Club News

Repeater upgrades

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Ken attaches N connector to hardline

The 2 meter repeater had become very noisy several times after we have had a lot of rain.    After testing for noise in the repeater shack, the technical committee decided the noise source was between the antenna and the outside of the repeater shack.   Ken , KE2N, decided we should replace the generic LMR 400 coax with hardline. On December 3, 2018,  an OVH team replaced the coax to both the 2 Meter and 440  antennas with 7/8 inch hardline.   This hardline has a loss of only  .7 db per 100 feet at 440 MHZ.   Our climber was Byron AK4XR.   Ken directed the operation and   Gil , KMK4OZH and John KG4NXT assisted.    We are hopeful that the noise will not return.     In addition, the repeater receiver should … Read more >>

VP’s Corner

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Canteen Radio

The approaching holiday season and year’s end are traditionally a time for reflection and giving thanks for our many blessings. This Veteran’s Day, lets take a moment to express thanks to our veterans – the young ones who are in harm’s way today defending our freedoms, and those who have gone before, sometimes giving all. Amateurs have a proud history of contributions during our nation’s conflicts. This Veteran’s Day I’ll cover a fascinating but little known part of that history – radios built by American and Allied prisoners of war. For a moment, imagine yourself as a WWII POW. You’re injured, on short rations, and living in primitive conditions. How will you find parts for even a basic receiver? And, of course, the design will be yours (no references or … Read more >>

Help Fund The Club With Amazon Smile

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amazon smile logo

Our Treasurer Don, WA2SWX, has found a painless way to help the club: Amazon Smile.  When setup, Amazon will donate a percentage of your purchases to OVH.  There are two steps: 1) Add the OVH as your charity on your amazon account ; 2) When buying,  buy on smile.amazon.com instead of www.amazon.com. Adding OVH as your Amazon Charity Click to add OVH as Amazon Smile Charity Getting your Amazon purchase to count and make a contribution There are several ways to get your purchase to count. The first is to simply get into amazon with the following URL http://smile.amazon.com    One you succeed, you can make a bookmark and use that.  If you go to www.amazon.com, your purchase  will not count.   You can tell that you are in Smile because your  Amazon  … Read more >>

JOTA – Jamboree on the air

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Camp Synder JOTA tent 1

On Saturday Oct 20,  OVH members assisted with JOTA at Camp Snyder in Haymarket. On site members were Al, KB4BHB, Wayne, N7QLK, Megan Phillips (no call yet),  Don, WA2SWX,  Ron, N4RDZ (visiting from Seattle),  Theresa, KG4TVM, Bruce, KN4GDX and John , KG4NXT.  We also had club members contact our JOTA site and talk to our scouts on the air including David, KG4GIY, Charlie , W4YGI (using our repeater’s internet link from Lake Anna) ,  Ogre,  N4OGR, and Jan, KE4TMW. At our next regular meeting,  Rob, W4SFK , will present  a JOTA report in more detail. If   JOTA participant was missed, please contact  John , KG4NXT, and a correction will be made.

VP’s Corner

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Pumpkin

Cooler temperatures of fall will soon be here and, along with them, the beginning of the holiday season. I’m sure your family, like mine, has some holiday traditions which have been passed down over the years. We carry them on, not necessarily for practical reasons, but as a means of bonding and connecting with past generations.     The amateur radio family has its own set of traditions. Some, like QSO procedures, we use regularly regardless of operating mode. Others, like Morse code, seem at risk of fading away into the sunset. Many years ago, a Morse code test was part of every amateur radio license exam. General and higher license exams were administered at FCC district offices. I can still remember that crisp fall day many years ago, crammed into a room full of applicants with my 13 year old hands shaking … Read more >>

HALF MARATHON

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Net controls Eric (KN4PJL) , Chick (KC1PIA) , Wayne (N7QLK)

On Sunday Sept 30, 2018,  the OVH did communications support for the Prince William Half Marathon for the third time.  This time the marathon had 1400 runners and also had 500 additional runners for a 5 k race.   The  5 K race was a race within a race.   They start after the Marathon runners had left and only did a portion of the course.   The OVH was well represented by 18 members.   Only one member did not show and that was because of illness.   This represents almost 20% of the club. The event ran smoothly and was chaired by Wayne, N7QLK.   The three net controls kept a white board of race progress.   This included the current locations of 1st male runner,  1st female runner and the last runner.   This helped … Read more >>

VP’s Corner

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boy scout stamp

In keeping with September being national emergency preparedness month, along comes one of the largest hurricanes in recent memory. At this point, it looks like the impact on our area will be limited to a few inches of rain and some gusty winds. However, for those south of us who are in the path of Hurricane Florence, the impact will likely be devastating.      Ham radio will play an important role, both in support of local responders and in handling message traffic out of area. Info about HF traffic net times and freqs will appear on ARRL and ARES web pages. As always, two things to keep in mind when supporting any emergency. First, make sure that you and your family are safe. Second, do not self deploy. Begin by contacting your local Emergency Coordinator (EC), state what resources you … Read more >>

Antenna Down – No Problem

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NQ4T new antenna

Jay Moore, NQ4T,  has his antenna blown down in the windstorms of last spring and was unable to participate in the 13 colonies contest.  Since then, he has put up a doublet and is back on the air with  a vengeance.   With 100 watts from an IC-7300, he has worked Oman on FT8 and Moscow on phone.  Here is the link for a recording of his Moscow QSO. http://w4ovh.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/rz3ah.mp3 This is a picture of his new antenna.