Club News

President’s Letter for July 2025

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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 28th & 29th, the OVH took part in ARRL Field Day 2025. Under the guidance of returning Field Day Chairwoman Cat, KM4PBD, we had another good Field Day weekend. I look forward to reading our official stats. Despite the humidity and light rain, preparation started the day before, on Friday. Antenna lines were shot into the trees Friday afternoon. We also had our second weather balloon launch (or second and third if you are going to be a stickler for such things) on Saturday. Please see the July 9th article on our OVH webpage for an in depth look as well as great graphics (a … Read more >>

OVH supports 4th of July Firecracker 5K race

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Theresa KG4TVM, John KG4NXT, Jerry KR4EZZ, Al KB4BHB. Greg KM4CCG taking picture

Early on July 4th, the OVH did communication and overwatch at the George Mason University Freedom Center, at Manassas, VA. We watched for safety problems on University Blvd. Helping were Greg, KM4CCG; Theresa, KG4TVM;  Al, KB4BHB; John, KG4NXT and Jerry, KR4EZZ.   Jerry had just received his license grant on July 2nd and showed up with an HT to support the race.  We were released about 10:15 AM.  The sponsors provided race T-Shirts to all OVH members. Those shirts will be distributed at the July OVH meeting. Click the picture for more pictures.

Field day balloon launches with radio packages

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Bruce KN4GDX ties APRS radio package to Mylar balloon with Byron AK4XR helping

Amateur High |Altitude Balloon (HAB) Launches – W4OVH Field Day 2025  One Field Day bonus is an educational project. At one of the planning meetings, we decided to do a balloon launch with a radio package as our educational project.  We has done one before, but with disappointing telemetry. Bruce, KN4GDX, took the project on again for 2025.  Payloads Planning and Testing Two amateur payloads were planned and prepared for the Field Day 2025 launch.  Launch was planned for ~1500 on June 28 at the field day W4OVH site; and actually occurred at about 1530.  The following description covers the planning, launch activities and tracking of the two payloads. The first payload, from Zachtek, was similar to the 2024 HAB payload launch, which worked while testing, but unfortunately did not … Read more >>

President’s Letter for June 2025

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Hello Everyone, I’d like to start with another apology for the short President’s Letter. My wife’s and my medical issues persist, but I am told by the doctors that there is indeed a light at the end of the tunnel. We are close to the end of our adventures. Our 2025 Tailgate Party (in lieu of Hamfest) was back on June 7th  : this year we had a confluence of poor weather. It was humid and we had a persistent light rain and wind, the combination of which kept attendance down significantly. As such, the club’s take was down compared to recent years, however we still managed to turn a profit. Our 2 club photographers, George, K4GVT and Rosalie, KN4ZLY, have once again provided us with many memories. OVH Tailgate … Read more >>

Gil, KM4OVH, wins VAQP Rover Plaque despite deer attack

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Bent Antenna Mast and grill damage

Gil, KM4OVH, is a national competitor in the ARRL VHF contest and a past statewide Plaque winner in the Virginia QSO Party (VAQP). The VAQP starts at 10 AM on Saturday and runs until midnight and then runs 8 AM to 8 PM on Sunday. Gil always plans his route in detail ahead of time to maximize his multipliers. Byron, AK4XR, has been understudying Gil and following in a separate vehicle. For Gil and Byron, things went as planned on Saturday. The plan was to grab some sleep at Gil’s family farm and to continue the planned route on Sunday at 8 AM. As they drove at 1 AM on Sunday with Gil in the lead, A DEER APPEARED in the left part of the road. Gil applied the brakes … Read more >>

President’s Letter for May 2025

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Hello Everyone, Please let me apologize for the brevity of this month’s President’s Letter’s up front. My wife’s and my medical issues came all at once and have been keeping us quite busy. I am hoping to get back to normal in June. Our next OVH Monthly Breakfast get together will be on May 17th @ 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM EDT Yorkshire Restaurant 7537 Centreville Rd Manassas VA 20111 (703) 368-4905 We usually have 4 to 10 people that show up. I hope you can find the time to go. The next regular OVH will be held on Tuesday, May 20st, at 7:30 PM in the training room at the Buckhall VFD. W4OVH Monthly Meeting – 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM EDT Buckhall VFD Hall 7190 Yates Ford Road … Read more >>

YOU can help with Meteor scatter experiments

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Our own Bruce KN4GDX is supporting the effort and has an article published in hamSCI ( Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation). You can help with a HF or 6M radio with wsjt-x. You can help even without transmitting. Here is an excerpt : hamSCI is preparing for a series of meteor scatter (MS) experiments later this year. The target storms will be peaking on August 11-12 (Perseids) and December 12-13 (Geminids). Preparation and testing are underway now. This is a combination ‘special event’ and a contest to generate contact data during meteor scatter events using 10 meters and 6 meters. Operating Guidelines are under development. This month’s Lyrids shower (peaking April 21-22) is an excellent time to set up your equipment and join with other operators preparing for the events … Read more >>

OVH Parks on the air or POTA

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Both spring and Don, WA2SWX, arrived recently. Don retired and moved to Ecuador last year with his wife Edith. He was back here for a brief visit. It was time to POTA again and the OVH was invited. We set up at Conway Robinson State Park, which has a shelter and lots of tall trees for antennas. We had a nice pile up on 20 Meters on FT8 despite Conway Robinson having been activated 216 times. OVH members attending were: Theresa, KG4TVM; Gene, N4HFW; James, KQ4CAX; Ken, KE2N and John, KG4NXT. Al, KB4BHB, contacted us as a Hunter on 2 meters. Heritage Hunt and Woodbridge Wireless have expressed interest in doing club POTA events. Say tuned.