Greetings All,
With September only a few weeks away, I am reminded that while Hurricane Season officially started back on June 1st , here in the Mid-Atlantic region it unofficially begins for us in September. Now would be a good time to check your emergency communications equipment, supplies, including batteries. It would also be a good time to verify the integrity of both your antenna(s) and the guy wires.
Over the years, the Ole Virginia Hams have had several members completely fry their equipment due to lightning strikes. So, I think it would also be good to review your safe grounding & isolation setups. While depriving you of a good story, it’ll save you a lot of money and (setup) aggravation later on.
Monthly Breakfast
You don’t have to wait until our in-person meetings to see everyone again; you can come out Saturday, August 17th at 8:00 AM for our monthly breakfast. Pioneered by Byron, AK4XR, we get together every Saturday before our meetings at a table or two in the back of Yorkshire Restaurant for some good food and good conversation.
Yorkshire Restaurant
7537 Centreville Road
Manassas, VA 20111
(703) 368-4905
We hope to see you there.
Monthly Meeting
Our next monthly meeting Tuesday, August 20th
OVH Monthly Meeting
7:30 PM – 9:00 PM EDT
Buckhall VFD Hall
7190 Yates Ford Road
Manassas, VA 20111
Our presentation will feature Andrew Zwirko, K1RA, who will talk about LoRa and Meshtastic networks.
On a related note, this will be the last meeting I will attend for several months, as I am going to have knee replacement surgery. As such, the OVH will need a replacement AV person for a while. Please think about volunteering.
The Warrior Bike Ride
The OVH is supporting the 7th Annual Warrior Ride on September 7th, which is only about a month away. We will need about 28 volunteer spotters in total to man this 60-mile bike ride. I know this is a lot of volunteers, but this is a very worthwhile charity and we really need the help. And a big thank you to those of you who have already volunteered and registered.
This will be largely a mobile 50-watt radio event using both the W4OVH repeater and the Bluemont repeater. Some locations will be able to operate using hand-held radios, but that is only in very few locations very close to The Farm Brewery, which is the start/stop point.
The event will be that Saturday morning from 0600 – 0800 starting (depending on your location through about 1400-1500 (2 – 3PM ending time). Volunteer t-shirts, free lunch and a free beer will be provided to all.
Go to https://www.bikereg.com/volunteers-warrior-ride and register.
PRESIDENT’S NOTE: This is a FREE event to ham operators. But you must start the registering process from the website, AND THEN SCROLL DOWN UNTIL YOU SEE “HAM OPERATOR”. Select “Ham Operator” only. If you then finish the web form, you will see at the bottom that the cost to you is $0.00!
If you are interested , please contact Andy, KJ4MT, via e-mail @ andy@gamponia.com
Also, a reminder to check in to the OVH’s Thursday night VHF/UHF repeater net at 8 PM.
The details for that are on the OVH’s web site: https://w4ovh.net
This is a great way to stay in touch.
Questions, comments or war stories can be directed to my e-mail: KN4DD@arrl.net
73,
Ken, KN4DD