June VHF Contests – 2 OVH Winners – Compare & Contrast

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VHF Contest logo

VP – OVH This last June 12th thru 14th saw the ARRL June VHF Contests. The contest began 1800 UTC Saturday and ended 0259 UTC Monday. The Ole Virginia Hams fielded two of the winners, Gil, KM4OZH and Ron, K3FR. Both are Amateur Extras and “of a certain age”. Both started contesting almost immediately after licensing. While similar in their passions for both amateur radio and contesting, their approach is significantly different. Ron is well seasoned, having acquired his novice license in 1959. For this contest he used mostly FT8. By comparison then, Gil is a relative newcomer, getting licensed just 6 years ago. Gil used SSB/phone. Gil, KM4OZH : Gil, KM4OZH, was first licensed in 2015. And as previously stated, gravitated to contesting shortly thereafter. He really enjoys roving … Read more >>

OVH supports the last Tri-It-Now event of the 2021 season

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Tri It Now Races

On Sunday, October 17th, OVH supported the last Tri-It-Now event of the season, the “Tune Up Tri”. We have been very fortunate this year in that it was another beautiful day for a race. While the afternoon was cloudy & windy, the morning was a cool 60°, fair, with low humidity. In short, perfect. Before the race began, we had a small meeting and presentation. Our own Andy Gamponia, KJ4MTP, who is our liaison to both SOWW (Serve Our Willing Warriors) and the Tri-It-Now events had a task to do. Back on October 1st, (or, 5 articles before this one) SOWW presented the Ole Virginia Hams with an electronic copy of a Certificate of Appreciation. On this pleasant, sunny morning I had the pleasure of receiving on behalf of OVH, … Read more >>

Jamboree on the Air 2021

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JOTA group picture

On October 16, 2021, OVH went to Camp Snyder to support JOTA. The club members supporting were Theresa, KG4TVM; Wayne, N7QLK; Ken, KN4DD; Bruce, KN4GDX; Andrea, KI4SXM; Rob, W4FSK; Mike, KO4BCN; Don, WA2SWX and Ron, K3FR. Diana, KO4QJR was also there to help us. On the day before, John , Bruce and Al, KB4BHB set up antennas for the event. Although not physically present, we heard club member Bill, AF4LL talking to scouts on 2 meter FM. We had a wide variety of stations. Don had DStar. Ken ran 2 meter FM. Bruce had a digital voice station. John ran FT8. We did not have as many scouts as we would have liked. We started with good weather but a storm front was approaching around noon and we secured at … Read more >>

Sunshine Corner

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Happy Birthday wishes to Doc, W1IMX; Robert, KK4MXU; Ray, KM4EKR; Phi,l AC4PL; Chris, KN4IJF and Richard. Congratulations to our VE Team led by John, KG4NXT and his band of examiners at the beginning of October. They had a very nice turnout for testing and picked up some new hams and upgraded the licenses of others! Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) is coming up on Saturday, October 16th at Camp Snyder in Haymarket. We will start operating at 9 AM. If you are on the radio and hear a CQ, please help us out with the scouts by answering! Please send lots of thoughts and prayers to Bill, KM4KWX, as he is battling some serious medical issues right now. The Manassas Christmas Parade will be on Saturday, December 4th. This was … Read more >>

OVH VE Exam

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VE Examiners October 2021

The OVH Volunteer Examiners held an exam session in Nokesville Community Park on October 2nd, where we have Field Day. We had 10 applicants and subsequently, 11 new licenses. We have 7 new Techs and 3 new Generals. One fellow passed both Tech and General. One fellow did not pass his upgrade test. The OVH Volunteer Examiners were Al, KB4BHB; “The Other Ken”, KN4DD; George, K4GVT; Ray, KM4EKR and John, KG4NXT. Theresa, KG4TVM was a great help with checking people in and organizing the returns. John planned to upload the results electronically, but it turns out that the link is “non public” and the ARRL VEC office was not answering the phone on Saturday. Therefore, John had the results in the mail by 1 PM on the day of the … Read more >>

September’s Roundup – A weekend full of bike events, a breakfast & in person monthly meeting

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September Roundup

VP – OVH September has been another busy month for the Ole Virginia Hams: OVH supported Serve Our Willing Warriors Bike Ride on September 11th. On September 12th we supported a pair of Tri It Now  Bike Races. On September 18th we saw another OVH Breakfast And on September 21st, we returned to in person meetings at BuckHall VFD ***************************************************************************** On September 11th, the OVH supported Serve Our Willing Warriors Bike Ride. A lot went into the race and a lot went on. Please see the immediately previous article to this one. *****************************************************************************             On September 12th  the Ole Virginia Hams supported a pair of Tri It Now  bike marathons for Prince William County, led by Andy, KJ4MTP, code named “Shadow”. This Tri It Now … Read more >>

OVH supports Serve Our Willing Warriors (SOWW) and receives an award

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Willing Warriors Bike Event 2021 Certificate

VP – OVH On Saturday, September 11th, members of the Ole Virginia Hams supported the 4th Annual Warrior Ride. The date for this ride was chosen to honor the fallen, survivors and heroes of that fateful day. I am pleased to report, “Mission Accomplished”! It was a beautiful day for a bike ride. While it got to 79° in the afternoon, the morning ride was cooler, with no humidity. Additionally, the variable clouds all day kept the riders cool and in the shade while the day wore on.                 That is not to say the day was without its challenges. 3 separate bike rides, a 13 miler, half metric (~30 miles) & full metric (~60 miles), all using the same starting route. The … Read more >>

Sunshine Corner

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Sunset in Washington State

Happy Birthday wishes to Ken, KD4VA; John, KK4TCE; Karl, W4KRl; Matthew, KK4SYM; Stu, W4PR; Ronnell, KK4ZUR; Vern, K0LVS; Chick, KC1PIA; Duane, KK4BZ; Ray, KK4AQR and Andy, KJ4MTP. John, KG4NXT and I had a pleasant time at the Berryville Hamfest and did see several club members. Even with the little rain showers, it looked like a good turnout. Happy retirement wishes to Wayne, AG4ZZ and Jeff, K9VEG. Enjoy! Congratulations to Al, KB4BHB. His grandson, Joseph, just upgraded his ham license to General. Call sign is KO4REQ. I know Al is very proud!!! There is also a new ham in the Meyerhoff family. More information to follow! Congratulations to Jay, NQ4T on his Worked All States! Jamboree on the Air will be coming up on October 16th; we will very likely be … Read more >>