Chuck put on a great practical class on assembling a cheap Yagi-Uda antenna. Here’s a video I made of the day’s events!

73,

Raman, KV0N

My XYL and I took a few radios and searched for the fox using attenuation techniques including cross-polarization and 3rd harmonics. It was a bluebird Colorado day and the hunt made for a fun outdoor walk.

Here’s the video:

Raman, KV0N

I volunteered with my ham radio club – the Longmont Amateur Radio Club – to provide support for the city of Longmont’s annual Turkey Trot.

Here’s a video of the event:

A call for volunteers went out soon after the conclusion of the Halloween parade a few weeks back. Of course, I volunteered.

This event was earlier in the day so my XYL made it clear that she wasn’t going to help lug the camera or gear!

Preparation started the day before. We were told that the club’s 2 meter repeater was iffy to raise depending on where you were on the course so that we should bring a better antenna with our HT’s.

Here’s a list of what I brought:

1. Yaesu VX-6r with original and Signal Stick 17″ antenna (charged the night before)
2. Speaker/Mic  – shoulder remote thingy for the Yaesu
3. Osmo Pocket camera
4. Printout of the race course and club’s email
5. Ball point pen
6. Chapstick
7. Multitool pocket knife
8. Coaxsher RP-1 Scout chest harness that contained the above
9. Ultralight backpack with water, snack,  backup Baofeng UV5x3 with Signal Stick 17″ antenna (charged the night before)
10. Hat, gloves, puffy coat (did’t end up using)

The weather forecast called for a cool 50ish degrees going up to maybe 65.  I knew better so I dressed in layers and was prepared to stand for a few hours.

I left the house around 7:20 AM and arrived at the middle school around 7:40. A few fellow hams were there milling about and chatting. It was slightly warmer than the weather forecast which was nice. I signed in at the volunteer table, grabbed an even t-shirt and hung out and waited for everyone else to arrive. At about 8 AM we got together for a short briefing, followed by a group photo. Then we each drove to our assigned tactical stations.

I was station Delta again.  Not being from Longmont, I had just a little trouble finding where I was supposed to be because the road names changed. But I got to my station well in advance and chatted with the other volunteers that were stationed at the same risky corner.

I swapped out my stock antenna for the Signal Stick and notified net control I was at my station. I was easily able to hit the repeater!

9 o’clock rolled around and we all checked in with Net Control and the race started. A few short minutes later the lead runners were already at my station which was probably 1-1.5 miles from the start on the 10k course.

Eventually the runners, including dogs, babies, and puppies went by and I was relieved of my station and was asked to move to another location. I got in my car and saw that the Longmont police already were at the corner and that there were too many cones and not a good place to stop and park without getting in the way unnecessarily so I notified net control and he told me to return to the start/finish. Ironically, I was in my car (i.e. my faraday cage) and the Signal Stick still got out to the repeater!

So I drove back to the start/finish and hung out with Net Control while we watched the runners go by. I also got a chance to observe the responsibilities of Net Control including notifying the Event people whom we were assisting, of the race progress.

Overall the race was uneventful from our perspective, although there was an injury but First Responders were already on location so we weren’t involved in calling for assistance.

This was a fun event to work and unique because this is the first one where I had to go out on course. Having my car nearby meant I didn’t have to lug around everything I might have needed while standing somewhere for hours. We already have some refinements for me to make for next year including using my motorcycle or scooter to be able to go on course where cars can’t or shouldn’t go.

So far this my 4th event that I’ve worked and each event my equipment and strategy gets better and better. Unfortunately, I will be on vacation for the Christmas Parade which I had hoped to be Net Control for but I’m sure there will be other events that I can cut my teeth on in order to help out with being Net Control when needed in the future.

73,

ae0rs

I volunteered with my club, the Longmont Amateur Radio Club and we provided communications support for the annual Halloween Parade in Longmont, Colorado.

As usual, I made a video on YouTube and here it is:

As usual, Doug, KE0SI asked on one of the LARC nets for volunteers. I did’t sign up right away but I eventually did put my name in the hat a few days prior after my XYL approved my attendance.

An email was sent out a few days prior with instructions to meet at pretty much the same place we did for the Boulder County Fair parade this past summer. While I did participate in that event, and a whitewater event, I’ve upgraded my ham equipment for service.

This time I was going to bring:
– a chest harness so its not awkward finding a place to clip my radio while not having the antenna inches from my skin and having 5 watts of 2 meter RF go through me
– a new waterproof Yaesu VX-6 that I manually programmed, set to lower power since our repeater was less than a 1/4 mile away
– a ball-point pen
– printout of the net instructions, parade route, and other pertinent materials
– water
– a snack
– layers of clothing including a hat
– a video camera
– a backup chest harness with another pen and an extra HT + backup battery for it

I also made a cheesy ID badge for myself so that my fellow club members would recognize me by my call sign.

I set all these things out the night before, making sure I charged my HT’s.

On parade day, my XYL and I drove up to Longmont and found parking right where we were going to meet. We walked over to the Luna Cafe and got breakfast which consisted of coffee and delicious breakfast croissants. Being near the park, we heard some of the bands practicing ahead of the parade.

It was close to 8:45am so we walked back over to where we parked and noticed a familiar bunch of the friendliest guys you’ll ever meet with reflector vests on. Everyone was chatting and enjoying the bluebird Colorado day and then we were briefed on our assignment and given our tactical location which were along the parade route.

After my XYL took a few photos of the group, we all hit the bricks and walked to our stations – basically on each corner of the parade route.

The net officially started and as the parade moved along its route, with each tactical station relaying when the head and tail of the parade passed them.

The parade itself was uneventful in terms of our need to relay emergencies and messages. There were of plenty of other volunteers from other volunteer agencies in Longmont assisting with the parade, which was quite long probably due to the beautiful weather. It seemed that everybody from Longmont was out in costume.

After the tail of the parade passed us and we notified Net Control, we moved 1 block over to Main Street for a little bit. Then when the tail of the parade passed, we followed along behind noting the hams that were at their tactical locations.

Finally, we got back to our gathering spot, turned in the vests and said our goodbyes.

Overall I had a great time serving with my club. The turnout of hams was great which was nice because we were stationed in pairs which made it fun to have a buddy. My choice of gear worked out well, especially the new chest harness to help keep things organized and available on a moments notice rather than reaching into my backpack like the last event.

There’s a call for volunteers for the next event that we support – the Turkey Trot, and of course, I volunteered to help.

73,

ae0rs