Party planning meeting of 2024 is this upcoming Thursday, May 16th.
As usual dinner will be at 6 PM and the business portion will start at 6:30 PM.
We meet at:
Sam and Joe’s Pizza
9784 Center St
Manassas, Virginia
(571) 719-3185
Our next OVH Monthly Breakfast get together will be on May 18th @ 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM EDT
Yorkshire Restaurant
7537 Centreville Rd
Manassas VA 20111
(703) 368-4905
While now under new ownership, the same staff will take care of us. We usually have 8 to 10 people that show up. I hope to see you there.
The next regular OVH will be held on Tuesday, May 21st, at 7:30 PM in the training room at the Buckhall VFD.
W4OVH Monthly Meeting – 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM EDT
Buckhall VFD Hall
7190 Yates Ford Road
Manassas, VA 20111
Our presenter will be Tailgate Chairman & Club Treasurer, Don, WA2SWX. He will be talking about the Tailgate Party, assignments and the planning and work that is going into it. It will also be one of the last times we will get to see and talk with him, as the time left on his retirement countdown clock is growing quite short. So, come on out and talk with him one last time before he leaves us for his newly built house on the beach in Ecuador.
The month of June is always our busiest month of the year with two major club events:
- The Manassas Tailgate Party (in lieu of Hamfest) on Saturday, June 1st from 7:00 AM until 1:00 PM EDT.
- Then the ARRL / OVH Field Day event will take place on June 22-23 at the Pavilion at the Nokesville Community Park.
Our Tailgate Party (in lieu of Hamfest) 2024 will be 1 June @ 7:00 AM – 1:00 PM EDT.
It will be our 50th Hamfest, however we are still in need for volunteers. Please contact Chairman Don @ wa2swxdm@gmail.com or use the signup sheet on our web site.
OVH Volunteers will need to be onsite no later than 6:30 AM.
This is the club’s signature event and is our main source of revenue.
Additionally, the Virginia QSO Party Award Presentations will take place at our Tailgate Party.
Location information:
Tailgate Party
9300 Signal View Drive
On the lot located on Signal View Drive across the street from Signal Hill Park.
Our 2nd big event will be the ARRL / OVH Field Day. This event takes place from 2 PM on Saturday, June 22nd until 4:59 PM on Sunday 23rd at the Pavilion at the Nokesville Community Park.
Bruce, KN4GDX, has been researching, testing and leading our club efforts to launch a weather balloon during Field Day. He intends it to be solar powered and use the WSPR (Weak Signal Propagation Reporter) protocol. He has successfully completed a test flight with a smaller balloon. I don’t know about you, but I am really looking forward to this.
I’m pleased to announce that Prince William County, Coles District Supervisor, Yesli Vega will be our guest elected official for Field Day. Supervisor Vega is a military wife, mother, former police officer and a Prince William County Sheriff’s Deputy who has dedicated her life to public service.
On the immediate Friday before Field Day, on June 22nd, we will be stringing the antenna wires and running power lines at:
Nokesville Park
12560 Aden Rd
Nokesville, VA 20181
(703) 792-6000
https://www.visitpwc.com/listing/nokesville-park/1721/
Hours: Opens 7AM Sat.
Come and be “Radio Active”. Or, if you would rather watch, you could see HF, VHF/UHF and Digital modes in action. With so much to explore, the opportunities are endless.
If you are new to The Hobby, make sure you are there for setup; then stick around and try to make a few contacts. Don’t worry if you are inexperienced, there are plenty of members around to help you get those first few contacts.
As this is a family event, we are pleased to tell you the Saturday night dinner is back. This is a potluck dinner, so please bring a favorite dish to share and dinner will be around 5 PM.
This will be a rain or shine event as we will be under the big pavilion. So come on out and get on the air!
Andy, KJ4MTP, is the coordinator for OVH’s annual participation with 2024 SOWW Warrior Bike Ride. We provide communications support for these 3 simultaneous bike rides. The riders will embark on “Quarter Century”, “Half Century” and “Century” bike rides. Those names derive from a metric (kilometers) distance of each bike ride. This event always occurs on the Saturday closest to 9/11. This year that will be Saturday, September 7th.
I expect Andy will be putting out a call for volunteers in the near future. You can check out their website https://www.willingwarriors.org to see why it is a great opportunity for us to volunteer for a great cause.
A reminder to check in to the OVH’s Thursday night VHF/UHF repeater net at 8 PM – details are on the OVH’s web site: https://www.w4ovh.net
This is a great way to stay in touch.
Questions, comments or war stories should be directed to my e-mail: kn4dd@arrl.net
73, Ken / KN4DD