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• Callsign History:

K5OP was originally issued to, and operated by Walter "Wally" Chambers, Jr. Wally was born in 1926 in Shreveport, LA. After high school, and a short stint in College Wally enlisted into the United States Navy where he was sent to radio school in Chicago, IL. After A School he went into WWII and was sent to the Pacific Theater. While there he served on various surface ships, and one submarine as a radio operator.

At the end of his tour he returned back to Louisiana and enrolled at Louisiana State University (LSU Geaux Tigers!!!) and earned a degree in Electricial Engineering. While he was a ham, he loved to collect "Boatanchors" and repair them. He seemed fond of the Collins R-390 and is credited in several places online with designing an AGC circuit for the R-390 Receiver. Wally lived in Memphis, TN and seemed to be active in the amatuer radio community, loved going to hamfests around the country and participated in various online discussion forums related to military tube-type radio sets.

Wally's license expired in 2007, and sadly in December of 2007 he became a silent key. It is with great reverence and a sense of honor that I try to uphold his amateur radio legacy, now that I hold his on-air identity. It's my hope that he's in a better place, and able to do what it is he loved to do the most. If you knew Wally I would encourge you to email me with any stories or tid-bits about him, especially if you have photos. I intend to make a tribute webpage for him eventually, and to link it from here.

• About Me:
  

I was first licensed in 1988 as a Novice with the callsign KB5FSV, in 1989 I upgraded to technician class, and was content with burning up the 10 meter phone band, CW bands some of the time, and all of the local 2 meter activity. Back then 2 meters was very active here. I upgraded to General class in 2006, and not being satisfied with that, I enrolled in a class given by Vic, N5YY to prepare for Extra Class. I took and passed the Extra exam in 2008 and have been enjoying it ever since.

On 14 April 2009 I put away my on-air identity (KB5FSV) for good, and assumed a new callsign for the first time in over 20 years. I was granted K5OP. So if you hear me on the air, I'm not Wally, but if you knew him, I would love to hear any stories you have about him.

I'm an official DX Helper for QRZ, so if you're a DX STATION and you need to have your information added to the Database I can help you out with that. I'm the official webmaster for the Magnolia DX Association (K5MDX) So come check us out on the web: http://www.mdxa.org/

I'm an active member of the MDXA, and working towards my DXCC which is a challenge for me. Having a full time job and other responsibilities, only 100 watts and an antenna not very high off the ground, and trying to do this all at the very bottom of the Solar Cycle is quite a challenge. But at last check I have 124 DXCC entities worked. About 40 of them are confirmed. I finally have everything in order to submit for my ARRL W.A.S. award, so hope to soon have that, and I'm currently working on my Triple Play Award. I enjoy working DX, and participating in contests, field days, and hope to go on more DXpeditions in the future.

• On-Air Operations:

October 18, 2008: Operated as K5S/K5Z - East Ship Island, MS. I was part of the team of MDXA members who is credited with qualifying and activating USi # MS009S for the first time ever. East Ship is also listed under IOTA NA-082. The station I used is pictured in the upper right corner of this bio. Icom America donated all of the stations, IC-756PROIII, and SteppIR donated two-element SteppIR yagi's.

May 30, 2009: I will be qualifying and activating a new island in the USi Awards Program. Be looking for K5OP/P on-air during the last weekend in May from Singing River Island - USi # MS010S. The station will be an Icom IC-7000 (100 watts) with the Heil Proset, Using a Buddipole Deluxe for 20/40 Meters, and a Wire Dipole for 80 meters. Check back for more updates.

• My Station:
  

My bedroom station consists of a Kenwood TS-2000 HF, attached to it is a Mosley TA-33jr and a homebuilt 80/40/20 meter wire dipole, both are 20 feet above ground at the apex. I have a Chrome edition Bencher BY-2 keyer, and a Signalink USB for digital modes.

In the main ham shack, I have a Kenwood TS-450sat, and a Collins S-Line (32S1 and 75S1) with the station control 312-B. The only thing missing is a nice 30L-1.  There is also a Heathkit HW-8 CW QRP transceiver. These radios switch between the same antennas listed above. I also have a Yaesu FT-100D with the matching FC-20 ATU which is used for portable communications.  (April 2009 - Adding the Icom IC-7000 with AB5N Mic Mod to my station)

I'm also fairly active on OSCARs (weather permiting). I wield the Arrow II Satellite antenna, and use a Yaesu FT-60r dualband HT with 2 watts to work stations on AO-51, AO-27, and SO-50 birds. So if you work the birds, hopefully we'll QSO one day. I have some audio recordings of my contacts here: http://www.nexusradio.us/ham

Here I am in 1989 operating CW with a J-38 on the Collins S-Line. Also in this picture you'll notice my first HF rig in the corner. The Swan 500CX. Jack, KG5GP (an elmer) sold that rig to me at a very good price, and he helped me get on HF during my early days of the hobby.