Club President’s Report for February 2013

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Noise Blankers Radio Group

By: WBØRUR

The Noise Blankers Radio Group became an official radio club a few days ago. I forget the exact date, which will cause a great deal of grief to future historians researching this occasion; and/or lawyers performing due diligence for pending lawsuits.

The election of officers was done by secret ballot. In fact, so secret that some may not know they were elected as follows:

President: WBØRUR
VP and Trustee: K5PO
Chief Information Officer and Treasurer: K5KVN
Chief Attendance Officer: K5OY
Member: K5PO’s XYL

K5PO created just enough paperwork to allow us to receive an official FCC-issued club callsign. This fantastic callsign issued randomly by the FCC is KF5TQF. No one could come up with a satisfying set of phonetics (the only thing even close was “TASTY QUICK FROZEN”), so the decision has been made to request a vanity call sign. This 2×1 or 2×2 callsign has not been issued yet so standby for updates! [UPDATE: We received WR5P on March 4th!]

If you have not submitted a bio and digital photo to K5KVN, then you may be simply smarter than the rest. However, we need it for the website. Check out www.noiseblankers.com/team

You will also find a series of compelling ham radio news stories which are loved by many, detested by some and ignored by most. We have branded these as “HAM HIJINKS.” It’s side-splitting humor, so please do not read these immediately after hernia surgery (looking at you, K5KVN).

The latest Treasurer’s report from K5KVN indicates that we have no money. This is a great relief, as we would only get into trouble if we had a way to finance anything. However, if we could get ONE dues paying member we will eat like KINGS at our next organized event. Annual dues are $3,500.

We will meet soon to determine Field Day preparations. WBØRUR has raised the possibility of a “per transmitter point challenge” with another local club.  (Points divided by number of transmitters.) However, we must ensure victory before entering into such a wager. We will soon be forming a committee on sabotage; reply if interested.

This concludes the President’s report for February 2013.

“Now THAT’S rare DX, folks!”

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Introducing: Ham Hijinks

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Noise Blankers Radio Group

The Noise Blankers believe that ham radio is immensely fun. Our mission is: 1) Do radio stuff; 2) Have fun doing it; and 3) Tell others just how much fun it is.

So, we bring you Ham Hijinks. It’s a new section of our website, dedicated to completely made up, satirical and hysterically funny news stories and internet memes related to amateur radio. We’ll add new stuff often. None of it is real. Or is it?

Please give it a read, come back often for new stories, share it, let us know what you think. It’s ok to make fun of ourselves, right?

Posted in hijinks | 5 Comments

Email List and Newsletter for northwest Arkansas Hams

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Noise Blankers Radio Group

Our friends at the ARKAN club have set up an email distribution list for amateur radio operators in and around northwest Arkansas, from Ft. Smith to Joplin to Harrison. In addition, they are expanding their newsletter to cover ham radio events from all over the area, not just their club. Send them your news, event info, hamfest announcements, etc.

We think it’s a great idea and an opportunity to “regionalize” (is that a word??) ham radio efforts in the area, regardless of club affiliation.

To sign up for their email list and the newsletter, or to send them your news for inclusion in the newsletter, send an email to NWARKHAMS@Gmail.com or visit their website for more info.

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2012: Year In Review

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Noise Blankers Radio Group

2012 was a big year for The Noise Blankers. What in the past had been an annual gathering of the group for field day, became a full-fledged calendar of ham radio events. Planning for next year is already underway and will include another island activation, field day, Wreaths Across America, tower projects and possibly a summit on the air.

  • 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 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! Lookie
  • September 30, 2012: Produced the 1st activation of Horseshoe Island, callsign K5H
  • 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.
  • 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.

Happy New Year to you! Here’s to a great 2013.

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Ham Radio Hijinks

Posted on December 23, 2012 by Noise Blankers Radio Group

Kevin K5KVN and Andy K5PO try to communicate at the Wreaths Across America event:

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Noise Blankers Assist At National Cemetery, No Injuries Reported

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Noise Blankers Radio Group

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark., December 17, 2012 – Amateur radio and “The Noise Blankers Radio Group” (www.noiseblankers.com) provided event communications for Wreaths Across America at the U.S. National Cemetery in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Wreaths Across America is a national non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds and placing memorial wreaths on headstones of U.S. veterans interred worldwide in U.S. National cemeteries.

“We managed traffic flow, disabled participant parking Kevin K5KVN, Andy K5PO and Gary WB0RURand shuttle bus coordination between a parking facility at the University of Arkansas and the U.S. National Cemetery,” says Kevin Thornton, K5KVN.

Encroaching residential and commercial development resulted in a dramatic reduction in available on-site parking for this year’s event.  Organizers opted to run six shuttle buses from Baum Stadium to the cemetery.

“It was a record turnout with approximately 2,100 volunteers placing 7,200 memorial wreaths this year in Fayetteville,” says Andy Holmes, K5PO.  “It was an outstanding way to honor our veterans.”

Gary Darnell, WBØRUR, added “The team staffed the only two vehicle entry points into the cemetery area.  We got the support team in to execute the event – including U.S. Representative Steve Womack (3rd District, Arkansas) and we coordinated the safe transportation of hundreds of volunteers and spectators. Not to mention managing an 80-foot over-the-road tractor trailer and 100 motorcycles driven by the Patriot Guard.”

The Noise Blankers communicated via simplex (146.535 MHz) VHF radio.  Jeff, K3DEI, was at Baum Stadium parking lot providing event assistance at that location.

The Noise Blankers activated special event call sign N5W on the amateur bands to raise awareness and appreciate our US Veterans.

 

____________

About the Noise Blankers: The Noise Blankers are a group of rebel radio operators based in northwest Arkansas. The membership roll is tightly held secret.  The next planned event by the group is to provide communications for the end of the world on December 21, 2012.  They will be operating simplex.

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Log Jam of the World

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Noise Blankers Radio Group

There has been a lot of talk lately about the system issues with Logbook of the World.

The Noise Blankers membership thinks LOTW is a fantastic tool, but obviously limited in its current state. We know the ARRL staff are working diligently to bring LOTW up to speed.

We put on our thinking caps and came up with a few ideas:

 Gary, WBØRUR, found someone willing to help:

On a serious note, the Noise Blankers have always advocated LOTW as the best QSL system available. Paperless, fast, secure, and more affordable than postage– it’s a great asset to the community. The LOTW and its present system have served us well for many years. LOTW adoption rates have seen very positive growth, but have ultimately begun to tax the system, leading to sluggish processing times and system reliability concerns.

Today the ARRL released a new LOTW status page (http://www.arrl.org/logbook-queue-status). This is a great move to provide transparency to the community around processing times. The next step is to lay out a plan for a new, top-class solution that will benefit members for years to come.  It’s time to give it the resources appropriate for the world-standard QSL system.

But a plan needs funds, of course! We encourage the ARRL create a fund for the specific purpose of delivering the next-generation LOTW to the world of amateur radio. Make it easy to see donation progress add up to the goal. Amateurs could rally around it and see their money go directly to something that is a great asset for those in the hobby that seek the thrill of confirming a rare DX contact or getting a QSL for that last state needed for their WAS award!

The Noise Blankers Radio Group would be happy to donate $20 per member to such a fund if it existed. Wouldn’t you?

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An Idea: Arkansas Amateur Radio License Plates

Posted on November 11, 2012 by Noise Blankers Radio Group

By: Kevin K5KVN

Please share this page with as many Arkansas amateur radio operators as possible, email the link, talk about it at your club meetings. We need to determine interest in this, so please let me know what you think in the comments below.

A little more than a year ago, I thought, “What if we could spruce up the Arkansas amateur radio license plate?” Give it a fresh design, get some press out of it, generate some excitement among hams in the state, do a special event. Several other states have recently revamped their amateur radio license plates.

I’m a public relations professional and passionate about promoting the ham radio hobby. So, I see the license plates as many things:

  • A nod of thanks to ham radio operators for the hobby’s public service, from the first experimental wireless efforts to today’s emergency communications support;
  • Identifies us to other amateur radio operators on the road;
  • Promotes the hobby to other drivers;
  • Identifies us to emergency officials on scene when we are asked to help with communications; and
  • A unique badge of pride for ham radio operators.

What we have today is not a design at all; it’s a callsign on the same background that everyone else gets, with the words “Amateur Radio” in small font at the bottom.

It looks like this:


(Click for a larger version)

But what if it could look like this:

 MSsmallClick for a larger version  Or this:New-HAM-Radio-PsngrClick for a larger version Or this:utahClick for a larger version

Any design will have to meet current statutes for the size of the letters and words, reflectivity, readability, etc. It would need to accommodate the longer 2×3 callsigns. Any design would likely be slightly tweaked by the Department of Finance and Administration to make it “legal.”

In Arkansas, we enjoy a very low cost for the privilege of these license plates. We pay a $2 yearly fee, in addition to the normal license plate registration fees. Strangely, despite this low cost, only 1,353 amateur radio license plates are on Arkansas roads today. (Source: Department of Finance and Administration email) Could this be because the plate’s design is nothing special?

After more than a year of research, including emails to officials inside the Department of Finance and Administration the following was determined:

  • This would only affect newly issued plates. Plates currently on a vehicle would not need to be replaced by the owner.
  • The design must meet the state requirements for proper letter size, reflectivity, readability, etc.

What do you think?

Should this be done? Let me know in the comments below. We need to hear from as many Arkansas amateur radio operators as possible. Got a design idea?  Email me k5kvn@arrl.net.

Even more info, if you’re interested:

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Coming Soon: N5W National Wreath Laying Day

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Noise Blankers Radio Group

Plans are underway for the 2nd annual N5W special event to mark National Wreath Laying Day at U.S. National Cemeteries worldwide. N5W will operate in Fayetteville, Arkansas, December 15 where 7,500 wreaths will be placed on military headstones. Fayetteville National Cemetery was one of the original national cemeteries commissioned by President Abraham Lincoln. In addition, the Noise Blankers Radio Group will provide amateur radio communications support to the logistics team at the cemetery.

More info: http://www.arrl.org/Events/view/49603

 

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K5H Island Activation: SUCCESS!

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Noise Blankers Radio Group

The Noise Blankers Radio Group took to the water September 30th to activate Horseshoe Island (AR-015) for the first time. Using special event callsign K5H, we contacted 351 stations in 42 states and 16 countries. Read Gary’s recap on his blog and view photos. QSL to K5KVN.

Watch the recap video:

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