[NvHam] Ham radio operators URGENTLY needed!

Fri, 5 Sep 2003 10:54:51 -0700

John-
Please send me more info. I have a commitment for the 14th, but I have no
plans for the 21st. This could be an interesting weekend! Is this the kind
of event where HTs and repeaters will work, or do I need to bring an HF
station??
Please let me know so I can make a decision.
Mark Pipes
KB7RJF

-----Original Message-----
From: John Bigley [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2003 11:36 PM
To: CVRC Reflector; UNR Radio Pack; RAMS Mail Reflector; Nevada Ham
Reflector; NNARS Mail Reflector
Subject: [NvHam] Ham radio operators URGENTLY needed!

Dear Fellow Ham:

This is an URGENT REQUEST for ham radio communicators.  There are less than
10 days remaining before the scheduled running of the Goldrush Classic
Challenge race in Eureka, NV., and Nevada Department of Transportation
officials will not allow this race to operate without communications over
the entire course of the race.

In the past, we ham operators have provided the critical communications
necessary for the safety and sometimes rescue, of the race participants.
This year declining health has forced many of the Amateurs, including
long-time coordinator Lee Shram to the side-lines.  Resulting in a serious
shortage of ham volunteers.

Eliot Kushner WD6FXX and myself are trying to step in at the eleventh hour
in an attempt to locate enough ham radio personnel to staff both this event,
which is located near Eureka, NV.  on Sunday Sept, 14th. and the Silver
State Classic which is located near Ely, NV. the following Sunday, Sept.
21st.  

The Goldrush race (Sept 14th) requires 8 hams as of today we have zero
volunteers.  The Silver State Classic race (Sept 21st) requires 22 ham
communicators as of today we have 9 volunteers.

If you know a little about rural Nevada, then you are probably aware of the
economic plight of our neighbors in these communities.   The participants in
the Silver State Classic Races pump many thousands of dollars into these
little towns during "Speed Week".  The Silver State races are non-profit
community events.

What exactly are we asking you to do?

Since both of these races are held on rural highways running through Nye,
White Pine, and Lincoln counties you may need to drive 100 or more miles to
the race course.  Once there you would man a check point, Starting Line,
Finish Line, or pit area.  Just prior to the start of the race, you would
travel between your checkpoint and the check point just before yours and
"sweep the course' making sure the roadway is clear of any vehicles,
obstructions, ect.. additionally you will be checking to see that all gates
are either attended by a volunteer or securely locked.  Upon commencement of
the race, you will keep a log of the vehicles as they leave the starting
line.  You will communicate track conditions, emergency situations (sadly
the race has experienced driver fatalities in the past), relay information
from the Gate keepers, you will display caution and other race control
flags, you will provide communications support to the race aircraft as well
as directing ambulance and helicopter
 crews to any situation.  The race official in charge at your check-point-is
YOU.  Time required: outside of your transit time,  you would need to be at
the course by 5 AM (Sheriffs and NHP close the highways to all traffic at
this time), the races are run in the morning and generally are completed by
mid-day.

What is in it for us as Ham Operators?

Okay, here are the tangibles.  First, the Silver State  organizers will
re-imburse you for your fuel costs in traveling to the race course.  If you
have ever provided support communications for any kind of community event
you know that hams take their pay in t-shirts, and these races are the same,
you will get a nice Race Staff shirt, along with a sharp looking matching
ball cap.  As a ham operator you are invited to all the race functions,
including: the Media Luncheon at Sam's Town Casino-Las Vegas, the Shelby
American plant tour, the receptions in Eureka and Ely, the awards banquets
at Sam's Town, the parades, car shows, caravans, bar-b-que, etc. and of
course you are the invited guest of the Race Directors.  You can get all the
info on the races and the events at www.sscc.us 

Here are the intangibles:  Both the Ely and Eureka area's are perfect
day-trip getaway spots.  Visit the Eureka Opera House.  Camping, fishing,
and outdoor activities abound.  In the past, hams with campers, motor homes.
ect have gotten together for the weekend, had a fish-fry or two while
stringing some wires and working HF the night before the race.

You get to see the races....these are closed courses No Spectators!  The
only way to see these races are to be part of the Race Staff!  These races
are the fastest open-road races in the world.  This near the Japanese are
looking to break the World Speed Record at this race.

Here is my wife's Liz's (KD7RIN) favorite spiff, regular race participant
John Schneider of "The Dukes of Hazard" fame, driving the famous "General
Lee" always waves to each ham and gives you a cheerful blast of "Dixie" from
the "Generals" horn as they speed by your checkpoint.

The bottom line is that our neighbors need the revenue these races bring to
their communities. However, the State of Nevada will not allow these races
to be run without communications coverage.  We as ham radio operators
through are past performance have prov-en to be the only reliable technology
available for protecting these racers.  

Can we meet the challenge?  To volunteer or for more information please
contact me at John Bigley [email protected]  phone:702-644-7126
cell:702-812-1957 or Eliot Kushner [email protected] 702-896-5630

73 and I hope to see you at the races,

John Bigley-N7UR
Ham Radio Co-coordinator

---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software

--- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts ---
multipart/alternative
  text/plain (text body -- kept)
  text/html
The reason this message is shown is because the post was in HTML
or had an attachment.  Attachments are not allowed.  To learn how
to post in Plain-Text go to: http://www.expita.com/nomime.html  ---
_______________________________________________
NvHam mailing list
[email protected]
http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/nvham