[CALV-AUXCOMM] Calvert AUXCOMM - NO IN-PERSON MEETING - DEPLOYMENT PRACTICE INSTEAD

[Shawn Donley]

Calvert AUXCOMM Members,
 
OK, here's the surprise I've been promising.
 
We are going to skip the in-person meeting on Thursday, July 18 and have a PRACTICE DEPLOYMENT on FRIDAY instead.
 
I'd like everyone to grab their go-kits on FRIDAY EVENING, July 19, set up and check into a net on the CARA repeater system at 7:00pm local.  You can "deploy" anywhere you like, including your back yard, deck, or any other place where you can set up your gear without upsetting neighbors, the public or the constabulary. 
 
Honor system...no home stations..  Think of this as an exercise deployment to some site within the county like a shelter or other designated operating area,  minus the actual drive to that location.
 
Why Friday and not Thursday ... better WX forecast....no storms and cooler.
 
While not the intent for this exercise, mobile rigs or HT's are acceptable provided that they are connected to an efficient antenna (j-pole, Yagi, Co-linear, etc) erected specifically for the exercise.  No rubber ducks or using your normal vehicle-mounted antenna.  I'm sure you get the intent.
 
Operating using emergency power (generator or battery) is encouraged.
 
Depending upon the capabilities of the check-in stations and time available, we may also practice sending MT63-2000L digital messages via the CARA repeater and Winlink P2P messages using the K3CAL-1 digipeater on 145.070 MHz, so plan accordingly.
 
If you are motivated, go ahead and set up HF capability as well but that's entirely optional for this exercise.
 
During the net we will ask for a description of your setup and your location.  We will also run through the check-in list and ask you to transmit on 146.985 SIMPLEX (the output frequency of the 2M repeater), so set that up in your memory channel or remember how to use the Reverse switch on your rig (swaps RX and TX frequencies).   Then we will run through the check-in list again to find out who can hear who on 146.985 simplex.  
 
Finally, please take a picture of your setup and send to calv-ares at mailman.qth.net mailto:calv-ares at mailman.qth.net or  n3ae at comcast.net mailto:n3ae at comcast.net after the exercise.  Our ARES reflector may not like attachments greater than 3MB so skip the high resolution photos.
 
Thanks and remember safety is #1.  Don't set up under powerlines or in heavily trafficked areas. 
 
73
N3AE
Calvert EC