Member Spotlight

2024 Turkey Trot

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On a wet and cool Thanksgiving morning, the Ole Virginia Hams once again provided communications support for the 5k portion of the Prince William Turkey Trot (5k) & Mashed Potato Mile.  Their motto:  Trot, Eat, Sleep. It had rained all night but stopped by morning, leaving us cool, damp and cloudy in time for the foot races.  The race itself went off without incident. It started @ 8:30 AM & was over for us by 9:15 AM. Much like Halloween, many participants were in costume. We had a few cowboys. We had several parents pushing a baby carriage in the race.  We had both children & adults in tutus. And what Turkey Trot would be complete without so many people in turkey costumes – a full furry brown pajama suit, … Read more >>

New OVH Warthog

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On April 26, James, KQ4CAX, received the POTA Rover Warthog award from Parks on the Air. He earned this by activating 5 parks in a single UTC day.   His Parks were:   Prince William Forest Park, VA (U.S. National Park Service) Leesylvania State Park, VA Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail (U.S. National Park Service – VA, MD, DE, DC, PA, NY) Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail, MD (U.S. National Park Service) and lastly, The Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail (U.S. National Park Service – RI, MA, CT, NY, NJ, PA, DE, MD, DC, VA – A 680-mile series of roads used in 1781 by the Continental Army from Newport, Rhode Island, to Yorktown, Virginia.). Some of these parks were co-located.  John, KG4NXT, is also a POTA … Read more >>

George, K4GVT’s VE Session @ Cisco in Knoxville, TN

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The same week the OVH held its VE session, our Christmas Parade Chairman, George, K4GVT, was at a Cisco internal conference in Knoxville, TN. George had three papers to present and he set up some ham gear to demo. While there, George and his team also held a Cisco internal only VE Session. George set up his demo station to attract candidates for ham testing. Additionally, George writes: “For my ham buddies: When I first set this up on the IC-7610, all bands were dead. I pulled the PL-259 out with only the center conductor connected, and the bands were alive. So, I had guys on the ground take an ohm meter and monitor the resistance while I went up onto the roof. I checked the feed line, all good. … Read more >>

2023 Turkey Trot

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  On Thanksgiving morning, OVH did communications support for the 5k portion of the Prince William Turkey Trot (5k) & Mashed Potato Mile.  Their motto:  Trot, Eat, Sleep. It was a near perfect morning for a couple of foot races. Perhaps a bit cool and breezy with 44° temperatures at 8 AM, but it was still sunny, fair and clear. In short, excellent weather. It also may have been a PWC (Prince William County) record, attendance wise.  We had over 1,400 runners that day. The race itself went off without incident, I’m happy to report. It started @ 8:30 AM & was over for us by 9:15 AM. Much like Halloween, many participants were in costume. We had a few cowboys. We had some children in Princess garb. We had … Read more >>

Member Spotlight – OVH’s own Gavin Saul, KK4MXT in the news.

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We have seen the Saul family at our monthly meetings on many occasions. While it is common to see wives trail in after the husbands, and sometimes husbands following wives in, it is rare for us to have the whole family come in.  Robert, KK4MXU (or “dad” as Gavin might say), Gavin, KK4MXT, mom Kirsten & sister Katie all have been spotted at Buckhall VFD at one time or another. This is due in part to their affinity with the Ole Virginia Hams (Kristen ran the kids 4H event at our Hamfest for several years when we were still at the fairgrounds and is still is very active with the 4H.) and in part because Robert is an officer at the Buckhall VFD and they live just down the street … Read more >>

Member Spotlight – Gil, KM4OZH

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Our new Vice President Gil, KM4OZH is an Amateur Extra and “of a certain age”. While many of us in the club would fit that description, Gil is a relative newcomer as he was first licensed in 2015. Despite what some of you might call “a lack of seasoning”, he was attracted to contesting almost immediately. Attracted is perhaps too mild a word to use if you followed our Gordon Miller, (NQ4K) VAQP meeting presentation. Passionate is probably a better term.  More on that later. He really enjoys roving contesting. If you need proof of any of this, one only needs to look how his Mercedes is outfitted. The picture above is in VAQP configuration with HF and HF antennas deployed. He is used to dealing with 4 bands with … Read more >>

Local (OVH) Boy Makes Good

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Michael, KO4HBU, Unity High School - Member Spotlight

VP OVH OK, so Michael, KO4HBU, is not a boy. He is in fact, a Prince William County Public Schools science teacher. He is also a new ham and a new Ole Virginia Hams member. He was licensed at OVH’s VE Session @ the Nokesville Park on 8/15/20. All of us with children and grandchildren know that raising them and teaching them is difficult. But when you add-in teaching them during the age of COVID, and all of those inherent problems, this becomes much more formidable. We are talking about Michael, not just because he teaches physics, chemistry, biology, and earth sciences at Unity Reed High. We are also talking about what may very well be his greatest accomplishment in 2021. Michael was able to win a $5,000 grant from … Read more >>