The 13 Colonies Event runs in early July and consists of contacting special event stations in each of the original 13 colonies. Contacting all 13 constitutes a “SWEEP”. There are three bonus stations: England, France and Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. Many OVH members participated. Click the small image to get a much bigger view of the certificate.
As was mentioned at the last OVH meeting, the AC at our Mt. Pone site failed. One of the CPUs reported a temp of 65 degrees Celsius which is 149 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat is the enemy of electronics. Byron, AK4XR, visited the site and traced the problem to the control board of the outside unit or compressor. He could not determine if the motor was OK or not. At the meeting, he recommended replacing both the inside and outside units. Jeff, K9VEG, moved to replace both units and this motion was passed on July 16. Byron ordered the units and installed them on July 19 with help from Gil, KM4OZH and John, KG4NXT. The new units are now running at the shack at Mt. Pone and cooling all of our … 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 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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
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.