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

Re: [WICEN-Members] fitz challenge path profiles
by Andrew M 27 Oct '14

27 Oct '14

Hi Glen Does your modelling take account of the potential absorption of RF due to the increased density of vegitation following the 2003 fires? At Kangaroo Creek I used a 3el yagi pointing at an exposed rock cluster on the south-east face of Billy Billy range around 1400 metres ASL. At 50 watts output I hit the Isaacs repeater but only in the horizontal plane. I had little to no reception in the vertical plane. The reflections off the rock face may have caused a polarisation change from vertical to horizontal, assuming the WICEN repeater antenna is vertical. Regards Andrew, VK1NAM web: http://vk1nam.wordpress.com sent from phone On 27/10/2014 10:22 AM, "Glen English" <glen(a)pacificmedia.com.au> wrote: > Fitz challenge difficult profiles ..... if you were at these, you had > your work cut out :-) > However- I think that the difficulty scale it was probably one point too > high for you guys given the short setup time you all had. > > And that is the pursuit of the hobby- to learn, experience, > understand...... If we give everyone full scale signals, then nobody learns > anything. Nobody learns to copy weak signals, ensure their antennas works, > understand propagation variabilities, understands how to pick a signal > behaviour based on the terrain around them.. etc. > > It's surprising what you can do with 15W (the power at repeater antenna) . > Yes, 15W ! > 75W next time. > Why does it work with 15W? - because the repeater, on the left, has a very > good takeoff. > > Issacs- Rendezvous Creek (more difficult due to the proximity of the > immediate obstruction) > > > Issacs - Corin Forest > > > Issacs- Kangaroo Creek (corin dam) > > > issacs - Honeysuckle tracking stn > > > issacs - Orroral TS. > > > This is more difficult : > > Mt Tennant to Kangaroo Creek > > > > > > > > -- > Glen English > RF Communications and Electronics Engineer > > CORTEX RF > & > Pacific Media Technologies Pty Ltd > > ABN 40 075 532 008 > > PO Box 5231 Lyneham ACT 2602, Australia. > au mobile : +61 (0)418 975077 > >

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WICEN support to Fitz's challenge communications - call for manning assistance
by Matt 22 Oct '14

22 Oct '14

Good evening all, with Fitz's challenge coming up this weekend, we are still in need of more people to assist in manning the HQ and a couple of the checkpoints. At the moment, to fill the necessary positions, we need around an extra half a dozen people to help out. This time of the year is the peak period for WICEN supported activities (apparently Canberrans like to come out of winter hibernation and go out to play in the outdoors at this time of the year), so it can be a bit wearing to be spending multiple weekends in a row assisting with the various events. Any support would be appreciated. If anyone has the time to spare on Sunday, your assistance would be very much appreciated. We have supported this event for a number of years now and it would be a shame if we are not able to properly support the event this year. Any responses, please send them to the WICEN email address of wicen(a)crarc.ampr.org <mailto:wicen@crarc.ampr.org> to make sure the appropriate people get the responses. Also, if you will be available over the two following weekends to assist with the Whitwood horse carriage event or the Call of the beasts event, please let me know of your availability for those events as well please. Matt VK1MA WICEN ACT Coordinator

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Kangaroo Creek Check Point
by Andrew M 22 Oct '14

22 Oct '14

Hi Matt Can you please confirm the alternate repeater, if I cant access the Isaacs Ridge repeater from Kangaroo Creek. Regards Andrew, VK1NAM web: http://vk1nam.wordpress.com sent from phone

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FW: [WICEN] Brookvale Horse Endurance - draft roster/maps
by Matt 16 Oct '14

16 Oct '14

As promised, please find attached two images outlining the course for this year's event. Matt VK1MA From: Matt [mailto:doormatt@netspace.net.au] Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2014 11:34 PM To: 'WICEN ACT' Subject: Brookvale Horse Endurance - draft roster Good evening, please find attached a roster for the Brookvale Horsed Endurance on Sunday. If there are any issues or questions, give me a yell and I will endeavor to sort things out. A second email will follow shortly with two maps outlining this year's course. Matt VK1MA WICEN ACT Coordinator

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Brookvale Horse Endurance - draft roster
by Matt 16 Oct '14

16 Oct '14

Good morning, please find attached a roster for the Brookvale Horsed Endurance on Sunday. If there are any issues or questions, give me a yell and I will endeavor to sort things out. A second email will follow shortly with two maps outlining this year's course. Matt VK1MA WICEN ACT Coordinator

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Seeking Assistance for the WICEN ACT events for the rest of the year......
by Phil Longworth 24 Sep '14

24 Sep '14

Good afternoon everyone, Well it is time to look at all the different events that we have coming up in the next few months and seeking your assistance for them. We have the following on the calendar at present.... Saturday 18th October BMSC "Tumut Rally" (Tumut) Sunday 19th October ACTERA "Brookvale Endurance Ride" (Brindabella National Park / Uriarra Forest) Sat 18th & Sun 19th October is also the annual "Jamboree on the Air" (JOTA) scout / guide activity ! Sunday 26th October PedalPower's "Fitz's Challenge Bike Ride" (Southern ACT) Sunday 2nd November Carriage Driving - Witwood (Witwood - approximately 19 KM's from Bungendore on the Kings Hwy) Saturday 8th November BeastWorx "Call of the Beast" Obstacle Race (Caloola Farm Naas) Details...... The Tumut Rally is a Car Rally being run by the Brindabella Motor Sport Club (BMSC) and this is part of the ACT and the NSW Series, this year it will feature 7 competitive stages and we are looking for 13 people for field stations and 3-4 for HQ. First stage is due to commence at 10:00 AM and so people for that stage would need to be out at the Bondo Airfield around 7:30 AM. Last car is due to finish around 5:00 PM and so the people from that stage should be out and on their way home by around 5:30 PM. Operation will be on 147.150 MHz (+600) and 439.925 MHz (-5 MHz) along with a commercial UHF frequency for the rally officials. =================================== The Brookvale Horse Endurance Ride is being run by the A.C.T. Endurance Riders Association (ACTERA) and this year will have an 80 km ride, a 40 km ride and a 20 km ride only, hence not as early a start as last years 120 km ride. There are 5 physical checkpoints with one being used twice during the day. CP1 is out on the intersection of Doctors Flat & Webbs Ridge Rds (4wd only), CP2 is at the intersection of Webbs Ridge & Dingi Dingi Rds (4wd only), CP 3 / 6 is at the intersection of Blue Range & Two Sticks Rds (2WD accessible), CP4 is on East West Rd (2WD accessible) and CP5 is on Blue Range Road a little past Blue Range Hut (2WD accessible). We need 5 or 6 people for Field Stations and 2-3 people for HQ. Not sure what time the ride will commence as yet, it could be anytime between 4:30 & 6:00 AM (organisers are yet to let us know). Operation will be on 147.125 MHz (+600) and/or 147.175 MHz (+600). We will need some people to go out Saturday to erect the repeaters on 'Pig Hill' for the weekend also - 4WD and a Tow Bar will be required. ALSO we need an exercise coordinator for this one to undertake the coordination on the weekend. =================================== Fitz's Challenge is being run as per previous years, with HQ / Start / Finish being at the Stromlo Forest Park Cycling complex. As yet we have not been provided with any information but looking at the website (www.fitzs.com.au) everything appears to be the same as last year and hence we need a minimum of 10 field stations and 3-4 people for HQ, plus 2 or 3 people willing to drive along the route and retrieve people / bikes in conjunction with the Pedal Power recovery teams. Operation for this will be on 147.125 MHz (+600) and/or 147.175 MHz (+600). =================================== Once again we have been invited to assist with the Carriage Driving activity being held at Witwood (home of Doug VK2FDMW & wife Dot). This event will have a "cross country" component as well as a number of "Marathon Obstacles", each of which we need a person or 2 to undertake the competitor tracking and safety communications. We normally utilise simplex frequencies on 2 metres and/or 70 cm for this one. We estimate we will need 13 field stations and 3-4 people in HQ. This is a great event to take the family to, especially if you have people who like horses, and breakfast (fresh Egg & Bacon Roll) is supplied before the day gets too busy so why not throw your hat into the ring for this. =================================== The "Call of the Beast" event is a cross country obstacle event being conducted by the Beastworx team who has undertaken the 'Battle of the Beast' Mountainbike Race over the last 2 years. This year they have forgone the MTB race and are concentrating on conducting an Adventure Cross Country Obstacle race (see http://callofthebeast.com.au). To quote the Obstacle Runners Australia website "The guys from Beastworx are ex-army who are keen on creating awesome outdoor events for the good folk of Canberra and in doing so help raise money for some great Defence charities. In 2013 the inaugural Call of the Beast went off like a frog in a wet and muddy sock. It had great reviews with oodles of people getting dirty and having fun". The event will be held on the grounds of Caloola Farm and surrounding properties down in the Naas Valley. WICEN has been asked to supply comm's at each of the major obstacles back to HQ as part of the safety plan, so that if there are any injuries or just worn-out people they can get the first-aiders and support staff out as required. We are not exactly sure how many people will be required for this exercise, we think between 4 & 8 field stations plus a couple in HQ. So, these are the FIVE events we know about right now, and we really need to get moving on the first 2 or 3 so please send us an email indicating what you could possibly assist with. Please send an email to WICEN(a)CRARC.AMPR.ORG ASAP. Thanks in advance and hope to see a full inbox in the coming days ! Phil Longworth VK1PL Deputy State Coordinator, WICEN ACT

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Fw: [Wicen-net] Navshield Report
by Phil Longworth 12 Jul '14

12 Jul '14

For information, A copy of the report for the WICEN NSW operation at Navshield 2014 conducted last weekend. cheers, ... Phil VK1PL

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WICEN support to Cattle of the Beasts/Call of the Beasts 2014
by Matt 10 Jun '14

10 Jun '14

Good evening all, unfortunately we have been advised that there will not be a Battle of the Beasts event (the mountain bike race in the Southern Namadgi Park) held this year. So sad news for those who have enjoyed assisting in the last couple of years Batle of the Beast events. However, there will be a "Call of the Beasts" event which is an endurance obstacle race held on 08 November 2014. The organisers have asked for our support again this year to assist in the provision of an admin/safety/emergency traffic net. The event is run around a hill on the Caloola farm - simplex comms back to the HQ is borderline due to the terrain, so we will put in a lightweight portable repeater on the hill and run on 70cm or the UHF commercial frequency (WICEN commercial equipment would be provided to operators if we use the commercial frequency). This email is not calling for vounteers this far out (we will be asking in probably early October), but just a heads up for those interested. As to other WICEN activities, we have well and truly entered the mid year lull in activity - we have no confirmed requests for support until roughly October, so enjoy the time off and take the opportunity to get your gear ready for the the busy season later in the year. Late breaking news! Have been advised the following: =============================================== >From WICEN NSW we have the following invitation to WICEN ACT / CRARC members to an exercise to be held in a yet to be disclosed location about 2.5 - 3 hours travel time from Canberra. The NavShield exercise is a great activity for those people who like to get out "bush" and play radio along with "Bush Camping". Hi WICEN Members This is a call for expressions of interest to participate in the provision of communications at the 2014 NavShield Event being conducted on 5th & 6th July 2014 As usual, the location is embargoed from general distribution and will be provided to those placing an expression of interest. I can advise though, that the location is around 2.5 hours travel, generally to the South, from the Sydney CBD. This year I will be the WICEN Event Commander, assisted by Deputy Commander Jan VK2FEB who is training up as an event commander. Detailed planning is not yet complete, but we are aiming for the following staffing at up to 5 sites. Base A repeater site Radio Checkpoints x 3 This year some of the checkpoints may be accessible for 2WD. The Base site certainly will be. Some members have made enquiries regarding the need for the recently introduced VRA Induction qualification, to attend NavShield. The WICEN State Committee has provided the following guidance, from the recent Committee Meeting, for WICEN events in general, and which will apply to NavShield. Training Policy - Some time was spent discussing the impact on WICEN of the State Rescue Board (SRB) and VRA policies in connection with requiring certain competency based training (CBT) before operators were allowed to be deployed. - It was decided that, for the moment, WICEN will apply the policy that any WICEN team leader must hold VRA induction or higher. Other members deployed with that team leader are considered trainees. Expect that this requirement will be ratcheted up as the SRB and VRA issue more detailed requirements for support squads. - A team leader includes a WICEN commander, a checkpoint leader, a person deployed in the field alone (a team of one), etc. - Currently 33 WICEN members have completed VRA induction requirements In accordance with this policy, I am asking for those who hold the Induction certification to attend, as well as those without. This will mean that we will need to juggle the mix of people at each site, but I don't see this being a problem. This year we will be encouraging the use of digital modes such as Psk31 for data transmission, but it will not be mandatory. Participants will need to provide both 2m & 70cm radios (mobile / 25W or similar, and deployable away from your car), mast and antennas, on a team basis. Radios & antennas for commercial frequencies will be supplied by WICEN. If you are interested in participating, please advise me via email: mal.alexander(a)bigpond.com Would it be possible to advise in your email. the following: VRA Induction yes / no 4WD or 2WD Portable Mast yes / no Portable Batteries yes / no 2m radio yes / no 70cm radio yes / no Some members have already sent in an expression of interest, however, could you please resend with the brief questionaire above. I will endeavour to hold a Site Survey early to mid June. Regards Mal Alexander VK2YVA =============================================== Could I ask that if anyone does participate that they let Phil and myself know via the VK1 WICEN email address (wicen(a)crarc.ampr.org) please. Regards Matt VK1MA / Phil VK1PL WICEN ACT

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The car rally is over, now looking ahead to the Canberra two day walk on March 29/30th !
by WICEN ACT 10 Mar '14

10 Mar '14

Good afternoon all, Well the National Capital Rally is over and thanks to all who were involved, but we need to look forward to other things on the horizon and the next WICEN Exercise is the annual "2 Day Walk" coming up very quickly on March 29th & 30th. The Saturday walk this year has Eight (8) checkpoints and the Sunday walk has Five (5) Saturday has checkpoints as follows..... Location Open Close Checkpoint "M" Mugga Way 7:45 9:15 Checkpoint 1 Norgrove Park (Kingston Foreshore) 8:00 11:15 Checkpoint 2 Molonglo Reach (Near Duntroon) 8:45 13:15 Checkpoint 3 Blundells Cottage 9:00 12:45 Checkpoint 4 Acton Peninsula (near Museum) 9:45 13:45 Checkpoint 5 Black Mountain Peninsula 8:15 15:30 Checkpoint 6 Dunrossil Drive (near Gov't House) 10:45 15:15 Checkpoint 7 Queen Elizabeth Terrace (Lake) 10:15 13:45 Sunday has checkpoints as follows..... Location Open Close Checkpoint 1 Mugga Way (Francis St) 8:15 9:45 Checkpoint 2 Commonwealth Park Acton 9:00 11:30 Checkpoint 3 O'Connor Shops 9:45 13:15 Checkpoint 4 Cnr Hawdon & Duffy Sts Ainslie 10:30 14:45 Checkpoint 5 Rear War Memorial 10:30 15:45 Plus of course we need a few people to handle HQ which will once again be at the Australian Centre for Christianity & Culture / St marks complex in Barton. So, with just under 3 weeks to go we do need to get a wriggle on and produce a roster for this event and so we ask the formal thing in hitting the "Reply" button (Not REPLY ALL) and let us know if you can assist and if so what your preference would be. Thanks in advance, .... Matt McNeil, VK1MA Phil Longworth, VK1PL

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National Capital Rally feedback request
by Matt 06 Mar '14

06 Mar '14

Good evening all, firstly can I thank everyone involved in the National Capital Rally over the weekend just gone. Without the assistance provided by all participants I don't believe that it could have been the success that I believe it was. I hesitate to single out individuals, but I think in particular that the efforts of Phil VK1PL and John VK1ET need to be recognised - as usual many hours of organisational and preparatory effort went on behind the scenes to get things ready before the event and without them, this event probably would not have occurred. Phil in particular went above and beyond with many rally meetings attended over the 6 months or so leading up to the event - and despite having suffered a heart attack only 5 weeks prior to the rally he continued to work hard at it - now that is comittment! Can I get some feedback from participants on any areas that need to be looked at or could be improved for future events - unless we learn from our shortfalls we will continue to propagate our errors in future events, so I am keen to hear of any suggestions or improvements that could be made. Some feedback has already been received (including the need for some training on radio procedures), but I would very much appreciate it if you could advise of any issues you feel need to be raised - both positive and negative, don't be afraid to let us know if particular areas were poorly executed or you thought worked well. Could responses be sent to the wicen(a)crarc.ampr.org email address rather than my email address please. Matt VK1MA WICEN ACT Coordinator

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