OVH Member Jeff, WB4TT, leads in January VHF contest

The January VHF contest was held January 18th to 20th. There was severe weather that weekend. Gil, KM4OZH, who normally competes in the Rover class, stayed off the roads. His neighbor and OVH member Jeff, WB4TT, operated FM only from his house. The log submission date was Jan 30th and ARRL has posted the raw scores. Jeff came in first in the single operator, FM only class. https://contests.arrl.org/rawscores.php?cn=janvhf Jeff is 280 points ahead of the next highest score, so we expect he will remain on top as the scores are audited. Additionally, Jeff and Gil recently added another tower which tilts down using torque from an electric drill.  

OVH goes to Middle Peninsula Hamfest

On Feb 1, 2025, Theresa, KG4TVM, and John, KG4NXT, went to the Middle Peninsula Hamfest in Gloucester, Virginia. We had a table and our primary purpose was to distribute OVH tailgate flyers, which we did. Ron, K3FR, attended too. We also asked for consignments to make the table more interesting. Ron, K3FR, provided us with a chrome Bencher key and a Brother inkjet printer. We were able to sell the Bencher key. The printer is still for sale at $25. Ken, KE2N, provided us with an Elecraft KX3 which generated a lot of interest but did not sell at $1,600.00. We will be taking the printer and KX3 to Vienna Winterfest unless we are able to sell them first. We will be happy to take any other consignment items to … Read more >>

Sunshine Corner

SUNSHINE CORNER – JANUARY, 2025 Celebrating the New Year by completing a trip around the sun, please wish the following club members a happy birthday – Fred, WD4ASP; Cat, KM4PBD; John, KG4HZC; William, KN4YPG; John, KI4OWH; Justin, KJ4LAS; Elizabeth, KG4NXV; Erik, K4SOK; Joseph, KM4UYA; John, WA1STU; Ken, KE2N; James, KQ4CAX; Mark, KO4MBN and Club President Ken, KN4DD. So, January is pretty quiet on the ham front but in the background, things are happening! The first planning meeting for Tailgate 2025 was held January, 14th. Dinner at Sam & Joe’s set the scene for a productive meeting: John, KG4NXT; Theresa, KG4TVM; Gil, KM4OZH; Byron, AK4XR; Jeff, K9VEG and Gene, N4HFW attended. Tailgate flyer and volunteer sign up will be out soon, we will need lots of help the day of the … Read more >>

President’s Letter for January 2025

Happy New Year to All, A quick reminder: Because of the MLK holiday, this month’s meeting will be on WEDNESDAY, January 22nd, and NOT Tuesday. Thank you to everyone to donated gifts to Toys 4 Tots. I am told we collected more toys than ever before. Thank you also to everyone who came out to our annual Holiday Party. Thanks too, to the Heartney’s for hosting us and providing us with the turkey and ham. A huge thank you especially to Theresa, KG4TVM, who, after finding out that the Yorkshire Restaurant would not be hosting us this year, stepped back in at near last minute to turn out another excellent Holiday Party for our club. If you took part in the annual ARRL Straight Key Night (SKN) on New Year’s … Read more >>

OVH members add antennas in the winter

Antenna ready to go on mast Gene N4HFW and Al Kb4bhb

Before all the snow came, Al, KB4BHB, mounted a new vertical antenna on a military fiberglass mast. John, KG4NXT, and Gene, N4HFW, were part of the crew. The antenna is guyed by 2 lengths of parachute cord and an antenna bracket mounted on the soffit of this house. The coax used was LMR 400. The PL-259 connector on the LMR 400 was damaged when John and AL were ramming it through a hole in the brick wall. A new connector was installed and the antenna works great. It will give AL 440 MHz capability for the Virginia QSO Party, 13 Colonies and VHF/UHF contests. Gene, N4HFW, has been having a problem getting into the 97 repeater from his shack in the basement. He has been using the Android app to … Read more >>

Sunshine Corner

SUNSHINE CORNER – DECEMBER, 2024 Ending the year with lots of birthday wishes to these club members – Tony, KM4KLB; Ed, KK4PHP; Jay, NQ4T; Dianne, KI4FVV; Bill, N4SV; Kelly, (no call); Byron, AK4XR; David, KK4ZUU; Marwood, KL7AW; Matt, KE7EX and Russell, KQ4CAT. SK – George (Woody) Woodworth, N4MQ – Very sorry to report that we received a note in the mail today with information that George (Woody), N4MQ, passed away on October 19th. Woody was a long-time member of our club. The doctor believes Woody had a massive heart attack while working on his ham radio at home in his basement. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, as he is an Army Veteran. When we receive info on the service, I will send it on to the club. … Read more >>

OVH Holiday Party 2024

This year the holiday party was held at the home of John, KG4NXT, and Theresa, KG4TVM. There is a possibility that the party could return to Yorkshire Restaurant next year. The OVH members who attended included Al, KB4BHB; Ken, KN4DD; Cat, KM4PBD; Luis, KQ4GBC; his XYL Daniela, KQ4IKQ; Gus, N4MLE; Byron, AK4XR, and his XYL Jane; Bill, AF4LL, and his friend Dana; Ron, K3FR; Jeff, WB5UIE; his XYL Pinky, KN4ZLY, as well as John and Theresa. There was an abundance of great food. Theresa cooked both a turkey and a ham while John once again made venison chili. There were many tasty dishes brought by the party goers since it was a potluck. Daniela entertained everyone with her story and pictures of how she had learned to gut, skin and … Read more >>

President’s Letter for December 2024

Hello to All, As 2024 winds down, it is customary to review where we have been this year. This last year was the first year without the Tri-It-Now mini triathlons. They would have started up last March (2024), but Ina Nenninger, owner & organizer of Tri It Now retired and moved away.  I, for one, miss the activities, and our “new ham” members have lost a great way to wade in to our hobby. I really believe the OVH needs to replace this activity. If any of you have any ideas, please contact me or any of the other officers. In March we had the VA QSO Party. We performed quite well, yet again. A big nod to Gil, KM4OZH. In April, our OVH Trailer got rehomed. We had stored … Read more >>