Club News

President’s Letter for July 2024

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Hello Again Everyone, Once again, our busy season is winding down, and it’s been a whirlwind for some time now. On June 22nd & 23rd the OVH took part in ARRL Field Day 2024. Under the guidance of returning Field Day Chairwoman Cat, KM4PBD, we had another good Field Day weekend. We had 15 participants and a preliminary total score of: 3,336. I look forward to reading our official stats. Despite the heat & humidity, preparation started the day before, on Friday. Antenna lines were shot into the trees Friday afternoon. Gil, KM4OZH, handed off the OVH Trailer to James, KQ4CAX, who delivered it safely to Nokesville Park. Participants started showing up early Saturday, and we were ready to go long before the official start time. We also had our … Read more >>

President’s Letter for June 2024

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Hello Everyone, I’d like to start with our 2024 Tailgate Party (in lieu of Hamfest) on June 1st. Most importantly to me, a Big Thank You to all of our volunteers. Along with the good weather, you are the reason this event was so successful. And what a great capstone to Don’s career as Hamfest Chairman. After 5 straight Saturdays of rain, we had a 75° day with no rain and no humidity. We beat last year’s vendors & spenders headcount. Don’s XYL, Edith, ran the bake sale & it did quite well. Best of all, we cleared ~$1,500.00, after expenses. Way to go, Don! Last year we officially opened at 8 AM and many showed up 7-ish. So, this year we moved it up an hour earlier, and of … Read more >>

President’s Letter for May 2024

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Hello Everyone, Well, with regard to the beginning of May, it sure looked like we were going to go directly into summer. While I don’t mind the warm days, I do like it cooler in the evenings. I sleep better in the cooler evenings, and I tend to think of it as “free air conditioning”. Thankfully, we seem to have returned to seasonal weather.   Theresa, KG4TVM, is once again proving herself to be a force of nature. As if May and June aren’t already the busiest months of our club’s year, she has acquired a cache of very old OVH Newsletters, and has been scanning them into her computer and uploading them into our website’s Newsletter Archive. With John, KG4NXT, assisting with the scanning, our website now has issues … Read more >>

New OVH Warthog

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On April 26, James, KQ4CAX, received the POTA Rover Warthog award from Parks on the Air. He earned this by activating 5 parks in a single UTC day.   His Parks were:   Prince William Forest Park, VA (U.S. National Park Service) Leesylvania State Park, VA Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail (U.S. National Park Service – VA, MD, DE, DC, PA, NY) Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail, MD (U.S. National Park Service) and lastly, The Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail (U.S. National Park Service – RI, MA, CT, NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, DC, VA – A 680-mile series of roads used in 1781 by the Continental Army from Newport, Rhode Island, to Yorktown, Virginia.). Some of these parks were co-located.  John, KG4NXT, is also a POTA … Read more >>

George, K4GVT’s VE Session @ Cisco in Knoxville, TN

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The same week the OVH held its VE session, our Christmas Parade Chairman, George, K4GVT, was at a Cisco internal conference in Knoxville, TN. George had three papers to present and he set up some ham gear to demo. While there, George and his team also held a Cisco internal only VE Session. George set up his demo station to attract candidates for ham testing. Additionally, George writes: “For my ham buddies: When I first set this up on the IC-7610, all bands were dead. I pulled the PL-259 out with only the center conductor connected, and the bands were alive. So, I had guys on the ground take an ohm meter and monitor the resistance while I went up onto the roof. I checked the feed line, all good. … Read more >>

Thawfest II

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OVH had a table at Thawfest II in Ruckersville, Virginia on April 13, 2024. The first priority was to distribute OVH Tailgate flyers for our Tailgate Party on June 1. Theresa, KG4TVM, was able to distribute all but 5 of the flyers we brought, so that was a success. The second priority was to sell the TS-950SD HF radio and the SM-230 monitor that Bob Zaepfel, K4HJF, had donated to the club. We had brought them to two previous hamfests, but they did not sell. At Thawfest, we WERE able to to sell them. Jeff, K9VEG, also put one of his radios on the table and was able to sell it. Other OVH members at Thawfest included Bruce, KN4GDX; John, KG4NXT; Ron, K3FR and Woody, N4MQ.

President’s Letter for April 2024

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Greetings to all. We start this month’s letter off with last month’s VAQP back on March 16th and 17th.  I hope everyone remembered to put our club down on their logs when they submitted them. If you haven’t yet submitted your logs, you have until April 15th, 2024. A $1.00 donation to help defray the costs of printing and mailing is encouraged. Submit log entries by online portal or mail to: The VA QSO Party Call Box 599 Sterling, VA 20167 or e-mail them to:   vqp@verizon.net. If you have problems, please send an email to vqp@arrl.net. Speaking of April 15th, Tax Day this year is April 15th. No extra time this year. Make sure your rich Uncle Sam receives his proper documentation from you on time. Back on March 19th, … Read more >>

OVH trailer moves to new home

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New home with Gil KM4OZH

Our OVH trailer has spent a number of years parked in the City of Manassas Electric Utility yard. We recently received a phone call saying we had to move our trailer. The city was clearing out all non-city property to make room to store transformers for the new data centers being built. As we now needed a new place for the trailer, Gil, KM4OZH, volunteered to take it for a while. THANKS GIL. James, KQ4CAX, volunteered his truck to haul the trailer. On Saturday, April 5, James, Al, KB4BHB and John, KG4NXT, moved the trailer to Gil’s home. Backing into Gil’s place is never easy, but it got done. The trailer is now parked at Gil’s home. Click on the photo on the left to expand the article for more … Read more >>