New Antenna for 146.97 repeater

Byron on tippy toes but with safety harness on and attached

Our repeater committee decided to replace the 2 meter repeater antenna to fix the noise problems that have occured when there is a lot of precipitation.  Ken, KE2N, had run a separate transmit antenna and the results appear to validate the theory that the antenna was the problem. When the new antenna arrived, it was decided to do an immediate installation because of national weather service warnings of a storm the next day.   With only a few hours notice,  Ken had a team of 4 club members :  Byron, AK4XR,  Gil, KM4OZH, John,  KG4NXT,  and Ken himself.    The team arrived and installed the antenna without notable problems.   Byron ,who learned safe tower climbing in Iraq,   climbed the tower and installed the antenna with the rest of the team as … Read more >>

New W4OVH Repeater Trustee

Wayne Phillips N7QLK

Wayne Phillips, N7QLK,  is our new W4OVH repeater trustee. We thank Stu, W4PR, for his able service as our previous repeater trustee. As the repeater trustee, Wayne is the ‘chief control operator’ and can appoint and fire control operators for our repeaters. In addition, if you want to use the club call W4OVH at a special event or otherwise, you need to get Wayne’s approval. Thanks Wayne.

Virginia QSO Party presentation

Gil with 80 M mobile for VAQP

VIRGINIA QSO PARTY PRESENTATION

At our February meeting,  Jeff, WB6UIE, presented slides about the upcoming Virginia QSO party.   The slides were not so clear as projected so we are including them in this link  Presentation 
We host the QSO party awards at out hamfest.   More information on the QSO party can be found on the event calendar on this web site for March 16, 2019. Read more >>

VP’s Corner

http://www.thesignman.com/clubs/ovhcart.html

It seems our recruiting efforts have been paying off with several new members joining the club recently. When you see them at a meeting or club function, please take a minute to introduce yourself and welcome them to OVH. Club recognition has definitely helped our recruiting. So, as spring approaches with Hamfest and other activities, this would be a good time to order your club nametag if you don’t already have one.       Nametags can be ordered from the above link. It will be some time before our next custom polo order. However, I do have some generic polos (club logo but no name or callsign) available for purchase. I’m expecting a customization quote from a local vendor in time for our next meeting. This year’s Virginia QSO Party, sponsored by the Sterling … Read more >>

OVH at Frostfest

Frostfest 2019

Very early on ground hog day, OVH members manned a table at Frostfest in Richmond. The purpose was to distribute hamfest flyers and spread the word of our new location at the Manassas Park Community Center and the new date of Saturday June 15. We had many takers on the flyers. Many people were happy we moved the hamfest to Saturday. In addition, Don, WA2SWX and Theresa, KG4TVM worked the vendors at hamfest. One was happy to learn that the hamfest paypal links on our website are now live and was going to purchase a table right after frostfest. The table was also manned by John , KG4NXT and Jeff, K9VE, distributed flyers on the floor. Stu, W4PR, loaned us a badly needed chair when we discovered that Frostfest tables … Read more >>

CW- Where everything old is new again

Begali signature iambic paddle

Morse code is a fascinating mode that uses the human brain to decode the signal. It has been in use for over 170 years. It takes a few weeks to learn and a lifetime to master. A good way to practice Morse code, of course,  is to get on the radio and actually send and receive code. This is where the CW net can help you. Once you have a basic understanding of the alphabet and numbers, you can check into a CW net and get some real world experience sending and receiving code. The Old Virginia Hams radio club  hosts the weekly OVH CW net on Wednesday nights at 7 PM on 3.550 Mhz. This net is open to all amateurs.  The net is QRS, meaning it’s a fairly … Read more >>

Presidents Letter

Presidents Letter: I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and is recovered from all the festivities. We tend to overdo it so if you are like my family, you were probably looking forward to going back to work or school. It being a new year I want to remind you to send in your membership dues. It completely slipped my mind and I just recently sent them in. I also wanted to mention that elections are coming up next month and you need to be a paid member to vote or to run for office. Since I am also the Field Day chairman I wanted to mention that we will be holding our planning meetings starting next month. Check on the reflector for the upcoming meeting dates. We already have our … Read more >>

VP’s Corner

Happy New Year

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 for programs, projects, and people. Based on your inputs, here are some ideas for programs and projects. I’ve added a couple of threads (links) to tug on for each so you can explore them further online. (1) Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF) http://www.arrl.org/direction-finding http://www.homingin.com/ (2) Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS) http://www.arrl.org/aprs-mode (3) Digital Modes http://wb8nut.com/digital/ (4) Morse Code http://www.arrl.org/learning-morse-code Jeff, K9VEG, has established a weekly CW net for those interested in polishing their skills. See the OVH reflector for details. (5) 6 and 10 meter FM and Digital Anyone interested in exploring the acres of unused RF spectrum there for mobile,portable, … Read more >>