For our cancelled March meeting, Jim Stanley was scheduled to give us a briefing on the Virginia Defense Force. Jim is a Major in the VDF and is also KM4BID. We hope to be able to reschedule his presentation at some time in the future. In the meantime, Jim has sent us his briefing slides. Click here to view the VDF slides
On March 14, 2020, OVH held a VE session. We had a host of people from Maryland and Arlington because several other VE sessions had been cancelled. We had 17 candidates and they earned 10 new technician , 1 new general and 3 new extra licenses. One fellow went from no license to Extra. Three candidates did not earn a new license. The VEs assisting were John, KG4NXT; Al, KB4BHB; Chick, KC1PIA; Luther, WA3FMO; Steve, N4OGR; Steve, KB4OF; Mark , WA4KFZ; George, K4GVT; Byron, AK4XR; and Ray , KM4EKR.
Ladies and Gentlemen, COVID-19 has been confirmed in Prince William County. County officals have canceled all events at county facilities until further notice. In light of this, and to protect everyone’s health; it has been decided that the March meeting has been cancelled. We will continue to plan on having the April meeting as normal and will make any changes as we know how this unfolds. Stay safe. 73 Jay NQ4T
This week we’re experiencing a few days of spring like weather and the ionosphere is teasing us with occasional HF openings into Europe and hopes for an increase in the sunspot number. Speaking of HF, this spring marks another anniversary in radio history. In spring of 1956, Air Force General Curtis LeMay led a flight of several aircraft half way around the world while maintaining continuous HF SSB communications with several Strategic Air Command (SAC) ground stations. Why? As commander of SAC’s newly minted nuclear bomber force, LeMay needed a way to guarantee continuous command and control of his forces. Smaller fuselage designs of faster jet bombers meant smaller crews and no room for a Morse operator. AM’s noise vulnerability and poor talk power weren’t going to hack it. What … Read more >>
Many of us never have seen our Mt. Pone repeater site which hosts our 2M FM, 440 Fusion, our internet link to comcast and our 5 gig internet connection to the other OVH site, NOVEC. Ken, KE2N, has some picture for us of the Mt. Pont equipment including antennas and the shack complete with labels. Click here for repeater pictures
Our technical committee has installed a new repeater at NOVEC. This is a replacement of the oldest OVH repeater and will give us lots more connectivity for the 224.66 machine. It is now linking to the 146.97 repeater during the Thursday night net instead of the 442.200 repeater. Ken, KE2N, gave us a presentation at the February OVH meeting.
Click here for a more details on the new 224 repeater.
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 and polo, if you don’t already have them. Nametags may be ordered from: http://www.thesignman.com/clubs/ovhcart.html I have club polos in stock which can be customized locally with your name and callsign. Email me your size. This month in radio history … A February 1902 Scientific American article on building a simple wireless station[1]is credited with bringing the first amateur radio to the U.S.[2] … Read more >>
OVH had a table at Frostfest 2020. We handed out Manassas hamfest flyers and there were only 4 left at the end of Frostfest. Theresa, KG4NXT, and Don, WA2SWX, also gave each vendor a flyer. Theresa chatted up the vendors to try to get them to our hamfest. John, KG4NXT, sat on his butt and handed out flyers and answered questions at the OVH table. Other OVH members seen at Frostfest were Stu, W4PR, Ray, KMK4EKR, Sandy, KM4JUS, Ken, KD4VA , Kevin KX4KU and Mark, WA4KFZ.