OVH Holiday Party 2021

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Lynn, KX4HC, Norma, John KG4NXT, Theresa KG4TVM, Don WA2SWX, Edith, Julie, Bill AF4LL

On Sunday December 12, we had our annual OVH Holiday party organized by Theresa, KG4TVM at the Yorkshire Restaurant. We had an excellent Club turnout with over 35 attendees. No tables were empty in our section of the restaurant. We had a renewed emphasis on the potluck part of the dinner with many wonderful dishes. Al, KB4BHB and Wayne, N7QLK worried that they would not be able to provide venison for the dinner. However, they suddenly were lucky and harvested two deer and then there was plenty of venison for the chili. Gil, KM4OZH made lemon cake which was so popular that Gil did not get a taste. Gil has previously made lemon cake for the Fauquier Club’s party and did not get to taste his own cake there either. … Read more >>

Sunshine Corner

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Tony KM4KLB receives award for his work on the tailgate

Happy Birthday wishes to Marwood, KL7AW; Rob, W4FSK; Tony, KM4KLB; Ed, KK4PHP;  Jay, NQ4T; Dianne, KI4FVV; Bill, N4SV; Alan, KY4DN; Bryon, AK4XR; David, KK4ZUU and George, N4XSL – have a great end of year celebration! On Saturday, December 4th, the City of Manassas held their 75th Annual Greater Manassas Christmas Parade. As we have done in the past, the club has supported this event by providing  radio communications facilitated by a dozen spotters along the parade route and at the Judges’ stand. We also had our Club Trailer entered into the parade as a unit. Special thank you to Gene, KN4JMB for using his truck to drive the trailer thru the parade. Gene also helped get the decorations on the trailer and his truck! Thank you to everyone that came … 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 >>

Christmas Parade 2021

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The Ole Virginia Hams supported the 2021 Christmas Parade in two ways. First, our trailer was decorated and became a float in the parade. Second, the club provided communications support for the event. Theresa, KG4TVM spearheaded the float effort.  She noticed the deadline and filed the paperwork – we got in the parade at no cost. Theresa, Ron, K3FR;  John, KG4NXT and Andrea, KI4SXM helped with the lights and decorations. Finally Gene, KN4JMB  pulled the trailer in the parade with his truck which was also decorated. Gene also helped decorate the trailer and the truck. George, K4GVT was our liaison for communications support with the parade.  We gathered for breakfast before the parade. The OVH members working the parade were John, KG4NXT; Theresa, KG4TVM; George, K4GVT; Ken, KN4DD; Dick, KM4UXE; … Read more >>

2021 Turkey Trot

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Ken's (KE2N) Award

VP – OVH November 25th, Thanksgiving morning was another beautiful day for a race. A 5k race to be specific. While a cloudy day, it was an above average 60° with low humidity. Perfect.   First off, and most importantly: Congratulations to our own Ken (KE2N) who not only participated in the race, he placed 2nd in his category. As he told me later, “ …. a post retirement personal best.”       Way to go, Ken! Ken’s (KE2N) Award Next up, what a difference race management makes. Our own Wayne (N7QLK) took the lead here, but he was frequently thwarted by the race’s management. Wayne organized his team of spotters – Wayne, N7QLK; Al, KB4BHB; Ken, KN4DD; Theresa, KG4TVM & John, KG4NXT only then to have the race’s … Read more >>

Sunshine Corner

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Happy Birthday wishes to Wayne, N7QLK; Kevin, KX4KU; Baofang, KK4JFK; Theresa, KG4TVM; Butch, W4HJL; Greg, KM4CCG; Jeff, WB4TT; Gene, KD4HRC; Charlie, WA4YGI; James, N5TE; James, KA4BOL; Paul, K4GZR and Allan. To all our Veterans, we thank you for your service, The Manassas Christmas Parade will be on Saturday, December 4th. We will need some help decorating our club trailer for the parade and George, K4GVT needs volunteers to provide radio support during this event. George can be reached at george@k4gvt.com We will be having the club Holiday Party on December 12th (Sunday) at Yorkshire Restaurant, 6 to 8 PM. This is a family event and we ask that you bring a covered dish to share. We will collect new and unwrapped toys for Toys For Tots and I have received … Read more >>

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 >>