[CTSARA] What We Accomplished At Bennett

[Jon Perelstein]

We wrote up a little blurb to include in the CT Section Newsletter about our
participation in the Bennett Cancer Center event.
 
Even though I was one of the people involved in the event, it hadn't sunk in
just how much we did and the breadth of the contacts and inter-club and
agency cooperation this thing involved:
 
 
On June 6, the Stamford Amateur Radio Association (SARA) provided
communications support to over 300 riders in the Bennett Cancer Center
charity bicycle ride, which extends from downtown Stamford up into the Salem
Center/Croton Falls area of Westchester County, NY.  SARA provided
communications between the event organizers and three rest stops, two rider
support vehicles, and a supply vehicle.  In addition, we provided event
organizers and Stamford PD with regular situation reporting on the location
of riders, including individual tracking of riders back into Stamford.
Eleven SARA members participated in providing support.  As part of our
effort, we deployed two battery-operated temporary digipeaters to enhance
APRS coverage along the route, and also deployed a battery-operated
temporary voice repeater to fill in coverage in rough terrain along the
route.  SARA would like to thank the Westchester Emergency Communications
Association (WECA) which allowed us to use their repeater for communications
in Westchester, the Westchester Parks Dept which allowed us vehicle access
to restricted areas of Westchester County parks in order to set up the
temporary digipeaters and the temporary voice repeater, and Jonathan (K1RFD)
for making his APRS station available to us.