As we enter the new year, I’m reminded of a quote my faculty adviser kept posted on his wall: “We are surrounded by insurmountable opportunity.” Opportunities abound at OVH. Here are some of them for the coming year. How about a position on the OVH leadership team? We’ll put together the slate at this month’s meeting with voting to follow in February. Or, come join your fellow club members in providing event communications for the Mini Triathlons held on the George Mason campus: Enjoy the beauty of rural Virginia while supporting a veteran’s charity bike ride. Help support the club’s annual fund raiser, Manassas Hamfest. Join us for the next Hamfest. Planning Committee meeting on January 28th. Want to learn more about the microwave mesh… Read more »
Hello everyone! It’s that time of year again! Time to enjoy all the holiday festivities, and also to reflect on all the events of the past year. The club had an outstanding Hamfest in June! It was one of the best. We had a new location and everything worked out great! The weather was good for the Christmas parade. It was a bit cold and windy, but it wasn’t snowing! I got to “ham it up” and wave my little arms off! A good time was had by all! Our holiday party was a smashing success thanks to Theresa’s hard work and phenomenal planning skills! She’s wonderful at pulling these events together! She created and awarded trophies and certificates to John, Jeff, Don, Wayne, Gil, Byron and Cat for their achievements and contributions to the club, and I even got… Read more »
The online magazine Prince William Living ran an article entitled “Ole Virginia Hams: Supporting Our Community Through Amateur Radio” on November 30, 2019. The article contained many favorable references to the Ole Virginia Hams and ARES. Many of the quotes were provided by Jeff Fuller, WB6UIE, who worked with the magazine on the article. The article can be found at https://princewilliamliving.com/ole-virginia-hams-supporting-our-community-through-amateur-radio/
Our own Gil Thompson, KM4OZH, came in second as a Limited Rover in our Roanoke division. The Roanoke division consists of the states of Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. In addition, Gil came in fifth in the Southeast Region which consists of Delta, Roanoke and Southeast Divisions of the ARRL. You can find him listed as KM4OZH/R on page 80 of the December 2019 QST. A Limited Rover is limited to the lowest four bands – 6M, 2M , 220 and 440. In addition, a Limited Rover has the same power limits as the single operator low power category: 200 watts on 6M and 2M and 100 watts on 220 and 440. Gil also operated in the September VHF contest and expects to place high in that contest also. He is adding 2M SSB capability to boost… Read more »
The approaching holiday season and year’s end are traditionally a time for reflection and giving thanks for our many blessings. This Veterans Day, let’s take a moment to express thanks to our veterans – the young ones who are in harm’s way today defending our freedoms, and those who have gone before, sometimes giving all. I know my fellow vets and I have had those occasional days when we felt like just a small cog in a big machine and wondered if we were making a difference. In honor of Veterans Day, here’s a story about a young service member who made a difference by using his ham radio skills as a springboard to help create one of America’s WWII war winning capabilities. Young Radioman Harry Kidder took an interest in ham radio while stationed with the U.S. Navy… Read more »
On October 19, OVH supported the JOTA event at Camp Snyder in Haymarket. Modes included: DStar, 2 meter FM, FT8, HF SSB and QRP SSB on a loop. Scouts contacted Germany, France, Portugal and Belgium as well as many stations in the U.S. We also had an oscilloscope on display and morse code keys with sound for the scouts. Duane, KK4BZ, was on horseback in the battle field and worked many of our scouts on 2 meters. We do not get a lot of horseback mobiles ! Scout Leader Rob, W4FSK, is a member of our club and was our sponsor at Camp Snyder. We got a scout lunch of hot dogs and baked beans. Participants included Rob, W4FSK; Al, KB4BHB; Don, WA2SWX; Duane, KK4BZ; Theresa , KG4TVM; Cat , KM4PBD; Bruce, KN4GDX; and John , KG4NXT. We had wonderful… Read more »
On October 14, 2019, a number of club members went target shooting together at the Fairfax Rod and Gun Club. Since this club is only open to members and guests, two OVH members who are also gun club members sponsored the rest of us as guests. Thanks very much George, K4GVT and Phil, AC4PL. The event was thought up and organized by Cat, KM4PBD. The gun club has several ranges. We were at one that had a 220 yard rifle range as well as a pistol range and a .22 range. The 220 range had reactive steel plate targets that fell over as we shot them. The pistol range also had reactive steel circles that could be reset at the pull of a rope. George, K4GVT, brought his tracking point rifle. This rifle has a computer assisted sight which… Read more »
Cooler temperatures of fall will soon be here and, along with them, the beginning of the holiday season. I’m sure your family, like mine, has some holiday traditions which have been passed down over the years. We carry them on, not necessarily for practical reasons, but as a means of bonding and connecting with past generations. Learning to communicate using Morse code or CW is one such tradition in the amateur radio community. I’m happy to see several of our new hams accepting the challenge. Here are some interesting Morse factoids to encourage you in your studies. Q. Why do hams call it CW? A. CW stands for Continuous Wave, meaning a sine wave produced by an electronic oscillator. The first radio signals from spark transmitters were damped waves occupying lots of spectrum. Q. Was the original Morse code the… Read more »
