MARS will hold an in-the-field drill as a mock Jensie on September 27, 2020 from 9am until about 1pm. We will staff all the (empty) rest stops and could use a couple of SAGS to roam the entire course to test the coverage of the simulcast system and several other nearby repeaters.<\/p>\n
Let me know if you wish to participate. If your name is already on the Jensie roster, I\u2019ll assume that you will be there.<\/p>\n
Cheers,<\/p>\n
Michael K6MLF<\/p>\n
Update: Sep 12, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n Hello again, colleagues–<\/p>\n As you all know, this public service season is a bust. All for good and understandable reasons, of course.<\/p>\n Radio skills are perishable, and we REALLY want to keep them brushed-up and ready to go. Many of you participated in our in-the-field drill last month, for a \u201cfake\u201d Marin Century bicycle ride. Not only was it enjoyable, but it was a great practice-and-learning experience. It also gave us a leg up on measuring the footprint of our repeater system now that the Big Rock input has migrated NE to Bahia Ridge.<\/p>\n So OK, let\u2019s do it again. We will mount another drill, this one mimicking the big Jensie cycling event that we supported in 2017 & 2018. In 2019, Jensie went down to San Mateo County, but they intended to return to Marin again this year. Then Covid hit; so, like our MCBC colleagues did for their two events, Jensie has gone virtual. Cyclists will still undertake one of the three courses, but on their own, without support. Their GPS devices will record their routes and times on the web. Here\u2019s the Jensie website\u2014please print out and be intimately familiar with each of the three routes<\/u>: https:\/\/thejensiegranfondo.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n We will mount three 90-minute shifts<\/strong>: 0900-1030, 1030-noon, and noon-1330. We will staff net control at Stafford Lake, and 7 rest stops. We wish to have at least three SAG vehicles, each patrolling a separate segment of the courses.<\/p>\n As we did for the \u201cfake Marin Century,\u201d we have two objectives:<\/p>\n First<\/strong>, to run a disciplined directed net, following our communications protocol. Please re-watch Brian Cooley\u2019s excellent video on protocol shortly before the date as a reminder:<\/p>\n