Adding notes from our volunteers

We are having a time with illnesses, injuries, funerals, … among communications volunteers for this event.  Plus, they added 2 new rest stops.  If you can find the time, please add your name to the signup list.  HERE, Scroll down about 2/3 to “Marin Century”.  Thank you!!!

Kind Regards,

Pam W, N6PDW

San Francisco Radio Club

The San Francisco Radio Club has been invited back to manage the Communications Team for the San Francisco Marathon. This is the biggest event for the club this year and we need your participation! 

All operators, experienced or not, can participate. This is a great opportunity to put your skills to work, learn by shadowing an experienced operator and have fun! This is all about helping the community for a few hours, preparing for the unexpected and building on the reputation of our club. 

The event takes place mainly in the city and spans over the Golden Gate Bridge for a few miles this year. Parking and access should not be a problem for the most part. We are looking for operators to man the 18 water stations, 6 SAG vehicles, our NET operation station as well as a sweep (ideally on a bike). 

We will be using our Sutro UHF DMR Repeater as a primary and our Sutro VHF W6PW repeater as a secondary for this event. Frequencies and backup repeaters are listed in the registration page. 

We appreciate and thank you for your participation as a member of the San Francisco Radio Club Communications Team. Your generosity and skills are valued contributions towards the success of these events, and are noted and appreciated by the event organizers and medical personnel, whom we partner with each year. 

Everyone seemed to have a great time. The park was a nice roomy area to work in.

Great job everyone!

This year, ARRL Field Day is at Stafford Lake Park, from 7:00 AM Saturday, June 24th until 10:00 AM Sunday, June 25th. RSVP on the Contact form or email to RSVP@w6sg.net.

We can’t rely on 15dB SNR and 20% LQ.  It won’t work, especially when you turn LQM with a min threshold of 50% LQ.

Of course, the bib tags had their pros and cons.  Some tags end up in the wrong place, of course, and updating the spreadsheet via radio for more than 15 or 20 is not practical.  Suggestion we return to only first and last 3 people through and the sweep as only routine transmissions and, until we can make Mesh reliable, consider digital radio and maybe a win link setup using packet messages.

Here is a link to a photo album from Eric.

We did have one non-participant injury reported and found that getting a ranger takes too long.  Her friend called 911 and emergency responders handled the situation.

Another excellent suggestion is that, if we are listing bib numbers through a rest stop, other than first 3/last 3, use a separate paper from the communications log for those.  Also, when writing the number “4”, keep it open at the top so it cannot be mistaken for a “9”.

Also, include a column on the log sheet for whether the item is closed/completed so it can be easily scanned for items needing resolution.

Cold weather conditions made a Mr. Buddy propane heater sound like a great idea!  Maybe a couple extra blankets would also help.