Announcements

Announcements / Uncategorized

2023 Northbrook Canoe Challenge Event – Coming up May 6th

- by wa3noa - Leave a Comment

Every year, the Cerebral Palsy Association of Chester Co., Inc. runs an event for raising funds for, and awareness of Cerebral Palsy. CCAR has been an important partner in making this event safe, and successful.

We are, once again, providing communications support for this event. It is a fun, low pressure event to work as an operator. The only equipment needed is an HT and a desire to spend a little time in a scenic spot overlooking the Brandywine Creek. The event this year will be on a Saturday – May 6th.

We need to provide at least 12 operators that will be placed at critical points along the canoe route to watch out for the canoes and report any status throughout the event. Please consider volunteering for one of these positions.

As always, if you have participated in the past and have a desire to work a particular spot, please ask. I will try to accommodate your requests.

I will send out a request for operators sometime in early March. Please look for it, and respond.

Jim – WA3NOA

Announcements

Marshalton Triathlon – October 2, 2022

- by wa3noa - Leave a Comment

After a two year hiatus, the Marshalton Triathlon is ready to make a comeback!
The triathlon is a great event for CCAR operators to provide community service. We have been providing communications support for this event since its inception and have proven to be a valuable part of the event.
This year’s event is being held on Sunday – October 2nd. The event starts at the West Bradford Fire Company in Marshalton, and the participants will be bicycling 2.4 miles down to the Brandywine River…canoeing on the Brandywine…fast walking back to their bicycles…and, bicycling back up to the Fire Station. We have operators placed along the entire route and provide spotting and safety support.
Here’s a link to the official website:
https://marshaltontriathlon.net
We need operators for all locations. Operators will need to be in place at assigned locations by 7:30am. Depending upon how many people participate, the last heat will be completed by approximately 3:00pm. Typically, we wrap up before that. Lunches are provided and are delivered right to our operators. This is a very fun and simple event to operate for. All that is required is an HT. Depending upon the assigned location, operators either sit in your car, or a folding chair.
Please consider volunteering to be an operator. If you are interested, please contact me, via email at: jim.harris1@verizon.net
If you wish to be assigned to a specific location, please let me know, and I should be able to accommodate you.
Thanks, once again, for all you do to support CCAR and the communities of Chester County.
Jim Harris – WA3NOA

Announcements / Events

EPA SET on Friday May 20th

- by Craig LaBarge - Leave a Comment

CCAR is looking for volunteers to take part in a EPA Simulated Emergency Test (SET) on Friday May 20th. 
Time: from 7 pm to 8 pm.

More details will be shared on the Thursday evening CCAR voice net at 7:30 pm.

Basic plan for this EPA SET will look something like this:
Reason:  Severe weather and flooding has occurred in Chester County
Response: Four Shelters have been opened in Chester Cty Schools: Oxford, West Chester, Downingtown East, and Owen J Roberts.

Begin EPA SET Friday evening May 20th at 7 pm. RESNET opens on linked UHF repeaters at W3EOC at 7 pm – K3JSE net control. RESNET announces the call for CCAR ops to deploy (virtual only) on this drill
As ops check in to RESNET, they volunteer (VIRTUALLY)to go to one of these shelters 

A detailed plan has been emailed to the CCAR membership, and more information will be provided on tonight’s voice net.

The CCAR POC for this event is Barry K3EUI. Direct all responses and queries to: K3euiBarry-at-gmail.com



Announcements / Events

MS150 City To Shore September 25th and 26th

- by Rich Kucharik

The MS150 is a bike ride from Cherry Hill to Ocean City NJ. Like any other event all operator skills are needed.

I recommend using the email address below to make the first contact.

Here is their latest request for help email:

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A  DESPERATE  PLEA  TO  ALL HAM  COMMUNICATORS

WOW  –  We had a REAL BAD week.

This past week, we only had enough new volunteers to cover 3 route assignments, BUT we had one pull out, which of course leaves us with only a net 2 route assignments.

I very much like to think of our community as a very proud one, but I will put all pride aside to BEG and PLEAD for your help with the 2021 Ride MS – City to Shore.  As we have put out to you folks many times, this is one of, if not, the largest HAM involved Community Service special event in the country.  In order to support this event in the complete manner that it needs, we need a minimum of 150 HAM volunteers.

THIS MEANS THAT WE ARE STILL SHORT 34 HAM VOLUNTEERS.

34 – This doesn’t seem like a big number, but until we hit it, and hopefully as quickly as possible, we are falling short in an endeavor to support the thousands of riders and other volunteers in ensuring a safe and informative event that is a major force in helping the Too Many Local Folks living with Multiple Sclerosis. 

We ask again – PLEASE DIG DEEP – to put aside the 25th and 26th of September, 2021 to come out and prove that our community is PROUD and professional enough to put communication companies to shame.  A lot of eyes are on us during this event, our peers, our reporting publications, and other supporting factions that see us as an example of what can be done when you CARE.  A few hours a day so show SO MUCH.

Please sign up on line at :           https://forms.gle/YzGMjT9aMojLA3Xt6                                                            

Or email back the attached sign up form as soon as possible.

Thank you again, and we look forward to working WITH as many of you as possible
With Much Appreciation73 EvComm (609.795.0909)

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Here is the link to sign up on line:             https://forms.gle/YzGMjT9aMojLA3Xt6

Phone: EvComm (609.795.0909)

EMail: Ev Comm n3mssevcomm@gmail.com

Announcements / NET Operations

Call for NCS Operators

- by Rich Kucharik

I’ll be putting out the next Weekly Net Control Schedule sometime within the next week or two, and we can always use a few more NCS operators. If you would like to become a part of the NCS rotation, please let me know. CCAR always needs operators with NCS skills, so please consider giving it a shot. If you need more info on what’s involved, just let me know.  

For those already on the NCS roster, no need to reply if you want to continue. You’ll be carried over to the new schedule. Thank you for your continued service.

Thanks & 73,

Craig WB3GCK
CCAR Net Manager

Announcements / Events

Volunteer Opportunity – French Creek Iron Tour – 6/13/2021

- by Rich Kucharik

The French Creek Iron Tour will actually be happening this year on June 13th, with a reduced number of riders, but they still would like support from CCAR to provide communications and SAG vehicle tracking.
This is a fun event that allows us to practice some of the techniques we would be using for real emergencies.
To fully staff the event, we need the following:

A. 5 portable operators at the 5 rest stops along the course, from when those rest stops first open for service until each rest stop is closed when the last rider passes there.

B. At least 6 (preferably 8) mobile operators to provide communications and tracker operations in the support vehicles provided by the event; you would be passengers, not drivers. So you would need a 70cm mobile rig and a mag-mount antenna; CCAR would provide the APRS tracker. We also recommend a battery, as some of the vehicles they have used in the past shut off their cigarette lighter power outlets when the ignition gets shut off (slightly awkward when you need to communicate when the vehicle is stopped). The SAG vehicles operate in overlapping shifts, so you don’t have to be the first one out in the morning, although we would need people for the first 3 SAGs that leave the starting line at 6am.

C. 2 to 3 Net Control operators at the starting/finishing line at the Kimberton Fire Department Fairgrounds to collectively cover the full duration of the event (from pre-start until the last rider crosses the finish line around 4pm). There is AC power available there.

If you are interested in assisting with this charitable event, please contact me, and let me know if you has a preference for your operating position. Please include your T-shirt size, so you can get your collector’s-edition 2021 Iron Tour T-shirt.

Andrew Pavlin, KA2DDO
CCAR tracker lead