President’s letter – April 2026

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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 Colgon 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 Junk in the trunk Hamfest.  Here is George K4GVT at our table at Junk … Read more >>

Sunshine Corner

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SUNSHINE CORNER – April 2026   Sending Happy Birthday wishes to the following club members:  Harry KC9TXL, Harry KN4IJY, Brian KK4CBS, Gene KN4JMB, Gil KM4OZH, Paul N4PD, Joe KI4OHR, Lillian KK4MXY, David KI4AZX, Paul W4ZB, David KD4DEE, Mark KN4OGC and Paul KO4UOO.   Very sad news on April 1st, Art W1CRO passed away.   Art was a club member for many decades and wore many hats in the club along the way.   George K4GVT is working with Art’s wife, Hajia to find new homes for Art’s ham equipment.   Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.  I did pull some photos of Art and along with the email stories and condolences, framed everything in a shadow box and gave it to Hajia at the viewing.  Sorry that I had to … Read more >>

Vienna Hamfest

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OVH Table at Winterfest

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 >>

George K4GVT does POTA

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George K4GVT on his first independent POTA

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.

Sunshine Corner

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SUNSHINE CORNER – March 2026 Sending Happy Birthday wishes to the following club members:  Noel NW5N, Scott KM4FID, Kate KR4FRP, Gary K4MRL, Jeff N1SN, Michael KO4BCN, David KO4HIR and Michael KO4HBU. Well I don’t think winter is done with us yet, but hopefully soon!!! Happy to hear that Butch W4HJL is home recuperating, excellent news! Vienna Winterfest is Sunday, March 15th.  OVH will have a table set up to spread the word about our Hamfest in June.  Please try to come out and support the Vienna group.  George K4GVT will be there talking to the vendors to see if they will come to our event. Virginia QSO Party is Saturday & Sunday, March 21st to 22nd.  Great contest and hope you will consider participating, at home or mobile.   Please remember … Read more >>

OVH VE Session February 28 2026

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On February 28 2026, OVH had its first in-person, all-electronic VE exam using the ExamTools system. We provided tests to four applicants, and everyone went home a winner. We now have one new Technician Class operator and three new General Class operators in our region. Grading exams is a cinch since we no longer must use the blue templates and pencil-checking approach. The computer system does everything for us! This makes the process effortless (for the VE team) when an applicant wants to attempt the next exam element for the same $15 exam fee. Three applicants paid in cash and one paid using a PayPal Pool account. When the ARRL opens on Monday, I will upload the Zip file containing all the exam information and make payment for the candidate testing … Read more >>

Sunshine Corner

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SUNSHINE CORNER – FEBRUARY 2026   Sending Happy Birthday wishes to the following club members:  Dick WN7S, Harvey WB6TTF, Jeff WB6UIE, Art W1CRO, Mike KN4NDI, Tyssen W8ZM, Gerald KN4DWT ****Please remember the February monthly club meeting with be held on the 3rd Wednesday (February 18th) at the Buckhall Fire Department.  This is due to Monday of that week being a Federal Holiday and it pushes the training room schedule by one day. ******  February meeting is always our annual election of officers!  Can we add your name to the slate?   Extremely sad news to report, James KQ4CAX passed away on February 5th.   James had a stroke at the end of November and then another stroke in January.  On the evening of February 5th, he suffered a cardiac event that … Read more >>

OVH goes to Middle Peninsula Hamfest

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On Feb 7, 2026, Theresa, KG4TVM, and John, KG4NXT, went to the Middle Peninsula Hamfest in Gloucester, Virginia. The weather was very cold and we had swirling snow that seriously obstructed our vision. We had a table and our primary purpose was to distribute OVH tailgate flyers, which we did. Ron, K3FR, attended too and had an IC-7100 with original box and manuals for sale. Ron got an offer but did not take it. We will be happy to take any other consignment items to Winterfest. We do not charge a consignment fee. Someone gave John a low power Dentron tuner. Scott KE4WMF is a VHF limited rover contestant like Gil KM4OZH. Scott parked his car with antenna farm in full bloom. He also gave a presentation on the evolution … Read more >>