Club News

2021 Turkey Trot

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Ken's (KE2N) Award

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

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VHF Contest logo

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

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Tri It Now Races

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 >>

Jamboree on the Air 2021

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JOTA group picture

On October 16, 2021, OVH went to Camp Snyder to support JOTA. The club members supporting were Theresa, KG4TVM; Wayne, N7QLK; Ken, KN4DD; Bruce, KN4GDX; Andrea, KI4SXM; Rob, W4FSK; Mike, KO4BCN; Don, WA2SWX and Ron, K3FR. Diana, KO4QJR was also there to help us. On the day before, John , Bruce and Al, KB4BHB set up antennas for the event. Although not physically present, we heard club member Bill, AF4LL talking to scouts on 2 meter FM. We had a wide variety of stations. Don had DStar. Ken ran 2 meter FM. Bruce had a digital voice station. John ran FT8. We did not have as many scouts as we would have liked. We started with good weather but a storm front was approaching around noon and we secured at … Read more >>

OVH VE Exam

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VE Examiners October 2021

The OVH Volunteer Examiners held an exam session in Nokesville Community Park on October 2nd, where we have Field Day. We had 10 applicants and subsequently, 11 new licenses. We have 7 new Techs and 3 new Generals. One fellow passed both Tech and General. One fellow did not pass his upgrade test. The OVH Volunteer Examiners were Al, KB4BHB; “The Other Ken”, KN4DD; George, K4GVT; Ray, KM4EKR and John, KG4NXT. Theresa, KG4TVM was a great help with checking people in and organizing the returns. John planned to upload the results electronically, but it turns out that the link is “non public” and the ARRL VEC office was not answering the phone on Saturday. Therefore, John had the results in the mail by 1 PM on the day of the … Read more >>

September’s Roundup – A weekend full of bike events, a breakfast & in person monthly meeting

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September Roundup

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 >>

OVH supports Serve Our Willing Warriors (SOWW) and receives an award

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Willing Warriors Bike Event 2021 Certificate

VP – OVH On Saturday, September 11th, members of the Ole Virginia Hams supported the 4th Annual Warrior Ride. The date for this ride was chosen to honor the fallen, survivors and heroes of that fateful day. I am pleased to report, “Mission Accomplished”! It was a beautiful day for a bike ride. While it got to 79° in the afternoon, the morning ride was cooler, with no humidity. Additionally, the variable clouds all day kept the riders cool and in the shade while the day wore on.                 That is not to say the day was without its challenges. 3 separate bike rides, a 13 miler, half metric (~30 miles) & full metric (~60 miles), all using the same starting route. The … Read more >>

Don, WA2SWX, awards Amelia Powell for exceptional service

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Don WA2SWX presents Award and embroidered polo shirt to Amelia Powell of Parks and Recreation division of Manassas Park

Back in 2019, the Prince William Fairgrounds announced that it had been sold. This was significant to the Ole Virginia Hams because this was the traditional home for our Hamfest. And so, it was time to move our Hamfest location. We looked at many venues, schools, shopping centers and could not find anything that met our needs. And then we met Amelia Powell. Amelia works for the Parks and Recreation division of Manassas Park. It was Amelia who booked us at the Manassas Park Community Center This was a much bigger task than many people realize. The Hamfest Planning Committee, led by Don, WA2SWX, had to completely change venues. Planning and implementation changes included parking, security, food sales, setup access and tear down. Amelia was very helpful every step of … Read more >>