What is 4-H?

4‑H is delivered by Cooperative Extension—a community of more than 100 public universities across the nation that provides experiences where young people learn by doing. The goal of 4-H is to teach youth citizenship, leadership, and life skills. For more than 100 years, 4‑H has welcomed young people of all beliefs and backgrounds, giving kids a voice to express who they are and how they make their lives and communities better.

Purpose:

The 4-H Ham Radio Club is for youth age 9 to 18 years old. The club provides members opportunities to explore science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) through amateur radio communications and related electronics projects. Club meetings are focused on hands-on activities and community events. An FCC amateur radio license is not required to join, but the club strives to inspire and help members who are interested in getting their license achieve that goal.

Meetings:

Monthly club meetings occur on the 2nd Tuesday of each month from 6:30-8:00 PM. We will start with the 4-H and American pledges, and then do the business portion of our meeting. At the conclusion of any business, we do a presentation and activity. Our usual meeting location rotates between the 4-H VCE office in Warrenton or the Fauquier Fairgrounds. We give a heads-up email with our location at least a week ahead of time. Email is our primary mode of communication.

Through out the year we do multiple community events, outdoor activities, and contests. These are in addition to the regular monthly meetings, and provide the club with opportunities to get out and put what we learn in the meetings to practice.

Parent (or Grandparent, Aunt, Uncle, etc.) Involvement:

4-H Club Membership is free thanks to the 100's of volunteers that offer their time to organize activities for our clubs. Volunteers help with things like planning fieldtrips, organizing a service project, bringing snacks, or leading kids in a hands-on project. If you are willing to volunteer your time to help out with this club, please contact us at n4hkz.club@gmail.com .

Club Activities:

Hand On Activities: Each of our monthly meeting focuses on a radio or electronics topic. Along with a brief presentation or instruction period, we do an activity. These include things like soldering electronics kits, scratch building antennas or other equipment, and, of course, time on the club's radios.

Field Trips: Some of the club's favorite activities take us outside during the summer and on weekends. At least once a year, we will put on a "Fox Hunt" which involves using radio direction finding techniques to find a hidden transmitter. We will also do portable for activities like "Summits on the Air" where we hike to the top of a hill/mountain to take advantage of the increased distances we can talk over with our radios up there.

Community Events: Thanks to a grant from ARDC we built a Youth Station and Outreach Trailer. Throughout the year, we go to events like the county fair, Hamfests, back-to-school fairs, and special events. These events give us opportunities to demonstrate what we're learning in the club, and to share our excitement about STEAM with other youth.

Ham Radio Contests: While we are not a contesting club, we do participate as a club with our N4HKZ club callsign in some ham radio contests throughout the year like Virginia QSO Party and ARRL's School Club Roundup. The club placed 3rd in their category during the 2022 Virginia QSO Party. These contests are completely voluntary for those in the club that want to participate, but they give a great chance to spend more time on the radios than we can during meetings.

Membership:

To join, youth must be registered at v2.4honline.com. If your child is not registered, they will not be able to participate in 4-H. There is no cost to join 4-H. 4-H Ham Radio Club Members must be 9-18 years old as of September 30, 2023.

contact

For more information, please contact Nic Wall (KY4OP) at n4hkz.club@gmail.com . If you are interested in joining, please send Nic a note so he can make sure to include you in communications about upcoming meetings.