[FARC] Gran Fondo Hams Needed!

[Jeff Fishman]

Now that we've all had time to cool off and catch our breaths from the Tour
de Frederick, here's the final bike event for the year. The Frederick
Amateur Radio Club and Frederick ARES will again this year be providing
communications support for the Gran Fondo Bike Race on Sunday, September
18th. This year, the Start and Finish is at the Frederick Visitor Center,
151 S. East St., and the individual races start at 0730 (100, 60, and 30
mile), and all races should conclude by 1500. The routes are new this year,
so go to https://granfondonationalchampionshipseries.com/frederick-md-2/ for
the maps.
 

The emphasis this year will be to have you ride shotgun in 3 to 4 SAG and
Sweep vehicles, and at the rest stops as we did last year. We will be using
the Thurmont 147.195+ (PL 179.9) repeater, with the MADXRA 147.060 machine
as a backup. We will ask operators to provide their own 2M rigs with a
cigarette lighter plug and a quick mount (mag or clip-on, etc.) antenna.
The coverage on the Thurmont repeater is very good, so you'll probably only
need to use 1-5 watts to communicate, so a higher power HT w/outside antenna
should also work. Let me know if you really want to use your own vehicle,
and we also have a few mag-mount antennas to loan.

 

If you're available, please let me know the following:

.         Your name and call

.         Radio and antenna you'll be using

.         When you're available

.         Your cell number and email
 

As always, you don't have to be a member of FARC, ARES, or any other amateur
group to participate, just a community minded ham wishing to help provide
safety and support to local cyclists. 

* OF ADDITIONAL INTEREST - We've been asked to participate in a major Search
and Rescue Exercise in Catoctin Park on Nov. 4th and 5th, involving teams
and agencies from across the state. This will be an excellent opportunity to
show how we can help in a realistic scenario. More information to follow in
September.

Thanks.


73,


Jeff Fishman KB3FIO

FRED ARES Emergency Coordinator

ljfish1 at comcast.net

240-285-6596