Our Mission Statement:
Do radio stuff.
Have fun doing it.
Show people just how fun it is.
We aren’t a membership club, per se. We like to say we are an activity group. As such, we don’t have regularly scheduled meetings, publish a club newsletter or have patience for ham radio club bureaucracy. We *do* produce a ham radio satire website at HamHijinks.com, manage the Arkansas QSO Party, participate in contests and provide public service communications at an annual event at the Fayetteville National Cemetery.
The Group:
Andy, K5PO
While in high school, Andy got a CB radio in his Jeep on the recommendation of a friend. One evening he began to hear signals fluttering in from across the country. How did this very short-range method of communication suddenly allow him to hear people talking from coast to coast, he wondered? His interest in radio was piqued!
He never developed a great deal of interest in CB, but years later he started to inquire more about radio. Just how did that “skip” occur? He began to study the science of propagation which lead him to discover amateur radio. His studies continued and soon he found himself in front of a few VEs passing the Tech and General test elements in a single sitting (and later, Extra!). And his radio journey had begun!
An avid “gear head,” Andy thinks he has room in his shack for every piece of gear he has ever heard of, and is always on the lookout for the next piece of “must-have” radio gear to collect dust. His wife refers to his closet as the “booby trap” since opening the door will cause a surely fatal landslide of coax, microphones, antenna isolators and Yaesu packaging to come crashing down on an unlucky explorer.
When not yapping on 160m SSB or playing in a RTTY contest, Andy likes to go exploring in his Jeep, canoe, camp, lift weights, ride his road bike, play a bit of tennis or just enjoy some fish tacos with his lovely wife Kayla and his young son Linus. Andy is a member of the ARRL, an ARRL Volunteer Examiner (VE) a member of the Arkansas DX Association and the club’s vice president.
Follow @K5PO on Twitter
K5PO on QRZ
Gary, WBØRUR
One of his first toys was a rocker-type electrical switch discarded by his grandfather.
Over time, the fascination with switches, knobs, meters and glowing lights turned into the hobby of ham radio. First licensed as a Novice class in 1975 with the elmering of his step-father (Bill KØDEW) Gary upgraded to General in 1976 (or was it 1977?). He loves to tell stories of the “old days” with “crystal controlled 75 watt radios.” Gary upgraded to Extra in 2006.
Although you’ll often find Gary on SSB, his favorite mode is CW. “Any jackwagon can pick up a microphone and speak into it. It takes skill to work CW,” Gary says. He also works PSK31, JT65, SSTV, FT8 and FT4.
After years of using dipoles and vertical antennas, in Spring 2012 he erected a 65-foot tower with a nine-element Cushcraft tri-band beam on top. Perhaps he’s compensating for something?
Gary is celebrating his 39th year as a ham radio operator by working all the DX he can! He has more than 250 DXCC entities confirmed and is constantly adding more. In addition to DXCC “Mixed” and “CW” endorsements, he also holds Worked All Continents and Worked All States. And because he’s an overachiever, he finished Triple Play.
Just so you know, Gary is very particular about the “slash” being included in his “0” call sign. Like this: Ø
He is a member of the Missouri DX and Contest Club, Arkansas DX Association and the Royal Order of the Wouff Hong. (Look it up!) He is a member of ARRL, an ARRL-certified public information officer, ARRL Volunteer Examiner (VE), Official Observer and the club’s president. Gary blogs frequently infrequently on www.wb0rur.com.
Follow @WBØRUR on Twitter
WBØRUR on QRZ
Kevin, K5KVN
Kevin is club Treasurer, which is an easy job because the club has no money. He got a first police scanner when he was 14. After hearing a “be on the lookout” issued for his cousin on the county police frequency, he was hooked. “Dad, the cops are looking for Cecil again!” Then, he heard some folks talking about storms in the area, referring to each other with letters and numbers. His dad told him they were ham radio operators. The rest is history. He earned his amateur radio licensed when he was 19 years old. He still has that Pro-2006 scanner from Radio Shack.
Kevin’s favorite radio activities include contests, contacting and producing special events and keeping an ear to the scanners. In addition, he owns and maintains a weather station in Elm Springs, Arkansas, that is used by local TV stations, APRS and the MADIS network.
He takes care of this website and HamHijinks.com, and handles public relations duties for the group. He is a life member of the ARRL, an ARRL-certified public information officer, member of Arkansas DX Association, weather spotter and an ARRL Volunteer Examiner (VE).
Follow @K5KVN on Twitter
K5KVN on QRZ
Steve, K5OY
Steve is the club’s Chief Attendance Officer and is frequently absent from club events. He had his first exposure to the radio when his grandfather gave him an Echophone Commercial shortwave receiver. He was a very bright child and tried for years to make a contact on that receiver with very poor results. He’s the only one of the group that will admit he is a licensed CB operator. He claims to have received his KDM0648 call sign in 1969. And if you needed more to be astonished at his remarkable amateur radio career, Steve recounts the tale of his first DX contact in 1993 with a VK7 in Hobart. For months, he wondered where in British Columbia that Hobart was actually located. Today, Steve’s superstation is located in northern Bentonville, Arkansas, and features a wire dipole carefully placed in the trees so the neighbors won’t see it.
Nathan, K5KAC
Nathan’s first memories of Ham Radio are wandering into his grandfather’s, K5KAC (sk), shack. He recalls watching his grandfather bang away at a big heavy Navy key through a dense cloud of cigar smoke. As his mind grew heavy with the inhalation of second hand smoke, he was thinking “that’s pretty cool” before his Mom pulled him out and told him to “leave Earl alone.” Over the years, he walked into that shack many times to watch him send and receive RTTY and packet or have a surprisingly swear-free QSO on 80m. “What is this magical device that cleans up Granddad’s language?” he thought. This piqued his interest in radio, but he never really immersed himself in the hobby, instead opting for computers and music. What was he thinking?!
After graduating from Hendrix College in 2008, Nathan moved into is grandfather’s house to fix it up and take care of it. High atop an old utility pole he noticed a Ringo Ranger shining in the sun. He saw the long tail of coax wrapped around the pole at the bottom and decided to attach it to a 2m rig to see what would happen. He was hooked. He listened to weather nets, ragchews and shortwave for four years before deciding to get his ticket in 2012 as KF5OQB. Nathan’s interest in the hobby quickly grew and he was soon on HF, where he now spends the majority of his time.
He has no background in engineering, but he likes to tinker. He feels at a home in a room full of static, SSB signals and packet squawks. His interests are mainly hybrid tube rigs and wire antenna building. He resides on all bands, but tends to Summer on 20m and Winter on 80m. When not on his roof endangering his life throwing wire antennas into trees and positioning the 2m beam, you can find him enjoying the wonders of Madison County, Arkansas. Nathan is an ARRL Volunteer Examiner (VE), which doesn’t get him any points with the ladies. He’s also a former firefighter.
Follow @K5KAC on Twitter.
K5KAC on QRZ
Kayla, SWL
Kayla is working on her bio. And she’s promised to get it to us real soon.
A History of The Noise Blankers
- March 2012: Gary WBØRUR raises his tower. Tower envy spreads throughout northwest Arkansas.
- June 23-24, 2012: Field Day, category 2E using generator power from Andy’s shack, callsign K5PO. Read all about it.
- August 2012: Decided we should give ourselves a name, to help brand our activities.
Rejected club names: The Kerchunkers, The Dirty Harmonics, Loose Wires, Couple Sections Short, Zombie SKs, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo’s CW Operators. - September 2012: We made t-shirts!
- September 30, 2012: Produced the 1st activation of Horseshoe Island, callsign K5H, as part of the U.S Islands Award Program.
- November 2012: Advocated for the redesigning the Arkansas amateur radio license plate, in an effort to make them less expensive and get some publicity for the hobby. Idea was shot down by cranky OMs who are adverse to change, even if it will save them money. [Spoiler Alert: We’ll be back.]
- December 2012: Started a conversation on how to fix the LOTW logjam.
- December 15, 2012: Provided radio communications for the Wreaths Across America event at Fayetteville National Cemetery (Arkansas) and put N5W on the air to commemorate the ceremonies. Between parking cars and coordinating shuttle buses, we made a video.
- January 2013: Launched Ham Hijinks, featuring humorous ham radio satire.
- February 2013: Received club callsign from FCC; immediately applied for a vanity callsign.
- February 2013: Launched two new Twitter profiles – @WR5P and @HamHijinks.
- March 2013: Vanity callsign WR5P is assigned to The Noise Blankers Radio Group.
- April 2013: The group wins 2nd place in the 2013 ARRL QST Video Contest.
- May 2013: The Noise Blankers Radio Group applies for ARRL Club Affililiation.
- June 2013: Club callsign WR5P is used for the first time at Field Day.
- August 13, 2013: HamHijinks.com is redesigned. NOW WITH EVEN MORE FUNNY!
- August 20, 2013: The Noise Blankers Radio Group receives ARRL Club Affiliation.
- December 14, 2013: Provided parking coordination and radio communications for the Wreaths Across America event at Fayetteville National Cemetery (Arkansas). Read “Wreaths, Radios and Road Cones.”
- May 2014: Kevin K5KVN and Andy K5PO represent the Noise Blankers Radio Group at Hamvention in Dayton, Ohio.
- September 2014: The Noise Blankers Radio Group was chosen to be a bonus point station in the Arkansas QSO Party. Remarkably, OMs actually answered our CQs that weekend. All this time, we thought our gear was broken.
- December 2014: Provided parking coordination and radio communications for the Wreaths Across America event at Fayetteville National Cemetery (Arkansas). Read about it.
- December 2014: The Noise Blankers Radio Group establish the annual 23cm Appreciation Day, set aside to reflect on a band that none of us has used.
- June 2015: Andy K5PO, Kevin K5KVN and Gary WBØRUR go to Plano, Texas, for HamCom 2015.
- September 2015: Kevin K5KVN and Gary WBØRUR qualify and activate Deer Island on Beaver Lake in Northwest Arkansas as part of the U.S. Islands Awards Program.
- September 2015: The Noise Blankers Radio Group is a “Dedicated Station” for the Arkansas QSO Party, on the Benton/Washington County line.
- December 2015: Provided parking coordination and radio communications for the Wreaths Across America event at Fayetteville National Cemetery (Arkansas). Read about it.
- April 2016: Handed out bonus points as a co-bonus point station (WR5P) in the Arkansas QSO Party.
- December 2016: For the fifth year, we provided parking coordination and radio communications for the Wreaths Across America event at Fayetteville National Cemetery (Arkansas). Read about it.
- April 2017: Attended Green Country Hamfest and then devastated the buffet at Golden Corral. See the photos here.
- December 2017: For the sixth year, we provided parking coordination and radio communications for the Wreaths Across America event at Fayetteville National Cemetery (Arkansas).
- May 2018: WR5P gives out sweet, sweet bonus points as a co-bonus station in the Arkansas QSO Party.
- December 2018: For the seventh year, we provided parking coordination and radio communications for the Wreaths Across America event at Fayetteville National Cemetery (Arkansas).
- December 2019: For the eighth year, we provided parking coordination and radio communications for the Wreaths Across America event at Fayetteville National Cemetery (Arkansas).
- May 2020: WR5P gives out sweet, sweet bonus points as a co-bonus station in the Arkansas QSO Party.
- December 2020: The Noise Blankers Radio Group is handed the reins of the Arkansas QSO Party from Don K5DB. Don single-handedly revived the state’s QSO Party many years ago and grew it to be a premier event with increasing participation each year. We are honored to follow in his footsteps.
Stay tuned for more…
Hi.
NMOG here.
New to the area.