Participating In

Public Service EventsAround

Puget Sound

Robert Grinnell, KD7WNVMike & Key ARC

July 16, 2011

What We’ll Cover

• Why Participate?• Types of Events and the events around Puget

Sound– When & Where– Types of Assignments

• Resources and Getting Connected• Equipment for Various Assignments• Procedures and Protocols• Questions?

Why Participate?

• Helping your community• One of the Part 97 Fundamental Principles• Get out of the house, meet new people

– Including fellow hams• Why’d you join a club, after all?

• Limited from HF by license, logistics, or finances?– PS events are all V/UHF—Tech is entirely adequate– Can be active in many roles with minimal investment

• Not getting any action on that repeater when you call?– There’s always (supposed to be) someone on the other end in

PS event communications

• Interested in Emergency Communications?– This is how you get the practice with your radio and nets

Types of Events Around Puget Sound

• Parades• Pedestrian Events (Walks, Runs &

Triathlons)• Bicycle Rides• Other:

– Husky Opening Day Crew Races– WA Special Olympics– Special People’s Holiday Cruise– Auto rallies

Parades

• Seafair– Community/Local Parades

• Where: A Seattle neighborhood or a smaller city• When: Late March to early December (July is busiest)• Some units in common, some unique

– Torchlight Parade• Where: Downtown Seattle: Seattle Center to King St.• When: Last Saturday of July (31st in 2011)• Second only to Marathon in number of hams needed

• Other?– Lakefair Parade, Olympia, mid-July

Parades: Assignments

• Types of Assignments:– “Shadow” a parade marshal

• Stay near marshal, provide amateur band communications• Marshal may have a land-mobile UHF radio

– Station at an operational location• Provide communications for marshals and/or other

volunteers at that location (registration/information, etc.)– Station along route (may be alone or as shadow)

• You may end up performing more than one function (assembly vs. actual parade run)

• Torchlight has 8K/5K run beforehand; may have needs as for Pedestrian Events (see ff.)

Pedestrian Events (Walks, Runs & Triathlons)

• Walk MS (3 area events)– Where: Husky Stadium; Quil Ceda/Tulalip; Lakewood– When: Early April

• See Jane Run Half Marathon, 5K & Kids’ Race– Where: Gas Works - Ballard and around Lake Union– When: Mid-July (TOMORROW!)

• Seafair – Benaroya Research Institute Triathlon– Where: Seward Park– When: Late July (Sunday, 24th in 2011)

• Seattle Marathon– Where: Downtown & central Seattle, down to Seward Park– When: Sunday after Thanksgiving– Largest area event in number of hams needed

Pedestrian Events: Types of Assignments

• Shadow the event director or other official on foot• Vehicle ride-along: Provide communications for an

event-supplied vehicle (e.g. water truck)• Stationary location (rest/water stop and/or route

monitoring)• Bike ham (some may be EMT)

– Monitor participants– Escort last-to-finish

• SAG vehicle (ham in own vehicle)– If logistics permit, patrol event route and monitor participants– Transport participants as needed

• Medical/EMT (medically-trained ham in own vehicle)

Bicycle Rides

• Chilly Hilly (Cascade Bicycle Club)– Where: Bainbridge Island– When: 4th Sunday of February

• Tour Des Engineers– Where: Whidbey Island, southern end– When: Early May

• Tour De Cure (Am. Diabetes Assoc.)– Where: Redmond – Granite Falls, various loops– When: Mid-May

Bicycle Rides (cont.)

• RAMROD (Redmond Cycling Club)– Where: Enumclaw to Enumclaw, around Mt. Rainier– When: Last Thursday of July (28th in 2011)

• Ride for Life (Cystic Fibrosis Foundation)– Where: Woodinville, Eastside to Mercer Island– When: Last Sunday of July (31st in 2011)– Coordinated and largely staffed by ESCA RACES

• RSVP (Cascade Bicycle Club)– Where: Seattle to Vancouver BC– When: MULTI-DAY, 1st weekend in August (5-7 in

2011)– First Time Listed

Bicycle Rides (cont.)

• Courage Classic (Child Abuse Prevention)– Where: Snoqualmie to Skykomish via 3 passes– When: MULTI-DAY, 1st weekend in August (6-8 in 2011)– First Time Listed

• Summer Classic/Challenge (Kiwanis)– Where: Bainbridge Island– When: 4th/Last Sunday of August (28th in 2011)– First Time Listed

• Bike MS (National MS Society)– Where: Skagit-Island-Whatcom counties– When: 2nd Weekend of September (10-11 in 2011)– Coordinated and largely staffed by ESCA RACES

Bicycle Rides: Types of Assignments

• Shadow the event director or other official on foot• Vehicle ride-along: Provide communications for

director/official or other event-supplied vehicle• Stationary location (rest/water stop and/or route

monitoring)• Bike ham (often a personal choice)

– More useful in Pedestrian Events than Bicycle Rides– May be needed to patrol a vehicle-inaccessible section of route

• SAG vehicle (ham in own vehicle)– Patrol event route and monitor participants– Transport participants and bicycles as needed

• Medical/EMT (medically-trained ham in own vehicle)

Other Events• Husky Opening Day Crew Races

– Where: UW (Union Bay, Montlake Cut)– When: 1st Saturday of May– Some assignments on boats, others on land

• WA Special Olympics– Where: Joint Base Lewis-McChord– When: 1st Weekend of June (Friday – Sunday)– Contact early to allow time for Base-access background check– Assignments?

• Special People’s Holiday Cruise– Where: From various docks around lakes Union and Washington –

cruise to see Santa, north of I-520 eastern high-rise, and back– When: 1st Sunday of December– Assignments include dockside and cruise; cruise not mandatory

• Auto rallies: See list and ask coordinator for information– Assignments are probably stationary along route

Resources• Public Service Events list in annual MKARC booklet

– Available early March at Flea Market, then Club meetings– Chilly Hilly is only event that occurs before booklet comes out;

use last year’s contact• Club website – Public Service page (

www.mikeandkey.org/pubserve.htm)– Initially same as booklet list, but updated through the year

• Club meetings and minutes – announcement of changes/additions

• Seafair Parade Marshals website (www.seafairparademarshals.org) - Schedule page can be useful, and represents updated info, but:

• Includes some events that do not use hams (check against above)• SPM Check-In times may not be right for hams (ask coordinator)

• Website for event or sponsoring organization often has useful information – use search engine to locate

Getting Connected

• Contact the listed ham coordinator about a month ahead (if no prior history with event or coordinator)– Two months for Special Olympics or multi-day bicycle rides– Give brief description of radios/capabilities and experience– Indicate any preferences for assignment type or location– Ask any questions you have

• Ham coordinator may likely…– Email you some material in advance– Have an advance meeting for training and familiarization– Have a meeting in the morning before the event begins– Have a packet of materials for you to pick up that morning

• Once you have participated in an event, you may find that the coordinator contacts you along with other participating hams prior to next year’s event

Equipment

• Need dual band capability: 2-meters and 70 cm– (Only RAMROD has used 222 MHz, and can probably

get by without it even there)

• Know your radio; bring along manual, in case• Configurations for PS Assignments

– Personal Portable– Vehicle Mobile– Installable Vehicle Mobile– Bike Mobile

Equipment Configuration: Personal Portable

• You are on foot, or at least away from vehicle• Start with: Handheld Transceiver (HT)• Recommended first accessories, in order:

– Spare battery (Li-Ion or NiMH), 3rd-party OK– Speaker-mike or headset– Gain antenna (replace stock rubber-duck)

• Match design to band coverage of radio

• For parades, have a pair of over-the-ear headphones on hand—marching bands!

Equipment Configuration: Personal Vehicle

• Can get by with HT for many stationary and some mobile assignments

• Must get signal out of car (Faraday cage!): External antenna– Either magmount or permanent install (confirm connector match

to radio, esp. for HT)– Mobile antenna with car as ground plane is much stronger than

any HT antenna—big bang for buck improvement over just HT• Cigarette lighter cord (if parked, mind your battery, but

probably safe with HT)• Speaker-mike to avoid moving HT and attached cords

around with every transmission• Graduate to mobile rig ($$) for additional power,

permanent install– Power: Cigarette lighter is often adequate, but for permanent

install, probably want to wire to draw from engine/battery

Equipment Configuration: Installable Vehicle

• Sometimes may be supplied for you by ham coordinator(s)

• HT or mobile rig• Power:

– Cigarette lighter cord/adapter– May have small, portable battery (e.g. 7A SLA)

• Magmount antenna– Run coax through open window if situation and weather permit,

otherwise between door and vehicle body – away from hinged side of door to reduce pinching force on coax

• Speaker-mike if HT• May want headphones to shut out noise or keep radio

from disturbing others

Equipment Configuration: Bike Mobile

• Radio: HT• Interface:

– Need at least speaker-mike– Ideally, headset—should be single-ear style

(remember, you’re wearing a helmet)– If using HT’s antenna, don’t wear HT on chest

as if on foot—leaning over, body blocks• Back pocket (cycling jersey) or mount on bike

– Upgrade to bike-mounted mobile antenna• Not much ground plane; half-wave design is good

Some Other Equipment

• General– Hi-visibility safety vest

• Always good to have, sometimes required for event• Better ones may provide pockets for radio, other gear

– Clothing appropriate to weather

• Any SAG:– Regular and space blankets– Water– First Aid kit

• SAG for bicycle ride:– Reliable bicycle rack– Good high-pressure floor pump, dual valve-style– Basic tools

Procedures and Protocols

• Nets are typically semi-formal– Ask permission of Net Control to contact another station directly– Use prowords “Emergency” and “Priority” to break in with a

situation of that severity– Use tactical call (if assigned), or FCC call sign, to break into a

conversation without a priority situation

• Tactical calls:– PS events will often assign tactical calls to identify hams by

function/location (e.g., SAG 3, Rest Stop 2, Milepost 7, Start/Finish, Sweep, Director [Shadow])

– You will be called by your tactical– When calling, use other station’s tactical and your tactical at

beginning; identify with FCC call as required at end

Procedures and Protocols

• Don’t use VOX

• Do use your HT’s keypad lock function to keep frequencies in place once you have them set

Final Tip

• For Seafair Parades: The Seafair Pirates sound their siren just before firing their cannon—that’s your warning to cover your ears!

Questions?