What was Ham Radio like 100+ years ago? How did Ham Radio impact three generations of one family over that time? One of our members, Ron Todd, K3FR, dug into his family memories and photos to put together a (short) slide presentation covering his father’s experiences with Ham Radio and how it has impacted his, and now, his son’s life. Join in through Ron’s presentation and his dad’s own notes.
Club News
OVH Club POTA activation
On July 18th, the OVH had a club POTA activation at Conway Robinson State Forest, located in Prince William County, VA. We also invited members from the Heritage Hunt club and two of them came. We had two stations running. The first station was John, KG4NXT, with an end fed, half wave antenna in the trees using Lithium battery power. The second station was George, K4GVT, who ran his portable Delta Loop antenna, which was powered by both battery and solar cells. This was George’s first activation and it was successful with 13 contacts. John also successfully activated with 20 contacts. In addition to the operating, there was also some socializing, which was nice. Theresa, KG4TVM, brought coffee and donuts. The OVH members attending were George, K4GVT; James, KQ4CAX; Al, … Read more >>
President’s Letter for July 2025
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
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
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
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
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
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 >>