[nrv-hams] Fwd: Re: [QRM] Ham comms for Nov. 10 event

Ben Williams jbwillia at math.vt.edu
Fri Nov 2 15:53:47 EDT 2018 



-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: 	Re: [QRM] Ham comms for Nov. 10 event
Date: 	Fri, 2 Nov 2018 15:20:51 -0400 (EDT)
From: 	Kevin Sterne <ksterne at vt.edu>
To: 	qrm-g <qrm-g at vt.edu>



Hey all,


Wanted to follow up here after doing a tour this morning of the place. 
I'm fairly certain that only gear required here might be an HT that does 
5W. I was able to hit the KD4BNQ Dismal Peak repeater from all 4 
locations with 5W into a rubber duck on an HT with a speaker mic (at 
times holding it a little above my head). Don't worry, my next e-mail is 
going to be to Dale to see if he's OK with use of the repeater for the 
event. I think that will only be a backup and that we're more likely 
going to be able to use a simplex frequency. You can bring a lower power 
mobile (10-20W) and a battery if you want to. Expect to ask for a small 
corner of the aid station table for any kind of setup though; the 
smaller the better here.

With a small amount of operators (thank you Dr. Davis and Kathy) here, 
it may mean that your HT battery will need to last you the duration of 
the event. If we get some more people, we might be able to do a mid-day 
change out around noon/1pm. But I think this will be very different than 
Mountains of Misery as the requested traffic from the event director is 
first runner through, last runner through, and any other miscellaneous 
things. It's not expected that aid stations will need to be resupplied 
throughout the event as there were only 81 runners signed up this 
morning. Of the 81, only a smaller number will actually be passing 
through Aid stations 3/5, 4. I would estimate here duty cycle on a 
transceiver might be 10% TX, 20% RX. So, bring whatever amount of 
battery you'll need to support that.

For those that do sign up, access will be quickest via a pretty bumpy 
UTV (4 seater 4 wheeler) ride for most. Also, the trails are very muddy 
from recent rains, so expect whatever you have on and whatever you put 
your gear in to get muddy. Also, if don't be scared to have you car get 
a little bit of dirt on it as the last mile or so to the resort is dirt 
roads (paved uphill section into the resort out of the river valley). 
For food/refreshments, you can get some from the aid stations, but 
they'll be more runner focused (PB&J, gatorade, etc.). I've heard there 
will be a camp stove at one if you want to bring your own pot and cook 
beanie-weenies or something.

As far as logistics, the events start at 8am. Since the access to the 
aid stations is a difficult, it's going to take a few trips with the 
UTV(s) to get supplies and people to where they need to be. Because of 
these, we're looking to have people onsite and ready to go for a ride on 
the UTV at 7am. I know this is early, and even earlier on getting up 
since it's a few minutes less than an hours drive from Blacksburg. If 
you're into the outdoors any and have any camping equipment, the event's 
coordinated a $15 per night fee for primitive car or tent camping (no 
power, water at site; very good bathhouse though). If you want to get 
fancy and have an RV spot, they're $45. I'm thinking of camping myself 
since that's a little far to go in the morning from my home QTH.

Other things you might want to bring would be a camp chair as there may 
be some long downtimes. Also be aware of the weather forecast and know 
that it might be a few degrees colder up there and windier. Will warn 
that there won't be any port-a-potties at the aid stations, so it'll be 
a more natural use of a woods here. Desperate times could involve a 
ferry back into the bathhouse, but will try to keep the traffic on the 
trails down.

Any questions here? I realistically need to have your commitment 
confirmed by the end of Sunday, Nov. 4th.

73,

-Kevin, KJ4OAP





----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin Sterne" <ksterne at vt.edu>
To: "qrm-g" <qrm-g at vt.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, October 30, 2018 1:30:27 PM
Subject: Re: [QRM] Ham comms for Nov. 10 event

Hey Ben,


Sorry it wasn't clearer, trail map here can be found on the Old Glory 
Ultra link. They've also got a more detailed one (linked from that page) 
at: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/566979 . Operations points are the 
aid stations (marked with golf ball tee'd up looking symbol) and the 
start/finish lines (I'm thinking a net control/leader point). Trying to 
map the distances on Google Maps, I think they are less than a mile as 
the crow flies from each other. Though some will have some dirt 
obstructing the path.

Not sure on local repeaters as need to figure out if any can be hit with 
what kind of power there. Best bet might be the ones out of Pearisburg.

I'm thinking ideal setup here is 10-25 Watts (prob on the lower end) 
into quarter wave or longer on 2m up 10' or so. Power supply is best to 
be a car battery sized deep cycle battery for that ( I may have access 
to some, let me know if interested). If there's good interest here, I'll 
be scouting things out later this week (likely Friday) to see what it 
looks like RF wise. Note again, there should be transport for gear 
to/from the site.

Anymore questions, let me know.

73,

-Kevin




On 10/30/2018 12:41 PM, Ben Williams wrote:
> i am thinking about it
>
> do we have a trail map yet  so we can impost that map on a terran map yet
>
> can we use the local repeater ?
>
> ben kk4ewt
>
> On 10/30/18 12:09 PM, Kevin Sterne wrote:
>> Hello all,
>>
>>
>> I wanted to send a quick follow up here as I need to get a good feel 
>> of how many operators we might have here.  I got one response here, 
>> are there others that could help out?  I'm excited to take a look at 
>> this new event and think it might be fairly simple gear wise with an 
>> HT with backup battery. Certainly sounds like a good way to hang out 
>> in the woods in the fall!
>>
>> But please, let me know ASAP if you're interested.
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> -Kevin
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> *From: *"Kevin Sterne" <ksterne at vt.edu>
>> *To: *"qrm-g" <qrm-g at vt.edu>
>> *Sent: *Saturday, October 27, 2018 8:38:35 PM
>> *Subject: *[QRM] Ham comms for Nov. 10 event
>>
>> Hey all,
>>
>>
>> This is mostly for hams still in the Blacksburg/NRV area. There's a 
>> need for ham radio communications for a race that's coming up in two 
>> weeks.  I've worked with these folks some as they also do the 
>> Mountains of Misery event and others. The race is called the Old 
>> Glory Trail Runs (http://www.triadventure.com/old-glory-ultra/).  
>> It's onNovember 10thin Glen Lyn, VA.  It actually crosses the state 
>> line 6 or 8 times on the course. Specifically, it's on a piece of 
>> private property called Kairos Wilderness Resort 
>> <http://kairosresort.com/>. The race starts at 8am. This is the first 
>> year for the race, so I'm not exactly sure how long it'll go, but 
>> guess is that it would be wrapped up by 6 or 7pm.
>>
>> The race has 5 aid stops for the runners but only at 3 locations.  
>> So, I think we'd need 1 ham at each aid station and one at the finish 
>> (4 total). Hams will be necessary for this race - there's no cell 
>> signal at all.  The terrain is pretty mountainous and the aid 
>> stations are remote.  Not expecting any generators or external power 
>> here; bringing your own batteries and backups will be good.
>>
>> Any ham with a 4-wheeler is welcome to bring it - the resort is set 
>> up as an atv riding destination. It'd certainly be helpful too since 
>> 2 of the aid stations will only be accessible by foot or by atv.  
>> However, it's not necessary here as there should be access to a 
>> side-by-side atv with a bed on the back.
>>
>> I'm interested myself, but we need 3 more operators at least in order 
>> to pull this off.  With the minimum amount of operators, we'll need 
>> to plan to be out there for most of the day and likely 
>> self-supporting for food.
>>
>> Is there any interest from people on this list?  E-mail me off list 
>> if so.
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> -Kevin, KJ4OAP
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