OVH At The Manassas Airshow

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 … Read more >>

Sunshine Corner April

SUNSHINE CORNER Happy birthday wishes to the following club members:  Harry KC9TXL, Harry KN4IJY, Brian KK4CBS, Robert KJ4SZJ, Jeff KB4IWD, Gil KM4OZH, Paul N4PD, Joe KI4OHR, Steve KJ4YHA, Chris KU4FT, Lillian KK4MXY, David KI4AZX, Paul W4ZB, David KD4DEE. Special birthday wishes to Annemarie (George’s K4GVT mother in law), known to many of us as Oma.  She is celebrating 85 years young! I would say Happy Spring but every time I think it is spring, here comes the cold weather again! Since the March meeting cancelled due to weather, April will be the first meeting that Byron, AK4XR, will run as President of the club. Good to hear club members on the air for the Virginia QSO Party, please remember to turn in your logs and fill in OVH for your … Read more >>

Lifetime Achievement Awards – W1CRO and W4HJL

During the Year End Party, Lifetime Achievement Awards were shown to everyone that go to Art, W1CRO, and Butch, W4HJL, still very active with the club (both are OVH Directors).  Because neither was able to attend the party on December 10th, We took the party to them! On Tuesday night, December 12th, Bob, W4HJF, Terry, KC4DV, Paul, W4ZB, Ray, KM4EKR, Sandy, KM4JUS, John, KG4NXT and Theresa, KG4TVM all drove over to visit Butch, recuperating at home to deliver his award.  It was great to see him at home after his recent adventures in the hospital.  On Wednesday, December 13th, Terry, Ray, Sandy, John and Theresa drove to Arthur’s home to visit and deliver his award.  It was wonderful to Arthur and Joyce too. Butch and Art’s participation, leadership, expertise, friendship, etc. … Read more >>

OVH 2017 Christmas / Holiday Party

W4OVH’s annual year end Christmas / Holiday party was held on Sunday, December 10th at the Yorkshire restaurant in Manassas.   The turnout was wonderful, the donations to Toys For Tots was outstanding, and the fellowship amazing! The food – well just WOW on that.  No one there went away hungry. OVH wants to thank its members for their donations to Toys For Tots.  Thanks to the United States Marine Corp for sending two of their best to attend, Sgt. Tucker Renckert and Lance Corporal Sydney Ally, and they did not leave our party hungry! Pinky, OVH’s mascot attended the party too and she has some words of her own!  (see separate  post). Also during the Year End party, Lifetime Achievement Awards were shown to everyone that go to Butch, W4HJL, … Read more >>

Presidents Letter

Presidents Letter:   Greetings All, I hope that everyone had a happy and safe Halloween. Oh, all of the left over candy. Are your batteries charged??  Is your radio configured properly??  If not, then this may be the time to ensure they are.  With the weather getting colder, and the recent hurricane season, this is the perfect time to check the functionally of them.  For the newer members, don’t hesitate to ask someone for assistance if you need it. Also, December 2nd is For those that are D-Star folks, stay tuned for updates. I want to pass this along. It is from the ARRL Virginia Section Manager, Dr. Joseph G Palsa, K3WRY. “ SKYWARN™ Recognition Day (SRD) will take place this year on Saturday, December 2 from 0000 until 2400 … Read more >>

Club Member Spotlight – KK4BZ

Every once and awhile the Sunshine Committee does a Club Member Spotlight.  This time it is our member Duane, KK4BZ.  By  Theresa, KG4TVM. Many of you have met Duane, KK4BZ, formerly known as KM4RTB. He has been a club member for a little while now. Duane has managed to incorporate ham radio into his horse riding activities. During the March Virginia QSO party, he was horse mobile. Duane participates in endurance rides and would appreciate any ham radio assistance for these events. The riders use Baofeng HT’s to communicate during the events. Duane is available at martindh@iname.com for anyone that would like additional information. Here is some information from Duane: The “local” endurance rides are hosted by Old Dominion Endurance Rides, Inc., a 501c3 non-profit organization. I am very proud … Read more >>

Sunshine Corner October

SUNSHINE CORNER Happy birthday wishes to Terry WA5NTI, Doc W1IMX, Robert KK4MXU, Simon KB3QOA, Ray KM4EKR, Scott KB8NUM, Ruth KU4WH, Keith KM4AA and Phil AC4PL. Sending sunshine and continued best wishes to Butch W4HJL, George K4GVT and Jeff WB4TT, all three are recovering from hospital stays. Freedom Center Mini-Tri on Sunday, October 22nd, please contact Andy KJ4MTP if you can help, this is a fun event and it’s run very efficiently Congratulations to the club for providing radio communications for The Prince William Half-Marathon that was held on October 1st,. Thanks to those that answered the call to help. Special thanks to Wayne N7QLK for chairing this event and making sure the course was covered. Even though the year is starting to wind down there are still many activities going … Read more >>

VP’s Corner

VP’s Corner Jeff Fuller WB6UIE How many of you have mentioned your amateur radio hobby to family and friends? If so, I’ll bet you’ve heard comments like “Does anyone still do that?”, and “That’s so out of date. Everyone has cell phones and Internet now.” Well … if you’ve been following the news about the hurricane aftermath in Puerto Rico, you’ll know that two weeks after the storm most of the power is still out and less than 30 percent of the cellular network is working. The Red Cross went directly to ARRL and requested a deployment of 50 hams with equipment to support the relief effort. That “Force of Fifty” is now in place and providing communications support for hospitals and other key nodes [1]. So …keep those batteries … Read more >>