President’s Letter for September, 2023

Greetings Everyone, Once again, it’s half past September. After a short cool period last month, September heat came roaring back with a vengeance. Depending where you were in the greater Washington DC area, you experienced three to five days of back to back record-breaking heat paired with less than normal rainfall so far. The good news, if you will allow me, Hurricane Season (which ends December 1st) has been mild for the US this year, with only one storm hitting the mainland so far. And as always, I hope for a mild winter. Our flurry of activities is winding down too. Off of the top of my head, we have the last Tri-It-Now event in October, the Manassas Christmas parade on December 2nd and our annual OVH Christmas Party left … Read more >>

President’s Letter for August 2023

Hello Everyone, With September only a few weeks away, I am reminded that while Hurricane Season officially starts on June 1st , here in the Mid-Atlantic region it unofficially begins 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.   Cat’s, KM4PBD head injury Back at the end of … Read more >>

Member Spotlight – OVH’s own Gavin Saul, KK4MXT in the news.

We have seen the Saul family at our monthly meetings on many occasions. While it is common to see wives trail in after the husbands, and sometimes husbands following wives in, it is rare for us to have the whole family come in.  Robert, KK4MXU (or “dad” as Gavin might say), Gavin, KK4MXT, mom Kirsten & sister Katie all have been spotted at Buckhall VFD at one time or another. This is due in part to their affinity with the Ole Virginia Hams (Kristen ran the kids 4H event at our Hamfest for several years when we were still at the fairgrounds and is still is very active with the 4H.) and in part because Robert is an officer at the Buckhall VFD and they live just down the street … Read more >>

President’s Letter for July 2023

Greetings All, I want to jump right in as this month’s presentation is very important. Opioid abuse really has become rampant in today’s society and has even affected relatives of our OVH membership. As such, at this meeting, we will be stepping away from our normal format of ham related topics. Our monthly meeting on Tuesday, July 18th, will feature a presentation by Jim Wooller, BA, QMHP-A, CPRS – Behavioral Health & Wellness Specialist for Prince William County who will give a presentation on Narcan. Naloxone, sold under the brand name Narcan among others, is a medication used to reverse or reduce the effects of opioids. It is used to counter decreased breathing in opioid overdose. The training is about 40 minutes long and everyone who attends will receive Naloxone … Read more >>

President’s Letter for June 2023

Hello Everyone, The last few days in this, the first full week of June certainly has been different. The Canadian wildfires combined with an unusually low jet stream for this time of year has given us days of very bad air quality. In fact, the Washington, DC area reached the worst air quality in the world on Thursday, June 8th. We even had our first ever “Code Purple” day. And yet, in this bad luck, I think I see some good luck. We have just completed a successful Tailgate Party. If that bad air from those wildfires had reached us days earlier, I don’t think we would have had a successful Tailgate Party. The turnout would have been much lower, if any at all. So, I choose to be thankful … Read more >>

Review: 2023 Tailgate Party

With the weekend behind us, it is time to take a look back at our Tailgate Party 2023.While we await the official numbers from our Treasurer & Tailgate Chairman Don, WA2SWX, I call it an unqualified success. It was our second ever Tailgate Party and I can say we have earned more than two and a half times our seed money. I have long held that “Good luck happens when preparation meets opportunity”. We were certainly well prepared.  Led by Don in his fourth outing as Tailgate / Hamfest Chairman, it was as close to a turnkey operation as he could make it. Your OVH Tailgate Committee met three times in 2023 to bring this together. With the Coronavirus days receding in the rearview mirror, our most pressing concern was … Read more >>