March 2024 - WICEN-Members - mailman.crarc.org.au

WICEN - seeking assistance for Repeater Installations for the car rally on Sunday 31st March & Monday 1st April
by Phil Longworth 29 Mar '24

29 Mar '24

Good evening all, The time has come to look at installing the various repeaters for use with the 2024 Rally of Canberra. We need to erect a tower and 4 repeaters on Mt McDonald and 3 repeaters at the Kowen Fire Tower site, which we do when is dependent on when people are available so please let me know if you can assist and your preferences. We need somebody to transport the large VHF repeaters from Red Hill to each of the sites along with some mounting hardware, I will be towing the trailer(s) as needed, please let me know if you can take the VHF repeaters in your vehicle noting they need to be kept vertical. A set of tools would be useful to through in, ratchet spanners for the mounting clamps are preferred to shifters, etc. Antenna's, Cables, Mounting hardware, etc, are all okay for transport, I'll also bring a ladder to Mt McDonald so we can safely ascend the old tower structure. A reasonably early start on each day (thinking 9:00 AM at Red Hill to collect gear and 10:00 AM at the entry gate to hilltops), Mt McDonald normally takes about 90-120 Minutes on site, Kowen Fire Tower is normally done in 60-90 Minutes so in both cases we should be done by 12:00 noon. We don't need everyone to attend both days, 5 people for Mt McDonald and 4 for Kowen would be appropriate, but everyone is welcome to come and become familiarised with the equipment and how things are put together. Cheers, Phil Longworth VK1PL -- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software. www.avg.com

1 0

UPDATED with better "LINK" Call for Volunteers - 2024 RALLY OF CANBERRA - April 6th & 7th APRIL 2024
by Phil Longworth 03 Mar '24

03 Mar '24

Good Afternoon, and apologies for the extra emails. Apparently some people are having issues with the Link to the Google Docs registration form, this is normally a issue with settings in what-ever Email client is being used where it has a default setting to truncate links that go past a predefined number of characters, or when it does a carriage return at the end of a link it breaks the link text. To help out people who strike that issue, I have made 3 different ways of accessing the form, option 1 is to simply click on the word link at the bottom of the email, this has an embedded reference to the full URL for our form, option 2 is to use the shortened link provided below, option 3 is to use the full URL as provided below. Cheers, . Phil Longworth VK1PL Call for Volunteers 2024 RALLY OF CANBERRA - April 6th & 7th 2024 Good afternoon all, This years major WICEN Event, the 2024 RALLY OF CANBERRA will be undertaken on the weekend of Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th of April 2024. This years rally is basically a repeat of the 2023 event held in November with the Service Park once again at Exhibition Park along with the Rally HQ and the WICEN Net Control Station will also be at Exhibition Park. As per last year, the Saturday competitive stages will be conducted in the Pierces, Tidbinbilla and Uriarra forests. · Special Stage 1 and 4 (Oakey Camp) is a competitive stage of 22.22 KMs and starts at Vanities Crossing Road (just up the hill from Cotter Reserve) and finishes at Tidbinbilla Lane (which is down near the entrance to Tidbinbilla Tracking station) with some minor changes to the course used in 2023 to keep competitors out of the Cotter River Catchment. This stage will have a Start, SOS A, SOS B, SOS C, SOS D and Stop. Meet times havent been set in concrete as yet but it is anticipated that the meet time will be 6:00 AM at the Old Cotter Pub carpark or on Paddys River Road at Pierces East. First Competitive car is scheduled to start the stage at 8:53 AM and the second running of the stage should finish around 4:00 PM at the latest (unless there is an incident on the course). · Special Stage 2 and 5 (Kingfisher) is a competitive stage of 10.10 KMs and starts at Mineshaft Road (just up the hill from Murrays Corner Picnic Area) and finishes at Big Johns Road (AKA Cottage 5 which is a few hundred yards further down Paddys River Road from the Vanitys / Oakey Creek Roads corner). This stage will have a Start, SOS A and Stop. Meet time is anticipated to be 6:30 AM at the Murrays Corner Picnic Area carpark. First Competitive car is scheduled to start the stage at 9:41 AM and the second running of the stage should finish around 5:00 PM at the latest (unless there is an incident on the course). · Special Stage 3 and 6 (Blue Range) is a competitive stage of 18.75 KMs and starts at East West Road (about 2 KMs towards the Brindabellas from the Uriarra / Brindabella Roads intersection) ) and finishes in the forest at the top of Sherwood Road (Off Mountain Creek Road). This stage will have a Start, SOS A, SOS B, SOS C and Stop. Meet time is anticipated to be 7:00 AM at the East West / Brindabella Roads intersection. First Competitive car is scheduled to start the stage at 10:14 AM and the second running of the stage should finish around 5:30 PM. The Sunday competitive stages will be conducted in the Kowen forest area, the order of the stages will be slightly different to last years however as there is not televised coverage of the Power Stage to accommodate. NOTE Daylight Saving finishes at 0200 on that Sunday morning, so make sure your clocks are set correctly otherwise you will turn up an hour early !! · Special Stage 7 & 10 (Long Jack) is a competitive stage of 10.44 KMs and starts in the forest off Seven Mile Road (not far from the Kowen Homestead Picnic Area) and finishes at an intersection near the Kowen Jump. This stage will have a Start, SOS A, and Stop. Meet time is anticipated to be 7:00 AM at the old Kowen Forestry Compound at the top of Kowen Road. First Competitive car is scheduled to start the stage at 8:53 AM and the second running of the stage should finish around 2:45 PM. · Special Stage 8 & 11 (Charcoal Kiln) is a competitive stage of 18.60 KMs and starts on Seven Mile Road (not far from the Kowen Homestead Picnic Area) and finishes at Orchard Road / Old Kings Highway intersection AKA Sparrows. This stage will have a Start, SOS A, SOS B, SOS C and Stop. Meet time is anticipated to be 6:30 AM at the old Kowen Forestry Compound at the top of Kowen Road. First Competitive car is scheduled to start the stage at 9:06 AM and the second running of the stage should finish around 3:00 PM. · Special Stage 9 & 12 (Bald Millpost) is a competitive stage of 9.44 KMs and starts on Gumnut Road and finishes at Millpost Lane (Both of these are near the big HQJOC Roundabout on the Kings Hwy). This stage will have a Start, SOS A and Stop. Meet time is anticipated to be 7:30 AM at the Gumnut Road / Kings Hwy intersection. First Competitive car is scheduled to start the stage at 9:44 AM and the second running of the stage (which is run as a Power Stage, but not televised) should finish around 3:30 4:00 PM. So, to save you doing the maths, we need to have people to undertake Field Station tasks with 14 Field Stations on Saturday and 11 Field Stations on Sunday, plus 5-6 people in the HQ Net Control Station each day also. As in the last couple of years, we are not required to radio in scoring traffic and hence the exercise is a lot less stressful than in earlier years. We will however still need to track vehicles and radio that information back into HQ. This exercise only requires operators to have a VHF 2 metre and/or 70 cm UHF radio capable of 10 Watts and at least a ¼ wave vertical antenna and be able to operate for the indicated periods listed above so some battery calculations may be required. If you dont have a suitable radio then we can arrange the loan of equipment from Club and personal stores, just let us know early. For those who have recently obtained their licences or have not done a WICEN exercise before, dont hold back as its an excellent way of getting out and building up your experience. So, onto the Begging and Pleading part. To enable us to create a roster we need to collect some information from you, so PLEASE, if you can assist on the weekend of 6th & 7th April, even if only for a few hours, please use the below Google Docs link that will take you to our WICEN Volunteer Registration form (Note there is also a Generic Rally Volunteer rego form out there on the RALLYOFCANBERRA.com.au website but we dont need to register there this year as our form now contains all the required fields including T-Shirt Size, Emergency Contacts and Allergies information). You are welcome to bring family and/or friends with you, just make sure that a registration form for them is completed and submitted as well as your own. ALSO, Im heading off to New Zealand for a Wedding on Tuesday 5th March and wont be back until Sunday 17th March so please be understanding if you dont get a quick reply to any queries. We are happy for people to email and queries, please send them to wicen(a)crarc.org.au please, NOT a reply to me and especially not a Reply All please. 1. The EMBEDED link <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdIoQAWMi22OVN4p9eDdt7v7_IVkEXBwnW 4V8ziEmnQP2S-Uw/viewform?usp=sf_link> (Click the word link) 2. The shortened link https://forms.gle/qTbizchtEpGeA4nN8 3. The full link https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdIoQAWMi22OVN4p9eDdt7v7_IVkEXBwnW4 V8ziEmnQP2S-Uw/viewform?usp=sf_link (REMINDER - CRARC Members with CRARC Google Drive access should not use CHROME to complete their registration, please use Edge, Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.) Cheers all, Phil Longworth VK1PL Deputy State Coordinator, WICEN ACT Life Member, Canberra Region Amateur Radio Club Communications Manager, Canberra RALLY OF CANBERRA 2024 -- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software. www.avg.com

1 0

Call for Volunteers - 2024 RALLY OF CANBERRA - April 6th & 7th APRIL 2024
by Phil Longworth 01 Mar '24

01 Mar '24

Call for Volunteers - 2024 RALLY OF CANBERRA - April 6th & 7th 2024 Good afternoon all, This year's major WICEN Event, the 2024 RALLY OF CANBERRA will be undertaken on the weekend of Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th of April 2024. This year's rally is basically a repeat of the 2023 event held in November with the Service Park once again at Exhibition Park along with the Rally HQ and the WICEN Net Control Station will also be at Exhibition Park. As per last year, the Saturday competitive stages will be conducted in the Pierces, Tidbinbilla and Uriarra forests. · Special Stage 1 and 4 (Oakey Camp) is a competitive stage of 22.22 KM's and starts at Vanities Crossing Road (just up the hill from Cotter Reserve) and finishes at Tidbinbilla Lane (which is down near the entrance to Tidbinbilla Tracking station) with some minor changes to the course used in 2023 to keep competitors out of the Cotter River Catchment. This stage will have a Start, SOS A, SOS B, SOS C, SOS D and Stop. Meet times haven't been set in concrete as yet but it is anticipated that the meet time will be 6:00 AM at the Old Cotter Pub carpark or on Paddys River Road at Pierces East. First Competitive car is scheduled to start the stage at 8:53 AM and the second running of the stage should finish around 4:00 PM at the latest (unless there is an incident on the course). · Special Stage 2 and 5 (Kingfisher) is a competitive stage of 10.10 KM's and starts at Mineshaft Road (just up the hill from Murrays Corner Picnic Area) and finishes at Big Johns Road (AKA "Cottage 5" which is a few hundred yards further down Paddy's River Road from the Vanity's / Oakey Creek Roads corner). This stage will have a Start, SOS A and Stop. Meet time is anticipated to be 6:30 AM at the Murrays Corner Picnic Area carpark. First Competitive car is scheduled to start the stage at 9:41 AM and the second running of the stage should finish around 5:00 PM at the latest (unless there is an incident on the course). · Special Stage 3 and 6 (Blue Range) is a competitive stage of 18.75 KM's and starts at East West Road (about 2 KM's towards the Brindabella's from the Uriarra / Brindabella Roads intersection) ) and finishes in the forest at the top of Sherwood Road (Off Mountain Creek Road). This stage will have a Start, SOS A, SOS B, SOS C and Stop. Meet time is anticipated to be 7:00 AM at the East West / Brindabella Roads intersection. First Competitive car is scheduled to start the stage at 10:14 AM and the second running of the stage should finish around 5:30 PM. The Sunday competitive stages will be conducted in the Kowen forest area, the order of the stages will be slightly different to last year's however as there is not televised coverage of the Power Stage to accommodate. NOTE - Daylight Saving finishes at 0200 on that Sunday morning, so make sure your clocks are set correctly otherwise you will turn up an hour early !! · Special Stage 7 & 10 (Long Jack) is a competitive stage of 10.44 KM's and starts in the forest off Seven Mile Road (not far from the Kowen Homestead Picnic Area) and finishes at an intersection near the Kowen "Jump". This stage will have a Start, SOS A, and Stop. Meet time is anticipated to be 7:00 AM at the old Kowen Forestry Compound at the top of Kowen Road. First Competitive car is scheduled to start the stage at 8:53 AM and the second running of the stage should finish around 2:45 PM. · Special Stage 8 & 11 (Charcoal Kiln) is a competitive stage of 18.60 KM's and starts on Seven Mile Road (not far from the Kowen Homestead Picnic Area) and finishes at Orchard Road / Old Kings Highway intersection AKA "Sparrows". This stage will have a Start, SOS A, SOS B, SOS C and Stop. Meet time is anticipated to be 6:30 AM at the old Kowen Forestry Compound at the top of Kowen Road. First Competitive car is scheduled to start the stage at 9:06 AM and the second running of the stage should finish around 3:00 PM. · Special Stage 9 & 12 (Bald Millpost) is a competitive stage of 9.44 KM's and starts on Gumnut Road and finishes at Millpost Lane (Both of these are near the big HQJOC Roundabout on the Kings Hwy). This stage will have a Start, SOS A and Stop. Meet time is anticipated to be 7:30 AM at the Gumnut Road / Kings Hwy intersection. First Competitive car is scheduled to start the stage at 9:44 AM and the second running of the stage (which is run as a Power Stage, but not televised) should finish around 3:30 - 4:00 PM. So, to save you doing the maths, we need to have people to undertake Field Station tasks with 14 Field Stations on Saturday and 11 Field Stations on Sunday, plus 5-6 people in the HQ Net Control Station each day also. As in the last couple of years, we are not required to radio in scoring traffic and hence the exercise is a lot less stressful than in earlier years. We will however still need to track vehicles and radio that information back into HQ. This exercise only requires operators to have a VHF 2 metre and/or 70 cm UHF radio capable of 10 Watts and at least a ¼ wave vertical antenna and be able to operate for the indicated periods listed above so some battery calculations may be required. If you don't have a suitable radio then we can arrange the loan of equipment from Club and personal stores, just let us know early. For those who have recently obtained their licences or have not done a WICEN exercise before, don't hold back as it's an excellent way of getting out and building up your experience. So, onto the Begging and Pleading part.... To enable us to create a roster we need to collect some information from you, so PLEASE, if you can assist on the weekend of 6th & 7th April, even if only for a few hours, please use the below Google Docs link that will take you to our WICEN Volunteer Registration form (Note there is also a Generic Rally Volunteer rego form out there on the RALLYOFCANBERRA.com.au website but we don't need to register there this year as our form now contains all the required fields including T-Shirt Size, Emergency Contacts and Allergies information). You are welcome to bring family and/or friends with you, just make sure that a registration form for them is completed and submitted as well as your own. ALSO, I'm heading off to New Zealand for a Wedding on Tuesday 5th March and won't be back until Sunday 17th March so please be understanding if you don't get a quick reply to any queries. We are happy for people to email and queries, please send them to wicen(a)crarc.org.au please, NOT a reply to me and especially not a Reply All please. The link..... https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdIoQAWMi22OVN4p9eDdt7v7_IVkEXBwnW4 V8ziEmnQP2S-Uw/viewform?usp=sf_link (REMINDER - CRARC Members with CRARC Google Drive access should not use CHROME to complete their registration, please use Edge, Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.) Cheers all, Phil Longworth VK1PL Deputy State Coordinator, WICEN ACT Life Member, Canberra Region Amateur Radio Club Communications Manager, Canberra RALLY OF CANBERRA 2024 -- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software. www.avg.com

1 0