Our own Gil Thompson, KM4OZH, came in second as a Limited Rover in our Roanoke division. The Roanoke division consists of the states of Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. In addition, Gil came in fifth in the Southeast Region which consists of Delta, Roanoke and Southeast Divisions of the ARRL. You can find him listed as KM4OZH/R on page 80 of the December 2019 QST. A Limited Rover is limited to the lowest four bands – 6M, 2M , 220 and 440. In addition, a Limited Rover has the same power limits as the single operator low power category: 200 watts on 6M and 2M and 100 watts on 220 and 440. Gil also operated in the September VHF contest and expects to place high in that contest also. He is adding 2M SSB capability to boost… Read more »
Happy birthday to the following club members: Wayne, N7QLK; Kevin, KX4KU; Baofang, KK4JFK; Theresa, KG4TVM; Butch, W4HJL; Greg, KM4CCG; Jeff, WB4TT; Gene, KD4RHC; Charlie, WA4YGI and Joe, AB4QV. Special birthday wishes to Butch, W4HJL as he celebrates his 80th!!! Happy Veterans Day to our military, we do appreciate your service. Congratulations to Rosalie on passing her Tech exam, so this will be a change in her call from W1FE to KN4ZLY. JOTA was on a beautiful Saturday in October, very well attended by scouts and some OVH members. Thank you to everyone who helped with the scouts. The Manassas Christmas Parade is Saturday, December 7th. Ray, KM4ER has volunteered to pull our club trailer in the parade. Thanks Ray! If you would like to help decorate the trailer, please let me know. The club’s Holiday Party is Sunday, December 8th. … Read more »
The approaching holiday season and year’s end are traditionally a time for reflection and giving thanks for our many blessings. This Veterans Day, let’s take a moment to express thanks to our veterans – the young ones who are in harm’s way today defending our freedoms, and those who have gone before, sometimes giving all. I know my fellow vets and I have had those occasional days when we felt like just a small cog in a big machine and wondered if we were making a difference. In honor of Veterans Day, here’s a story about a young service member who made a difference by using his ham radio skills as a springboard to help create one of America’s WWII war winning capabilities. Young Radioman Harry Kidder took an interest in ham radio while stationed with the U.S. Navy… Read more »
On October 19, OVH supported the JOTA event at Camp Snyder in Haymarket. Modes included: DStar, 2 meter FM, FT8, HF SSB and QRP SSB on a loop. Scouts contacted Germany, France, Portugal and Belgium as well as many stations in the U.S. We also had an oscilloscope on display and morse code keys with sound for the scouts. Duane, KK4BZ, was on horseback in the battle field and worked many of our scouts on 2 meters. We do not get a lot of horseback mobiles ! Scout Leader Rob, W4FSK, is a member of our club and was our sponsor at Camp Snyder. We got a scout lunch of hot dogs and baked beans. Participants included Rob, W4FSK; Al, KB4BHB; Don, WA2SWX; Duane, KK4BZ; Theresa , KG4TVM; Cat , KM4PBD; Bruce, KN4GDX; and John , KG4NXT. We had wonderful… Read more »
On October 14, 2019, a number of club members went target shooting together at the Fairfax Rod and Gun Club. Since this club is only open to members and guests, two OVH members who are also gun club members sponsored the rest of us as guests. Thanks very much George, K4GVT and Phil, AC4PL. The event was thought up and organized by Cat, KM4PBD. The gun club has several ranges. We were at one that had a 220 yard rifle range as well as a pistol range and a .22 range. The 220 range had reactive steel plate targets that fell over as we shot them. The pistol range also had reactive steel circles that could be reset at the pull of a rope. George, K4GVT, brought his tracking point rifle. This rifle has a computer assisted sight which… Read more »
Happy birthday to the following club members: Doc W1IMX, Robert KK4MXU, Ray KM4EKR, Scott KB8NUM, Bob KC4TNC and Phil AC4PL Wedding Bells were ringing at the beginning of September for Art W1CRO, congratulations and best wishes to the happy couple! Congratulations to the Club for helping at the Prince William County Half Marathon on Sunday, September 29th. Wayne N7QLK chaired this event and pulled together over 20 club members to be out on the course. I was at mile 1 and 12, I did receive many thank you’s from participants for being on the course. The runners/walkers do appreciate us being there. Great job everybody! Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) is coming up on Saturday, October 19th. We will be working with the scouts for this event. Rob W4FSK presented a program at the September meeting on this. We will… Read more »
Cooler temperatures of fall will soon be here and, along with them, the beginning of the holiday season. I’m sure your family, like mine, has some holiday traditions which have been passed down over the years. We carry them on, not necessarily for practical reasons, but as a means of bonding and connecting with past generations. Learning to communicate using Morse code or CW is one such tradition in the amateur radio community. I’m happy to see several of our new hams accepting the challenge. Here are some interesting Morse factoids to encourage you in your studies. Q. Why do hams call it CW? A. CW stands for Continuous Wave, meaning a sine wave produced by an electronic oscillator. The first radio signals from spark transmitters were damped waves occupying lots of spectrum. Q. Was the original Morse code the… Read more »
On September 29, The Ole Virginia Hams provided communications support for the 4th annual half marathon which also included a 10 mile and 5K race. Over 1500 runners participated, which gave the community a very visible example of our community service. During the race, we kept track of the male and female race leaders and also kept track of the Tail End Charlies. There were instances of a runner exhausted or down, and we responded and called for transport or medical help, which did arrive. Wayne, N7QLK , was the chair for the fourth time and did an excellent job. We had 22 club members participate. This is over 25 percent of our total club members, some of whom do not live in the area. The members participating and their posts were: Net Control: Wayne, N7QLK; Chick, KC1PIA; Erik K4SOK… Read more »
