President’s Letter July 2026
The OVH had a great June with a successful Hamfest and successful Field day the next weekend.
Theresa, KG4TVM chaired our successful Hamfest; we have not had a Hamfest in several years and instead having tailgates. We had good attendance, good table sales and good outside tailgate participation. Importantly, we made enough money to get us through 2026. A huge thanks to all who made this possible.
We approached Field Day with a dreadful weather forecast. However, we had very little rain on Saturday and only a shower on Sunday which quit in time for us to take down the antenna without being soaked. George, K4GVT, setup his satellite system and made 13 or so contacts. One negative was that our balloon launch was cancelled because of most clouds that the payload was not hardened against. We had some important visitors. George Stewart, the Gainesville Prince William Supervisor stopped by. We also had a Sunday morning visit with Mike, WA8AHZ, who is the ARRL Section Manager for Virginia. Bruce, KN4GDX, had some serious emergency communication discussion with Mike.
We hope to launch the field day balloon later this summer combined with a club picnic and possibly POTA activation. Stay tuned for more information.
July is also the month of the 13 Colonies contest. Don, WA2SWX/HC2DA, got all but one from his station in Ecuador. Other known OVH participants include Al, KB4BHB; John, KG4NXT; Wayne, N7QLK; and Jim, KM4SMX.
Lastly, Berryville Hamfest is fast approaching on Sunday August 2. This is a big Hamfest with several indoor buildings and a large tailgate area. The Ruritans serve excellent breakfast and lunch. It will be fun to go to this Hamfest and not be running it.
73, John, KG4NXT