Member Spotlight – Mark Baker KO4MBN

In January 2021, Mark Baker was not a ham. In December 2021, Mark is KO4MBN with a General ticket and has worked all 50 states and over 100 countries. Mark got his Tech ticket in February 2021. He joined the OVH in April 2021 and passed his General exam at an OVH VE session in October 2021. Zero to sixty in ham radio. Mark lives in Bristow, VA and is a Captain and Paramedic with the DC Fire Department. He has a number of other hobbies. He is an amateur astronomer. He does astrophotography and also landscape and nature photography. He is a pistol and rifle target shooter. He has three sets of dusty golf clubs as well as some bowling ball in the closet. Mark’s first exposure to radio … Read more >>

OVH Holiday Party 2021

Lynn, KX4HC, Norma, John KG4NXT, Theresa KG4TVM, Don WA2SWX, Edith, Julie, Bill AF4LL

On Sunday December 12, we had our annual OVH Holiday party organized by Theresa, KG4TVM at the Yorkshire Restaurant. We had an excellent Club turnout with over 35 attendees. No tables were empty in our section of the restaurant. We had a renewed emphasis on the potluck part of the dinner with many wonderful dishes. Al, KB4BHB and Wayne, N7QLK worried that they would not be able to provide venison for the dinner. However, they suddenly were lucky and harvested two deer and then there was plenty of venison for the chili. Gil, KM4OZH made lemon cake which was so popular that Gil did not get a taste. Gil has previously made lemon cake for the Fauquier Club’s party and did not get to taste his own cake there either. … Read more >>

Christmas Parade 2021

The Ole Virginia Hams supported the 2021 Christmas Parade in two ways. First, our trailer was decorated and became a float in the parade. Second, the club provided communications support for the event. Theresa, KG4TVM spearheaded the float effort.  She noticed the deadline and filed the paperwork – we got in the parade at no cost. Theresa, Ron, K3FR;  John, KG4NXT and Andrea, KI4SXM helped with the lights and decorations. Finally Gene, KN4JMB  pulled the trailer in the parade with his truck which was also decorated. Gene also helped decorate the trailer and the truck. George, K4GVT was our liaison for communications support with the parade.  We gathered for breakfast before the parade. The OVH members working the parade were John, KG4NXT; Theresa, KG4TVM; George, K4GVT; Ken, KN4DD; Dick, KM4UXE; … Read more >>

Jamboree on the Air 2021

JOTA group picture

On October 16, 2021, OVH went to Camp Snyder to support JOTA. The club members supporting were Theresa, KG4TVM; Wayne, N7QLK; Ken, KN4DD; Bruce, KN4GDX; Andrea, KI4SXM; Rob, W4FSK; Mike, KO4BCN; Don, WA2SWX and Ron, K3FR. Diana, KO4QJR was also there to help us. On the day before, John , Bruce and Al, KB4BHB set up antennas for the event. Although not physically present, we heard club member Bill, AF4LL talking to scouts on 2 meter FM. We had a wide variety of stations. Don had DStar. Ken ran 2 meter FM. Bruce had a digital voice station. John ran FT8. We did not have as many scouts as we would have liked. We started with good weather but a storm front was approaching around noon and we secured at … Read more >>

OVH VE Exam

VE Examiners October 2021

The OVH Volunteer Examiners held an exam session in Nokesville Community Park on October 2nd, where we have Field Day. We had 10 applicants and subsequently, 11 new licenses. We have 7 new Techs and 3 new Generals. One fellow passed both Tech and General. One fellow did not pass his upgrade test. The OVH Volunteer Examiners were Al, KB4BHB; “The Other Ken”, KN4DD; George, K4GVT; Ray, KM4EKR and John, KG4NXT. Theresa, KG4TVM was a great help with checking people in and organizing the returns. John planned to upload the results electronically, but it turns out that the link is “non public” and the ARRL VEC office was not answering the phone on Saturday. Therefore, John had the results in the mail by 1 PM on the day of the … Read more >>

Don, WA2SWX, awards Amelia Powell for exceptional service

Don WA2SWX presents Award and embroidered polo shirt to Amelia Powell of Parks and Recreation division of Manassas Park

Back in 2019, the Prince William Fairgrounds announced that it had been sold. This was significant to the Ole Virginia Hams because this was the traditional home for our Hamfest. And so, it was time to move our Hamfest location. We looked at many venues, schools, shopping centers and could not find anything that met our needs. And then we met Amelia Powell. Amelia works for the Parks and Recreation division of Manassas Park. It was Amelia who booked us at the Manassas Park Community Center This was a much bigger task than many people realize. The Hamfest Planning Committee, led by Don, WA2SWX, had to completely change venues. Planning and implementation changes included parking, security, food sales, setup access and tear down. Amelia was very helpful every step of … Read more >>

OVH VE session and …. all pass

Test grading

On May 8, 2021, OVH held a VE session at the Nokesville Community Park. Our Volunteer Examiners were Al, KB4BHB; Ken, KN4DD; Mark, WA4KFZ; Tony, KM4KLB; Ray, KM4EKR; George, K4GVT and John, KG4NXT. Additionally, OVH members Theresa, KG4TVM and Eric, KO4MBI came to the session to assist. All 6 of the applicants earned a new license. There are 5 new Technician licensees and one new General, OVH’s own Harry Zint, KN4IJY. One new twist for this VE session was that all of the applicants had to have an FRN (FCC Registration Number) before testing. You can no longer come to the VE session with just a social security number. Surprisingly, all applicants came with an FRN. Ken, KN4DD was prepared to apply on-line for any applicant that arrived without an … Read more >>