Members of the Old Virginia Hams participated in the Manassas Airshow on May 5th, 2018 at the Manassas airport by setting up a booth to show off some of the many activities in amateur radio to the attendees. There is much cross over between air enthusiasts and amateur radio. The club saw this as an opportunity to introduce the hobby to those who may not fully understand the various aspects and opportunities in the hobby. This public outreach was also provided a chance to not only educate but to make the community aware of our club and what we do.
The club displayed five different items:
- A homemade crystal radio using soda cans as capacitors, made by Al, KB4BHB
SDR CW radio built by John, KG4NXT - 2 meter Fox and hound, build using a Raspberry Pi made by John, KG4NXT
- A live FT8 demonstration using John’s ICOM IC-7610 and Kevin’s, KX4KU, AlexLoop
- An Fldigi Morse code demonstration using two laptops.
The table also had display boards and handouts for visitors, and small toy plane whistles and gliders for the kids.
The soda can crystal radio seemed to attract the most visitors and many kids liked hearing their name in Morse code. People also asked questions about the various displays including what they did and how they work. The location also helped traffic as it was near the visitors near the entrance to the show. We also got to experience a great airshow with fascinating demonstration flights of various aircraft new and old.
Thanks to the club members who participated in this event, which required a long day at the airport. Members and the show were John and Theresa Heartney, KG4NXT and KG4TVM respectively, Ray and Sandy Knight, KM4EKR and KM4JUS respectively, Wayne Phillips, N7QLK and Kevin Utzy, KX4KU. Other club members who assisted in the planning are Don Meyerhoff, WA2SWX and Paul Richter, W4ZB.
