(Editor)

The OVH Times is the official publication of the "Ole Virginia Hams" ARC, a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion and enhancement of Amateur Radio. The OVH ARC meets at 8:00 PM every third Monday of the month at the NOVEC Tech Center in Gainesville. Prospective members are invited.

Local information can always be obtained, at any time, through the usage of the OVH repeaters (146.97- & 224.660- Mhz). All are welcome.

Letters to the Editor and Classified Ads are accepted and welcome. Approx. Circulation - 170

The meeting was called to order by President Bill Hinely at 2000.

Twenty three members and one guest were present.

Following the pledge of allegiance, all members and guests stated their names and call signs.

The minutes of the May 2002 OVH meeting were approved.

Treasury Report - Bill/N4WJN - The Treasurer's report was approved.

Hamfest - There was some general discussion about the 2002 Manassas Hamfest. The consensus was that the Hamfest was a success and that the one dollar increase in admission was successful and helped with revenues. The 2002 Hamfest was the most profitable since the 1998 Manassas Hamfest. Ideas for next year included raising the tailgate fee and putting up signs to alert attendees to the vendor building. Mary Lu/KB4EFP reported that there were approximately 1,500 tickets in the barrel. It was also acknowledged that attendance was not as good as in some previous years, and that this is a nationwide phenomenon. We will need to discuss this issue before the 2003 Manassas Hamfest.

Education - Bill/K9ZD - There are no major changes from the previous month. All from the Spring 2002 class who took the test passed. Congratulations Bill and the examinees. The next class will start in the fall.

Club Emergency Coordinator - Brian/KE4NFK - Brian reported that the NVTN picnic was a success.

ARES - David/KG4GIY - David gave a brief presentation on ARES and the distinction between ARES, RACES and VA ARES/RACES Inc. He pointed out that ARES is an official ARRL organization. The organization called VA ARES/RACES inc. has conducted some emergency training exercises and may or may not be sanction by the state of Virginia. They are not ARRL affiliated. RACES is a FEMA statute. It can be activated by the Emergency Manager at any government level (local, city, state, federal). Officially, RACES has nothing to do with ARES. In Virginia, ARES and RACES were one "tied unit" until two years ago. Now, to be a member of RACES, you must be registered with a civil defense organization. However, David pointed out that if RACES is activated, David will give the appropriate RACES officials our ARES registration forms, and we will then be registered with RACES. The other organization has done various drills that may or may not be sanctioned by the state.

David/KG4GIY created an administrative structure for ARES. The "North County" coordinator is Brian Cochran/KE4NFK. Steve Frick/N4OGR is the "Behind the Scenes Coordinator."

FAR - Ruth/KU4WH - Tom Podlesak/WA2QAL went to the most recent FAR meeting. He presented ideas to FAR on the 2003 National Historical Railway Society event. On a humorous note, Tom noted that someone is having a Hamfest on Field Day. There seems to be general approval of the higher price of the newsletter. There was an attempt to get FAR listed as a charity for tax purposes, but that can't happen because the administrative cost would be too high.

Membership - Charlotte/KG4QXO - Two new applicants for OVH membership were read in. These were Robert (Bob) Johnson/W4YQ and Theresa Grogg/KG4TVM.

Newsline - Ken/KB4ZOH - all is o.k. with the Thursday night nets.

Packet - Bill/N4WJN - We are repairing some radios for the packet station. One has been repaired and one is in the process. There are some bugs in the system that are being resolved. Bill gave some additional details on how to access his packet station and other aspects of packet.

Repeaters - Art/KW4AW - We occasionally get interference on the 2M repeater, but all is going well with the repeaters otherwise.

We received a thank you letter from Brian Myhre/KG4DMM, one of the 2002 OVH scholarship winners. The note was read by Bill/K9ZD. John Fritch/N4WJN gave an update on Miguel Guerra, the other OVH scholarship winner. Miguel has received some more grants and scholarships from VA tech.

Bill/K9ZD gave an update on the VE session at the Hamfest. Fourteen Technician, three General, and 12 Amateur Extra exams were passed. In the past we handed back all proceeds from the exam to the ARRL. But now we have to rent a facility. We charge $10. We can retain up to $4. Our cost for the facility was $125. That was about $3.50 per test taker, so we were able to retain enough to cover the $125 rental fee. To charge nothing, we need to become Laurel VEs. We are not Laurel VEs. Becoming Laurel VEs as opposed to ARRL VEs would make it more difficult to become an ARRL Special Service Club.

A discussion ensued on how to conduct future VEs. Bill/N4WJN suggested that we decide once and for all regarding what should be done. Bill/N4WJN made a motion that we withhold as much revenue from OVH VE sessions as we can justify. The motion passed.

It was also noted that the air conditioning had not been turned on at the VE session. In the future, Dwight/KG4SUL can get the air conditioner turned on.

Field Day -Art/KW4AW - Doc/W1IMX will have an open-bed pickup for the generators. We need to be at the shed at 0830 on Saturday morning, June 22, 2002 to get the Field-Day equipment. We have until 1400 to get set up. The event starts at 1400. The club picnic will be at 1800. We have sent invitations for public officials to show up. Bill/K9ZD has the banners. We will have a public-information table, which is worth 100 points in the contest. If we see a stranger who looks interested in what we are doing, we need to entertain him/her. Bill/K9ZD is bringing his fancy rig, and, of course, his very fancy chair. We will be 3A station plus GOTA. Many other Field-Day items were discussed. Last year’s computer program for logging contacts will not work this year, so we need new software. John/KG4NXT will take care of the new software.

The meeting adjourned at 2129.

NEWINGTON, CT, Jun 27, 2002--The International Space Station Expedition 5 crew of US astronaut Peggy Whitson, KC5ZTD, Russian cosmonaut and crew commander Valery Korzun, RZ3FK, and cosmonaut Sergei Treschev, RZ3FU, is settling in aboard the space outpost. The increment 5 crew is the second all-ham crew to serve a duty tour aboard the ISS. The Expedition 5 team will be in space for 4-1/2 months.

Scheduled Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school contacts are set to resume in early July, when QSOs have been penciled in with the Progymnasium Rosenfeld in Rosenfeld, Germany, and the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum in Chicago. Other contacts with schools and educational institutions in the US and abroad are pending.

Although school contacts have been on hold during the crew transition, all has not been silent on the ARISS front. Korzun occasionally has been active on 2 meters as RS0ISS and even made a few contacts during Field Day. Among those reporting QSOs was Huntsville, Alabama, AMSAT Area Coordinator Tim Cunningham, N8DEU. He worked Korzun from the K4BFT Field Day setup, where he managed the satellite station. Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT, of New Mexico, also reported a quick Field Day QSO with Korzun while using only a 5 W handheld transceiver and an Arrow antenna.

On June 12, Lonny Kelly, W7LGK, struck up a casual QSO with Korzun after he heard some activity on the ARISS downlink frequency (145.800 MHz ) and put out a call. "Man, what an exciting moment!" he said afterward. "I had been trying for a little over a year to talk to one of the astronauts aboard the ISS, and I had finally made it."

The Expedition 5 crew officially began its duty tour June 7, arriving aboard the shuttle Endeavour. Since coming aboard, the crew has been unpacking gear and familiarizing itself with the station and its systems. A Progress supply rocket is scheduled to dock with the ISS June 29.

Still undetermined is the effect on the ISS schedule resulting from the grounding of the NASA shuttle fleet while it looks into possible fuel line cracks. Missions are scheduled for July, August and October, when the Expedition 6 team is scheduled to arrive, and the current crew returns home.

Expedition 4 crew members Commander Yury Onufrienko, RK3DUO, and astronauts Carl Walz, KC5TIE, and Dan Bursch, KD5PNU, completed a 196-day mission on June 19. Walz and Bursch now jointly hold the record for the longest single spaceflight in US history. With his total of 231 days in orbit during five missions, Walz has accumulated the most time in space among US astronauts.