President’s Letter for March 2025

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Greetings All, In February, we held our annual club officer elections during our monthly meeting. I’d like to thank everyone who braved the bad weather to participate. In a clean sweep, your entire officer cadre was reelected. John, KG4NXT; Jeff, K9VEG; Gil, KM4OZH and I (Ken, KN4DD) were returned to our positions as Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President and President, respectively, Because of that bad weather, our featured speaker, Gordon, NQ4K, was not able to give his Virginia QSO party briefing. In his stead, John, KG4NXT was able to find us a video last minute. His video was “Parachuting into POTA”. While interesting, I don’t think many of our OVH members will be rushing out to try this one. The most common comment, and thus the lesson learned from this video, … Read more >>

OVH goes to Vienna Winterfest

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Gil KM4OZH looking at Ken KE2N 's KS3 which was for sale

On March 9, 2025, the OVH had a table at the Vienna Wireless Club’s Winterfest. They gave us a table for free with the understanding that the OVH would give them a free space at the OVH Tailgate Party. The table was manned by Theresa, KG4TVM and John, KG4NXT. The main purpose of our table was to distribute flyers for our June 7th Tailgate Party. We also had an Elecraft KS3 for sale, which generated a lot of interest but did not sell in the end. Winterfest was well attended and all inside tables were sold, although a few vendors did not show up. Woodbridge Wireless had a table with lots of things for sale. Also, there was some respectable tailgating outside despite the somewhat brisk temperatures. Theresa distributed tailgate … Read more >>

Free money for some OVH members

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Someone decided to pay old people for participating in group activities. ARRL got in on the action. To be eligible, you need to be: 1) an ARRL member 2) in a Medicare Advantage program that supports Grouper (in healthcare) 3) sign up.   Theresa and I are in the Kaiser Medicare Advantage program, which is supporting this program for the first time. See the check that Theresa got, below. ARRL started a partnership with this program last fall. You get $50 initially and then $20 for each 3 months that you report activity. Reporting the activity involves logging to the Grouper website and clicking a button for the month you report activity. To see if you are eligible, go to https://grouper.hellogrouper.com/ If you are eligible, join grouper at https://grouper.hellogrouper.com/create You … Read more >>

Sunshine Corner

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SUNSHINE CORNER – FEBRUARY 2025 Happy Birthday wishes to the following club members: Dick, WN7S; Harvey, WB6TTF; Jeff, WB6UIE; Art, W1CRO; Mike, KN4NDI; Tyssen, W8ZM; Scott, KN4ZMC and Gerald, KN4DWT. John, KG4NXT, and I attended the Middle Peninsula Hamfest on February 1st. A great group of friendly people ran the event. John has already posted photos on the OVH webpage. Next up is Vienna Hamfest on March 9th, then FredFest in Frederick, MD on March 22nd. We would like to have some items on our table to sell, so if you have anything, please reach out so we can coordinate with you. Thanks to Gil, KM4OZH, for presenting the program at our monthly club meeting in January. Two Photos included.                     … Read more >>

President’s Letter for February 2025

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Greetings to all, A quick reminder: Because of the President’s Day holiday, this month’s meeting will be on WEDNESDAY, February 19th, and NOT Tuesday. Congratulations to OVH Member Jeff, WB4TT, who leads in the January VHF contest. The January VHF contest was held January 18th to 20th. You can get more information in John Heartney’s article, immediately below this article. When warmer and more seasonal weather returns, that would be a good time while we still have “see through trees” to get out there and check those antennas. Better now (and easier) than when the foliage returns. My own end fed antenna needed to be resecured to a tree just a couple of weeks ago. A big tip of the hat to John, KG4NXT, on that one. It’s once again … Read more >>

OVH Member Jeff, WB4TT, leads in January VHF contest

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The January VHF contest was held January 18th to 20th. There was severe weather that weekend. Gil, KM4OZH, who normally competes in the Rover class, stayed off the roads. His neighbor and OVH member Jeff, WB4TT, operated FM only from his house. The log submission date was Jan 30th and ARRL has posted the raw scores. Jeff came in first in the single operator, FM only class. https://contests.arrl.org/rawscores.php?cn=janvhf Jeff is 280 points ahead of the next highest score, so we expect he will remain on top as the scores are audited. Additionally, Jeff and Gil recently added another tower (below) which tilts down using torque from an electric drill.  

OVH goes to Middle Peninsula Hamfest

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On Feb 1, 2025, Theresa, KG4TVM, and John, KG4NXT, went to the Middle Peninsula Hamfest in Gloucester, Virginia. We had a table and our primary purpose was to distribute OVH tailgate flyers, which we did. Ron, K3FR, attended too. We also asked for consignments to make the table more interesting. Ron, K3FR, provided us with a chrome Bencher key and a Brother inkjet printer. We were able to sell the Bencher key. The printer is still for sale at $25. Ken, KE2N, provided us with an Elecraft KX3 which generated a lot of interest but did not sell at $1,600.00. We will be taking the printer and KX3 to Vienna Winterfest unless we are able to sell them first. We will be happy to take any other consignment items to … Read more >>

Sunshine Corner

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SUNSHINE CORNER – JANUARY, 2025 Celebrating the New Year by completing a trip around the sun, please wish the following club members a happy birthday – Fred, WD4ASP; Cat, KM4PBD; John, KG4HZC; William, KN4YPG; John, KI4OWH; Justin, KJ4LAS; Elizabeth, KG4NXV; Erik, K4SOK; Joseph, KM4UYA; John, WA1STU; Ken, KE2N; James, KQ4CAX; Mark, KO4MBN and Club President Ken, KN4DD. So, January is pretty quiet on the ham front but in the background, things are happening! The first planning meeting for Tailgate 2025 was held January, 14th. Dinner at Sam & Joe’s set the scene for a productive meeting: John, KG4NXT; Theresa, KG4TVM; Gil, KM4OZH; Byron, AK4XR; Jeff, K9VEG and Gene, N4HFW attended. Tailgate flyer and volunteer sign up will be out soon, we will need lots of help the day of the … Read more >>