Ken "The Other Ken" Brant
President’s Letter for May 2022
It’s hot. It’s cold. It’s wet. It’s dry. Repeat. Often. Last winter’s schizophrenic weather just seems to go on and on. On the plus side, we certainly aren’t experiencing the drought the folks out west are experiencing. I am proud to report that The Ole Virginia Hams has selected 2 STEM students for the 2022 Steve Frick Scholarship. Additionally, I am very pleased to announce that for the first time ever, we have two young women as our STEM student scholarship winners. These young people will be present @ the beginning of our May 17th meeting for the award presentation. On May 8th, OVH supported our second Run, Bike, and Swim Mini Tri of 2022. Officially called “The Tri It Now – Ladies Choice”, there were also a number of … Read more >>
The OVH Supports “The Tri It Now – Ladies Choice”
On May 8th, The Ole Virginia Hams supported the “The Tri It Now – Ladies Choice”, our second Run, Bike, and Swim Mini Tri of the 2022 season. Ladies Choice participants ran the gamut from tweens on up. The Tri It Now events are relatively easy and short events on a Sunday at The Freedom Aquatic & Fitness Center, Manassas. The course consists of: Run 1.5 miles – Bike 4 miles – Swim 250 yards. It’s a great way for our Technician Class members to get involved as the only things needed are a Handy Talkie (HT) and a desire to serve for a couple of hours on a Sunday morning. Weather wise, it was not a good weekend, with the official rain tally at 2.02 inches in total @ … Read more >>
Local (OVH) Boy Makes Good
VP OVH OK, so Michael, KO4HBU, is not a boy. He is in fact, a Prince William County Public Schools science teacher. He is also a new ham and a new Ole Virginia Hams member. He was licensed at OVH’s VE Session @ the Nokesville Park on 8/15/20. All of us with children and grandchildren know that raising them and teaching them is difficult. But when you add-in teaching them during the age of COVID, and all of those inherent problems, this becomes much more formidable. We are talking about Michael, not just because he teaches physics, chemistry, biology, and earth sciences at Unity Reed High. We are also talking about what may very well be his greatest accomplishment in 2021. Michael was able to win a $5,000 grant from … Read more >>
2021 Turkey Trot
VP – OVH November 25th, Thanksgiving morning was another beautiful day for a race. A 5k race to be specific. While a cloudy day, it was an above average 60° with low humidity. Perfect. First off, and most importantly: Congratulations to our own Ken (KE2N) who not only participated in the race, he placed 2nd in his category. As he told me later, “ …. a post retirement personal best.” Way to go, Ken! Ken’s (KE2N) Award Next up, what a difference race management makes. Our own Wayne (N7QLK) took the lead here, but he was frequently thwarted by the race’s management. Wayne organized his team of spotters – Wayne, N7QLK; Al, KB4BHB; Ken, KN4DD; Theresa, KG4TVM & John, KG4NXT only then to have the race’s … Read more >>
June VHF Contests – 2 OVH Winners – Compare & Contrast
VP – OVH This last June 12th thru 14th saw the ARRL June VHF Contests. The contest began 1800 UTC Saturday and ended 0259 UTC Monday. The Ole Virginia Hams fielded two of the winners, Gil, KM4OZH and Ron, K3FR. Both are Amateur Extras and “of a certain age”. Both started contesting almost immediately after licensing. While similar in their passions for both amateur radio and contesting, their approach is significantly different. Ron is well seasoned, having acquired his novice license in 1959. For this contest he used mostly FT8. By comparison then, Gil is a relative newcomer, getting licensed just 6 years ago. Gil used SSB/phone. Gil, KM4OZH : Gil, KM4OZH, was first licensed in 2015. And as previously stated, gravitated to contesting shortly thereafter. He really enjoys roving … Read more >>
OVH supports the last Tri-It-Now event of the 2021 season
On Sunday, October 17th, OVH supported the last Tri-It-Now event of the season, the “Tune Up Tri”. We have been very fortunate this year in that it was another beautiful day for a race. While the afternoon was cloudy & windy, the morning was a cool 60°, fair, with low humidity. In short, perfect. Before the race began, we had a small meeting and presentation. Our own Andy Gamponia, KJ4MTP, who is our liaison to both SOWW (Serve Our Willing Warriors) and the Tri-It-Now events had a task to do. Back on October 1st, (or, 5 articles before this one) SOWW presented the Ole Virginia Hams with an electronic copy of a Certificate of Appreciation. On this pleasant, sunny morning I had the pleasure of receiving on behalf of OVH, … Read more >>
September’s Roundup – A weekend full of bike events, a breakfast & in person monthly meeting
VP – OVH September has been another busy month for the Ole Virginia Hams: OVH supported Serve Our Willing Warriors Bike Ride on September 11th. On September 12th we supported a pair of Tri It Now Bike Races. On September 18th we saw another OVH Breakfast And on September 21st, we returned to in person meetings at BuckHall VFD ***************************************************************************** On September 11th, the OVH supported Serve Our Willing Warriors Bike Ride. A lot went into the race and a lot went on. Please see the immediately previous article to this one. ***************************************************************************** On September 12th the Ole Virginia Hams supported a pair of Tri It Now bike marathons for Prince William County, led by Andy, KJ4MTP, code named “Shadow”. This Tri It Now … Read more >>