President’s Letter for March 2023

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Greetings to all. Well, we had our annual club officer elections at our meeting last month. I’d like to thank everyone who participated. I am reminded of a line from a song by The Who from years ago. “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”. John, KG4NXT; Don, WA2SWX and I (Ken, KN4DD) are returning to our positions as Secretary, Treasurer and President, respectively, I want to give a big thank you to Tony, KM4KLB for his service as Vice President. The new addition to our cadre of officers is Gil, KM4OZH. Gil has been active with the OVH since 2015 and has been behind the scenes in many activities. Most recently and perhaps most importantly, Gil has joined our Technical Committee. So please give a big welcome … Read more >>

Member Spotlight – Gil, KM4OZH

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Our new Vice President Gil, KM4OZH is an Amateur Extra and “of a certain age”. While many of us in the club would fit that description, Gil is a relative newcomer as he was first licensed in 2015. Despite what some of you might call “a lack of seasoning”, he was attracted to contesting almost immediately. Attracted is perhaps too mild a word to use if you followed our Gordon Miller, (NQ4K) VAQP meeting presentation. Passionate is probably a better term.  More on that later. He really enjoys roving contesting. If you need proof of any of this, one only needs to look how his Mercedes is outfitted. The picture above is in VAQP configuration with HF and HF antennas deployed. He is used to dealing with 4 bands with … Read more >>

OVH members activate Manassas Battlefield for Parks On The Air

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Al KB4BHB, John KG4NXT and Gene N4HFW operate POTA

On February 25, OVH members Al, KB4BHB; Don, WA2SWX; Gene, N4HFW and John, KG4NXT activated the Manassas Battle field. We started at the visitor center but the rangers wanted us to operate in the “amateur radio area” in the picnic ground off Groveton road. We set up there and were glad of the windbreak on one side of the picnic shelter. We used Don’s Wolf River Coils vertical with 3 radials. The transmitter was the digital only QDX Digital Transceiver by QRP Labs which put out 5 watts. We had an amplifier but it would not key up. We needed 10 contacts and got 11, so it was a sucessful POTA activation. Once home, we found the problem with Tokyo Hy-Power HL-45b amplifier. It would not work on only 12 … Read more >>

OVH goes to Elkton Hamfest

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Morgan K4RHD,(yellow vest) Rousseau KC4RCR, Al KB4BHB, John KG4NXT

On Feb 18, OVH went to the Elkton Hamfest to distribute OVH Tailgate flyers. Al, KB4BHB; Theresa, KG4TVM and John, KG4NXT left Manassas at 5 AM to get to Elkton before the 7 AM opening. We found the hamfest to be quite friendly and accommodating. After asking nicely, they let us take our dog Annie to our inside hamfest table where she was a good dog. We also saw Rousseau, KC4RCR who checks into our Thursday night net from Berryville and Morgan, K4RHD. Morgan is a published author, NVTN net control and exhibitor at our hamfests and tailgates. Click the picture for more pictures.

President’s Letter for February 2023

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I hope you all are enjoying the recent spring like weather. I know I have. I also know that everything costs something, so I won’t be surprised if the bill comes due in the form of actual winter weather. Just the same, I wouldn’t mind if our recent weather stays around for the rest of the season. Speaking of spring like weather, now would be a good time while we still have “see through trees” to get out there and check those antennas. Better now (and easier) than when the foliage returns. I was informed of the results from the June 2022 ARRL VHF contests after I had published the January President’s Letter.  So, even though this is a bit late, I want to congratulate two of our own, Gil, … Read more >>

President’s Letter for January 2023

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Happy New Year to All, I heard what I thought was a great story this week. It is the kind of story that you hope is true. It seems that back in the late 1800s or early 1900s there was a telegrapher’s job opening, and a man went down to the office to apply. When the man got there however, there were about seven applicants ahead of him. Unconcerned, he took his seat to wait his turn. It was a busy office with a lot of office noise, and this being the past, lots of heavy clicking and clacking from the telegraph equipment. After a few moments, this man got up from his seat, and strode purposefully into the back office whereupon the door closed. This, of course, upset the … Read more >>

H.A.M. Analyzed

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Bruce KN4GDX presents on Quantum Computing

H.A.M. For 2023, rest assured a meaning has finally come into our hobby. After lengthy and never ending discussions on the meaning of ‘ham’, typically among oldies and newbies, and the assertions that it represents the initials of important people, the REAL answer has come to light (er, electromagnetic propagation). HAM stands for Heuristic Algorithmic Menagerie. (apologies to Arthur C. Clarke) Heuristic because … Heuristic — A heuristic, or heuristic technique, is any approach to problem solving or self-discovery that employs a practical method that is not guaranteed to be optimal, perfect, or rational, but is nevertheless sufficient for reaching an immediate, short-term goal or approximation. Wikipedia Algorithmic because … duh: algorithms are embedded in everything we do. Menagerie because … It’s obvious to any observer of the typical ham … Read more >>

Sunshine Corner

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Bruce KN4GDX presents on Quantum Computing

Happy birthday wishes to our club members celebrating this month – Tony, KM4KLB; Ed, KK4PHO; Jay, NQ4T; Dianne, KI4FVV; Bill, N4SV; Kelly, (no call); Alan, KY4DN; Byron, AK4XR; David, KK4ZUU and Marwood, KL7AW. Hope you all end the year with lots of candles! On Saturday, December 3rd, we attended the Manassas Christmas Parade. Club members were along the parade route providing radio communications to net control (Wayne, N7QLK). Special thanks to Ken, KN4DD for pulling our club trailer thru the parade as one of the units. It started as a very dark, grey, rainy day but by the time the parade kicked off, the weather moved on. There will be other mentions in the newsletter along with photos by George, K4GVT. This is an event to consider for next year … Read more >>