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 a new controller that automatically points his twin circularly polarized antennas at the satellite as it moves. On Saturday afternoon, Bruce, KN4GDX, will be releasing a hydrogen balloon with a radio payload. We expect to be able to track the balloon in real time at the park. We will have a Saturday night potluck at 5 pm. All are welcome, so bring family, friends and neighbors.
On another note, Jeff, WB4TT, is the new trustee of the W4PVA call. This was the call sign of Harry, who was the club founder. Contact Jeff if you want to use the call at an event.
Our old newsletters are available on an archive site, https://archive.org/details/ole-virginia-hams. We need to thank Theresa KG4TVM for taking many hours to scan them in and to Kay Savetz, K6KJN for loading them on the archive site.
Finally, we are having our OVH meeting on Tuesday June 20th at 7:30 pm. George, K4GVT, is presenting something on RF and keyless automotive entry systems that is very exciting. He has previously presented this as a paper at a convention. We are not allowed to get too descriptive. Here is his summary:
Most of us have used keyless automotive entry never thinking about vulnerabilities with the current systems. The automotive manufacturers are well aware of these vulnerabilities. With the exception of a few, they have not corrected this weakness. In this presentation I will explain, illustrate, and live demo a system that will allow access to most vehicles and methods of securing. All demonstrations will be conducted with the owner’s permissions.
73,
John, KG4NXT