Club News

President’s Letter for March 2025

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Greetings All, In February, we held our annual club officer elections during our monthly meeting. I’d like to thank everyone who braved the bad weather to participate. In a clean sweep, your entire officer cadre was reelected. John, KG4NXT; Jeff, K9VEG; Gil, KM4OZH and I (Ken, KN4DD) were returned to our positions as Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President and President, respectively, Because of that bad weather, our featured speaker, Gordon, NQ4K, was not able to give his Virginia QSO party briefing. In his stead, John, KG4NXT was able to find us a video last minute. His video was “Parachuting into POTA”. While interesting, I don’t think many of our OVH members will be rushing out to try this one. The most common comment, and thus the lesson learned from this video, … Read more >>

OVH goes to Vienna Winterfest

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Gil KM4OZH looking at Ken KE2N 's KS3 which was for sale

On March 9, 2025, the OVH had a table at the Vienna Wireless Club’s Winterfest. They gave us a table for free with the understanding that the OVH would give them a free space at the OVH Tailgate Party. The table was manned by Theresa, KG4TVM and John, KG4NXT. The main purpose of our table was to distribute flyers for our June 7th Tailgate Party. We also had an Elecraft KS3 for sale, which generated a lot of interest but did not sell in the end. Winterfest was well attended and all inside tables were sold, although a few vendors did not show up. Woodbridge Wireless had a table with lots of things for sale. Also, there was some respectable tailgating outside despite the somewhat brisk temperatures. Theresa distributed tailgate … Read more >>

Free money for some OVH members

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Someone decided to pay old people for participating in group activities. ARRL got in on the action. To be eligible, you need to be: 1) an ARRL member 2) in a Medicare Advantage program that supports Grouper (in healthcare) 3) sign up.   Theresa and I are in the Kaiser Medicare Advantage program, which is supporting this program for the first time. See the check that Theresa got, below. ARRL started a partnership with this program last fall. You get $50 initially and then $20 for each 3 months that you report activity. Reporting the activity involves logging to the Grouper website and clicking a button for the month you report activity. To see if you are eligible, go to https://grouper.hellogrouper.com/ If you are eligible, join grouper at https://grouper.hellogrouper.com/create You … Read more >>

President’s Letter for February 2025

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Greetings to all, A quick reminder: Because of the President’s Day holiday, this month’s meeting will be on WEDNESDAY, February 19th, and NOT Tuesday. Congratulations to OVH Member Jeff, WB4TT, who leads in the January VHF contest. The January VHF contest was held January 18th to 20th. You can get more information in John Heartney’s article, immediately below this article. When warmer and more seasonal weather returns, that would be a good time while we still have “see through trees” to get out there and check those antennas. Better now (and easier) than when the foliage returns. My own end fed antenna needed to be resecured to a tree just a couple of weeks ago. A big tip of the hat to John, KG4NXT, on that one. It’s once again … Read more >>

OVH Member Jeff, WB4TT, leads in January VHF contest

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The January VHF contest was held January 18th to 20th. There was severe weather that weekend. Gil, KM4OZH, who normally competes in the Rover class, stayed off the roads. His neighbor and OVH member Jeff, WB4TT, operated FM only from his house. The log submission date was Jan 30th and ARRL has posted the raw scores. Jeff came in first in the single operator, FM only class. https://contests.arrl.org/rawscores.php?cn=janvhf Jeff is 280 points ahead of the next highest score, so we expect he will remain on top as the scores are audited. Additionally, Jeff and Gil recently added another tower (below) which tilts down using torque from an electric drill.  

OVH goes to Middle Peninsula Hamfest

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On Feb 1, 2025, Theresa, KG4TVM, and John, KG4NXT, went to the Middle Peninsula Hamfest in Gloucester, Virginia. We had a table and our primary purpose was to distribute OVH tailgate flyers, which we did. Ron, K3FR, attended too. We also asked for consignments to make the table more interesting. Ron, K3FR, provided us with a chrome Bencher key and a Brother inkjet printer. We were able to sell the Bencher key. The printer is still for sale at $25. Ken, KE2N, provided us with an Elecraft KX3 which generated a lot of interest but did not sell at $1,600.00. We will be taking the printer and KX3 to Vienna Winterfest unless we are able to sell them first. We will be happy to take any other consignment items to … Read more >>

President’s Letter for January 2025

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Happy New Year to All, A quick reminder: Because of the MLK holiday, this month’s meeting will be on WEDNESDAY, January 22nd, and NOT Tuesday. Thank you to everyone to donated gifts to Toys 4 Tots. I am told we collected more toys than ever before. Thank you also to everyone who came out to our annual Holiday Party. Thanks too, to the Heartney’s for hosting us and providing us with the turkey and ham. A huge thank you especially to Theresa, KG4TVM, who, after finding out that the Yorkshire Restaurant would not be hosting us this year, stepped back in at near last minute to turn out another excellent Holiday Party for our club. If you took part in the annual ARRL Straight Key Night (SKN) on New Year’s … Read more >>

OVH members add antennas in the winter

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Antenna ready to go on mast Gene N4HFW and Al Kb4bhb

Before all the snow came, Al, KB4BHB, mounted a new vertical antenna on a military fiberglass mast. John, KG4NXT, and Gene, N4HFW, were part of the crew. The antenna is guyed by 2 lengths of parachute cord and an antenna bracket mounted on the soffit of this house. The coax used was LMR 400. The PL-259 connector on the LMR 400 was damaged when John and AL were ramming it through a hole in the brick wall. A new connector was installed and the antenna works great. It will give AL 440 MHz capability for the Virginia QSO Party, 13 Colonies and VHF/UHF contests. Gene, N4HFW, has been having a problem getting into the 97 repeater from his shack in the basement. He has been using the Android app to … Read more >>