Pinkie’s Corner

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Pinkie Pig here!  We had a delightful April meeting after missing the one in March due to the weather.  I just don’t feel like leaving the pig pen when it’s cold and rainy!  Attendance was fairly light, but we managed to have a good time. Lots of topics and info about upcoming events were discussed.  It sounds like hamfest planning is in full swing!  It won’t be long! Our speaker was Larry, from West Virginia.  His presentation was about illegal transmissions and deliberate interference.  He also talked about “fox hunts”!  I was worried it was going to turn into “pig hunts”!  And on top of all that, all that talk about “raspberry pie” made me hungry!  (Do you ever wonder how they come up with some of those names?) We … Read more >>

VP’s Corner

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Jeff Fuller  WB6UIE   Spring is here at last (hopefully) and with it an opportunity to explore new trails, new modes and new frequencies. Like many of us, I’ve been stuck in my comfort zone on two meters for ARES and public service events. What about a backup in case one or more of our friendly repeaters goes off the air? Six meters may be a good choice for that backup. It falls into an interesting part of the spectrum known as LVHF (low VHF) whose characteristics straddle those of of both HF and VHF. Its ability to diffract around obstacles gives it somewhat greater range than two meters. And under sporadic E conditions, paths of 1000 miles or more are common. How to get on six meters? If you … Read more >>

OVH Holds VE Session

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VE Session grading table with Tony

Following Mark’s video technician training class class,  we had a VE session at Buckhall Volunteer Fired department.  We had 23 candidates and everyone got at least one new license.   We have 16 new Techs, 3 new Generals and 4 new extras.   Three of the new Techs took the General unsuccessfully.   I think 23 is probably a record for an OVH  VE session.  We  had so many candidates that we could not fit them into the training room at Buckhall that we use for our OVH meeting.   We had to put two overflow tables in an adjacent room where we did the grading.   We had lots of help from our OVH VEs.   We had Al, KB4BHB, Byron, AK4XR,  Luther, WA3FMO,   Steve (OGRE), N4OGR, Tony,  KM4KLR, Kevin, KX4KU,  Wayne , … Read more >>

Sunshine Corner April

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SUNSHINE CORNER Happy birthday wishes to the following club members:  Harry KC9TXL, Harry KN4IJY, Brian KK4CBS, Robert KJ4SZJ, Jeff KB4IWD, Gil KM4OZH, Paul N4PD, Joe KI4OHR, Steve KJ4YHA, Chris KU4FT, Lillian KK4MXY, David KI4AZX, Paul W4ZB, David KD4DEE. Special birthday wishes to Annemarie (George’s K4GVT mother in law), known to many of us as Oma.  She is celebrating 85 years young! I would say Happy Spring but every time I think it is spring, here comes the cold weather again! Since the March meeting cancelled due to weather, April will be the first meeting that Byron, AK4XR, will run as President of the club. Good to hear club members on the air for the Virginia QSO Party, please remember to turn in your logs and fill in OVH for your … Read more >>

First CW Contact Since 1958

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KJ6BKJ QSL CARD

I recently had a CW contact with Len, KJ6BKJ.    He sent me a touching letter that I want to share with the club.  It shows you never forget the code.   Here it is Dear John (KG4NXT), It was a sincere pleasure contacting you on the radio. I recently got my first set of QSL cards and so you will be among the first recipients. More important, you are my first CW contact since 1958. Sorry for the horrible job of sending. The picture depicts my inspiration for getting a ham license. I have been attempting to canoe the entire Mississippi River for the last several years. I do it with two others. Two of us get in the boat and paddle downstream to meet with the third who drives … Read more >>

OVH Does Maker Faire

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boy sending morse

On a weekend already busy with Virginia QSO party and Winterfest,   the OVH also presented “Amateur Radio in the Maker Spirit”.   The Faire included such exhibits as telescope making, The Thomas Jefferson Group making a cubesat and high power rocket stabilization.  see more at https://nova.makerfaire.com/makers-exhibitors-2018/ Headed by Don Meyerhoff, WA2SWX, the OVH exhibit included 1) an eco friendly crystal radio; 2) a SDR cw rig; 3) a 2 meter Fox transmitter built from a rasberry pi and emitting voice; 4) a uBitx 10 watt SSB transceiver with a case 3D printed by son-in-law Nick , KG7SOM; 5)  Tuna tin cw transmitter;  6) ICOM 7610 with LED display running FT8. Our exhibit was well received and we had lots of visitors.   We allowed hands on operation of the SDR  radio, the Fox … Read more >>

VP’s Corner

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Jeff Fuller  WB6UIE Soon spring will be here, birds will be singing, and a young ham’s fancy turns to … antennas. Yes, as part of spring cleaning, now is a good time to check your RF plumbing or maybe think about expanding your antenna farm (cover your ears Pinkie …) A popular ham radio saying: “If your antenna stayed up last winter, it wasn’t big enough. After that last storm, I’ve determined that mine was big enough.   Want to brush up on your antenna theory? Learn some new concepts? Then our latest additions to the OVH lending library (right)are for you. W1CRO recently donated several several copies of each to the club. Thanks Art! I’ll bring them to the meetings where they’ll be available for check out.     … Read more >>

Pinkie’s Corner

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Pinkie Pig here! The February meeting was super! We had a huge turnout and club officers were elected. Theresa handed out yummy Valentine treats! (She is so sweet and thoughtful!) The weather was great—-no snow and no rain. However, I did enjoy all those mud puddles last week! Perfect pig weather! Peaches decided not to attend the meeting. She wanted to stay home, watch “Charlotte’s Web”, and drink pink lemonade. I got home and caught her using my pink umbrellas in her lemonade! The nerve of her! I received a surprise from Andy—-a pink pig clock! It’s so cute! Thank you, thank you! I was honored! (Peaches is so jealous! That will teach her to steal my umbrellas!) I need to find a spot to hang it where Peaches can’t … Read more >>