Ken "The Other Ken" Brant

Hello All, A reminder that September is National Preparedness Month. So, while the weather is warm and mostly dry, now would be a good time to inspect any tree-supported antennas or get a new one up. Left on our 2025 To-Do List, we have the Manassas Christmas parade on December 6th at 10 AM and our annual OVH Christmas Party. Preparations have begun. Back on September 6th the Ole Virginia Hams supported the SOWW 8th Annual Bike Ride. It was ~93° and nice. And the rain waited until the evening. A big thank you to new member, Jerry, KR4EZZ, who not only attended his first Bike Ride as a spotter, he wrote his first article as a contributor for our webpage, “My First Willing Warrior Ride”, immediately below this article. … Read more >>

Greetings All, The month of August is the halfway point of this, my last term as your Club President. I have enjoyed serving, both as Vice President (one term) and President (four terms) of the Old Virginia Hams Amateur Radio Club. But with what appears to be increasing medical issues, it is clear it will soon be time to step aside and make way for new blood and new ideas. Accordingly, I am planning on finishing my term in February with our standard election cycle and not running for any club officer position after that. Additionally, I will be surrendering my duties as “A / V Guy” (audio/visual guy) at that time as well. We are a 60+ year old club made up of over 100 members. With 6 months … Read more >>

    Hello Again Everyone,   Once again, our busy season is winding down, and it’s been a whirlwind for some time now. On June 28th & 29th, the OVH took part in ARRL Field Day 2025. Under the guidance of returning Field Day Chairwoman Cat, KM4PBD, we had another good Field Day weekend. I look forward to reading our official stats. Despite the humidity and light rain, preparation started the day before, on Friday. Antenna lines were shot into the trees Friday afternoon. We also had our second weather balloon launch (or second and third if you are going to be a stickler for such things) on Saturday. Please see the July 9th article on our OVH webpage for an in depth look as well as great graphics (a … Read more >>

Hello Everyone, I’d like to start with another apology for the short President’s Letter. My wife’s and my medical issues persist, but I am told by the doctors that there is indeed a light at the end of the tunnel. We are close to the end of our adventures. Our 2025 Tailgate Party (in lieu of Hamfest) was back on June 7th  : this year we had a confluence of poor weather. It was humid and we had a persistent light rain and wind, the combination of which kept attendance down significantly. As such, the club’s take was down compared to recent years, however we still managed to turn a profit. Our 2 club photographers, George, K4GVT and Rosalie, KN4ZLY, have once again provided us with many memories. OVH Tailgate … Read more >>

Hello Everyone, Please let me apologize for the brevity of this month’s President’s Letter’s up front. My wife’s and my medical issues came all at once and have been keeping us quite busy. I am hoping to get back to normal in June. Our next OVH Monthly Breakfast get together will be on May 17th @ 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM EDT Yorkshire Restaurant 7537 Centreville Rd Manassas VA 20111 (703) 368-4905 We usually have 4 to 10 people that show up. I hope you can find the time to go. The next regular OVH will be held on Tuesday, May 20st, at 7:30 PM in the training room at the Buckhall VFD. W4OVH Monthly Meeting – 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM EDT Buckhall VFD Hall 7190 Yates Ford Road … Read more >>

Greetings to all. I would like to start this month’s letter off with the 2024 September VHF Contest results. This contest ran September 14 – 16, 2024. I’d like to recognize OVH’s own Vice President, Gil, KM4OZH, for placing second in his category, “Limited Rover” with 13,986 points. He is now “Officially Famous” with his listing in the current issue (April, 2025) of QST, pages 76 & 77. Next up is last month’s VAQP back on March 15th and 16th. Gil had plenty of (mis) adventures with this one, including a deer vs. car contest. If you can get him to tell the story, it is a good one and he tells it well. I am not sure I would have been as sanguine as he was. I do hope … Read more >>

Greetings All, In February, we held our annual club officer elections during our monthly meeting. I’d like to thank everyone who braved the bad weather to participate. In a clean sweep, your entire officer cadre was reelected. John, KG4NXT; Jeff, K9VEG; Gil, KM4OZH and I (Ken, KN4DD) were returned to our positions as Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President and President, respectively, Because of that bad weather, our featured speaker, Gordon, NQ4K, was not able to give his Virginia QSO party briefing. In his stead, John, KG4NXT was able to find us a video last minute. His video was “Parachuting into POTA”. While interesting, I don’t think many of our OVH members will be rushing out to try this one. The most common comment, and thus the lesson learned from this video, … Read more >>

Greetings to all, A quick reminder: Because of the President’s Day holiday, this month’s meeting will be on WEDNESDAY, February 19th, and NOT Tuesday. Congratulations to OVH Member Jeff, WB4TT, who leads in the January VHF contest. The January VHF contest was held January 18th to 20th. You can get more information in John Heartney’s article, immediately below this article. When warmer and more seasonal weather returns, that 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. My own end fed antenna needed to be resecured to a tree just a couple of weeks ago. A big tip of the hat to John, KG4NXT, on that one. It’s once again … Read more >>