Ken "The Other Ken" Brant

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 >>

Greetings to all. April 3rd, 2023 was the 50th Anniversary of the cell phone. Inventor Martin Cooper of Motorola used the first portable handset … to make the first cell phone call … to his rival at Bell Labs. Way to rub it in, Marty. From 1973 until now, there has been an incredible proliferation of these devices. It seems like everyone has one and many have more than one. Yet, when I ask my students, most of whom are middle aged, “How many radio circuits are in an average smartphone?” their guesses are all over the map. There are five, if you don’t know: The phone itself is the first one; wi-fi; Bluetooth; GPS and near-field communication (NFC – although you may know it as “Google Pay” or “Samsung … Read more >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

Greetings to All, Well, here it is December. The year is winding down and the OVH event calendar is over for the year. Overall, 2022 has been a lot better than the last two years, and we continue to grow back into normalcy. We returned to Hamfest this year from last year’s Covid inspired Tailgate Party. We had excellent turn outs for Field Day this year as well as our Mini-Tri and Warrior Bike Ride events. Things will continue to improve in 2023 and I am counting on your continued support of club activities. Get ready to renew your membership. Your annual dues are $25 now, after a club vote at the October meeting. Please remember the new amount when you make your payment. See the mail in Flyer for … Read more >>

What a difference a year makes.  On December 3rd, the Ole Virginia Hams supported the 76th Annual Greater Manassas Christmas Parade. While just cloudy last year, this year’s forecast called for poor weather. They got it part right. While the weather was gloomy during the preparation phase or setup phase of the parade, the weather did improve as the day went on. John, KG4NXT, Theresa, KG4TVM and yours truly met at the Manassas City Yard at 6:30 AM to collect & decorate the OVH trailer. It was about 50 ° at that time. Overnight and that morning we had about .3” of cold rain, which made lying on the ground to hook up the trailer and electrical just miserable. It was too wet to put a lot of decorations on … Read more >>