This week we’re experiencing a few days of spring like weather and the ionosphere is teasing us with occasional HF openings into Europe and hopes for an increase in the sunspot number. Speaking of HF, this spring marks another anniversary in radio history. In spring of 1956, Air Force General Curtis LeMay led a flight of several aircraft half way around the world while maintaining continuous HF SSB communications with several Strategic Air Command (SAC) ground stations. Why? As commander of SAC’s newly minted nuclear bomber force, LeMay needed a way to guarantee continuous command and control of his forces. Smaller fuselage designs of faster jet bombers meant smaller crews and no room for a Morse operator. AM’s noise vulnerability and poor talk power weren’t going to hack it. What … Read more >>
Many of us never have seen our Mt. Pone repeater site which hosts our 2M FM, 440 Fusion, our internet link to comcast and our 5 gig internet connection to the other OVH site, NOVEC. Ken, KE2N, has some picture for us of the Mt. Pont equipment including antennas and the shack complete with labels. Click here for repeater pictures
Our technical committee has installed a new repeater at NOVEC. This is a replacement of the oldest OVH repeater and will give us lots more connectivity for the 224.66 machine. It is now linking to the 146.97 repeater during the Thursday night net instead of the 442.200 repeater. Ken, KE2N, gave us a presentation at the February OVH meeting.
Click here for a more details on the new 224 repeater.
Happy birthday to those club members celebrating another year in February: Dick, WN7S; Harvey, WB6TTF; Jeff, WB6UIE; Art, W1CRO; Mike, KN4NDI. Best wishes to Dana, Jim’s, KM4SXM’s YL , as she continues to recover from a bad fall. The OVH had a table at Frostfest in Richmond this past Saturday. We handed out lots of flyers and talked up our Hamfest in June. Good to see club members attend the event as well. Virginia QSO Party is coming up in March, more info at the February meeting! Field Day 2020 in in the planning stages and we have just had the first planning meeting. Any help, questions, etc. contact Byron AK4XR. The first meeting was held at Sam & Joe’s on Center Street in Manassas, photo included! Our own hamfest … Read more >>
It seems our recruiting efforts have been paying off with several new members joining the club recently. When you see them at a meeting or club function, please take a minute to introduce yourself and welcome them to OVH. Club recognition has definitely helped our recruiting. So, as spring approaches with Hamfest and other activities, this would be a good time to order your club nametag and polo, if you don’t already have them. Nametags may be ordered from: http://www.thesignman.com/clubs/ovhcart.html I have club polos in stock which can be customized locally with your name and callsign. Email me your size. This month in radio history … A February 1902 Scientific American article on building a simple wireless station[1]is credited with bringing the first amateur radio to the U.S.[2] … Read more >>
OVH had a table at Frostfest 2020. We handed out Manassas hamfest flyers and there were only 4 left at the end of Frostfest. Theresa, KG4NXT, and Don, WA2SWX, also gave each vendor a flyer. Theresa chatted up the vendors to try to get them to our hamfest. John, KG4NXT, sat on his butt and handed out flyers and answered questions at the OVH table. Other OVH members seen at Frostfest were Stu, W4PR, Ray, KMK4EKR, Sandy, KM4JUS, Ken, KD4VA , Kevin KX4KU and Mark, WA4KFZ.
As we enter the new year, I’m reminded of a quote my faculty adviser kept posted on his wall: “We are surrounded by insurmountable opportunity.” Opportunities abound at OVH. Here are some of them for the coming year. How about a position on the OVH leadership team? We’ll put together the slate at this month’s meeting with voting to follow in February. Or, come join your fellow club members in providing event communications for the Mini Triathlons held on the George Mason campus: Enjoy the beauty of rural Virginia while supporting a veteran’s charity bike ride. Help support the club’s annual fund raiser, Manassas Hamfest. Join us for the next Hamfest. Planning Committee meeting on January 28th. … Read more >>
Happy birthday to the following club members: David, KK4ZUU; Tony, KM4KLB; David, KJ4EPF; Ed, KK4PHP; Jay, N4QT; Dianne, KI4FVV; Bil,l N4SV; and Charles, WA1FFX. Hoping you all are able to enjoy your special day during this Holiday season! Please keep Bill, KM4KWX in your thoughts as he is recovering from surgery. Thanks to all the club members that helped at the Manassas Christmas parade. Special thanks to Ray, KM4EKR for pulling our club trailer in the parade. Thank you to everyone that attended our Holiday Party on December 8th. A very huge thank you for your tremendous donations to Toys for Tots; the amount of toys donated was very heart warming. It is always an extra nice addition to our party when we have an active duty Marine attend to … Read more >>