Club News

President’s Letter for July 2023

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Greetings All, I want to jump right in as this month’s presentation is very important. Opioid abuse really has become rampant in today’s society and has even affected relatives of our OVH membership. As such, at this meeting, we will be stepping away from our normal format of ham related topics. Our monthly meeting on Tuesday, July 18th, will feature a presentation by Jim Wooller, BA, QMHP-A, CPRS – Behavioral Health & Wellness Specialist for Prince William County who will give a presentation on Narcan. Naloxone, sold under the brand name Narcan among others, is a medication used to reverse or reduce the effects of opioids. It is used to counter decreased breathing in opioid overdose. The training is about 40 minutes long and everyone who attends will receive Naloxone … Read more >>

OVH Trailer Repairs

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When we hauled the trailer to the OVH Tailgate Party, we noticed that there was a HOLE punched into the top front of the trailer. It was high up, beyond our reach. We do not know how it happened, but there it was. How do you fix a hole in the aluminum skin of the trailer? Answer: you call on our OVH machine shop owner, Gil, KM4OVH. Gil assessed the situation and had Ken, KN4DD, tow the trailer to his home which has an attached machine shop. Gil fashioned a very nice, shiny patch at the front top of the trailer. Click on the picture to get a larger version of the picture. While the trailer was at his place, Gil also fixed the back two stabilizer’s problems, one of … Read more >>

July 4th Firecracker 5k run

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Firecracker 5k Event - lined up to start

Early on July 4th, the OVH supported the Firecracker 5k run at the Freedom Center on the George Mason campus. Unlike the Mini-Tris that the OVH supports, this event had the runners on the streets outside of the campus. Therefore, the organizers wanted eyes on that part of the course with our instant radio support. Andy, KJ4MPT was Shadow and Net Control. Theresa, KG4TVM; Ken, KN4DD; Al, KB4BHB and John, KG4NXT manned posts along the race course. The police completely blocked off University Blvd which was a big help. This contrasts with the Mini-Tris, where some traffic is allowed. The race ended without safety incidents. Please click on the article to scroll through the photos.    

President’s Letter for June 2023

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Hello Everyone, The last few days in this, the first full week of June certainly has been different. The Canadian wildfires combined with an unusually low jet stream for this time of year has given us days of very bad air quality. In fact, the Washington, DC area reached the worst air quality in the world on Thursday, June 8th. We even had our first ever “Code Purple” day. And yet, in this bad luck, I think I see some good luck. We have just completed a successful Tailgate Party. If that bad air from those wildfires had reached us days earlier, I don’t think we would have had a successful Tailgate Party. The turnout would have been much lower, if any at all. So, I choose to be thankful … Read more >>

Review: 2023 Tailgate Party

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With the weekend behind us, it is time to take a look back at our Tailgate Party 2023.While we await the official numbers from our Treasurer & Tailgate Chairman Don, WA2SWX, I call it an unqualified success. It was our second ever Tailgate Party and I can say we have earned more than two and a half times our seed money. I have long held that “Good luck happens when preparation meets opportunity”. We were certainly well prepared.  Led by Don in his fourth outing as Tailgate / Hamfest Chairman, it was as close to a turnkey operation as he could make it. Your OVH Tailgate Committee met three times in 2023 to bring this together. With the Coronavirus days receding in the rearview mirror, our most pressing concern was … Read more >>

OVH VE Session

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Grading table with John, KG4NXT; Jay, NQ4T; David, KY4MM

The OVH sponsored a successful VE session on May 27th with a total of 6 candidates and everyone passed! We minted 2 brand new Techs, upgraded 2 folks to General Class and 2 other folks to Extra Class. In a first for us, we tested a legally blind ham Dominic, KD4MEZ.  Bruce, KN4GDX read him the questions aloud. In order to help, the ARRL had sent us 2 versions of the Extra Class exam that did not have diagrams. It would be hard to read a diagram. The VEs who attended were:  Al, KB4BHB; John, KG4NXT; Mark, WA4KFZ; Jay, NQ4T; Bruce, KN4GDX; Sean, KO4TZO; David, KY4MM; Ken, KN4DD and Andy, KK4ADQ. Special thanks for Ken for getting us a free room at his Lord of Life church in Clifton. Please … Read more >>

First POTA Activation

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James, KQ4CAX's first POTA activation

James, KQ4CAX activated Conway Robinson State Forest in Gainesville, VA for POTA (Parks on the Air) on May 21st.  James used FT8 on 20 meters using an end fed half wave antenna. He was accompanied by Don, WA2SWX and John, KG4NXT who also successfully activated the park. The solar flux was 170, which is good  but the K index was 4, which is not favorable.  

President’s Letter for May 2023

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Hello Everyone, I would like to jump right in this time. After a 2 year transition, the FCC implemented its new RF Exposure program. Ron, K3FR, reminded us at our last meeting on April 18th, that the rules phase-in would begin on May 3rd. As of this writing, that phase-in occurred about one week ago. Ron informed us that on pages 64 thru 66 in the May 2023 issue of QST magazine, there is an excellent article detailing this event. He also reminded us that on page 65, the ARRL provided a link to an ARRL RF Exposure calculator tool that is free. http://arrl.org/rf-exposure-calculator The article also states there is a simple method that many hams would like, but cautioned it might be too conservative for other hams, and the … Read more >>