A few notes and feedback for event organizers
The map above shows 8 locations although 5 could be used as a minimum.
The park " main entrance", "rear entrance" and the "walking path midway" are optional. Club signage should be placed whether there is a volunteer there or not.
The 8 club sandwich boards should be available to promote our club.
The club banner should be used for the same reason.
The signs have a propensity to fall over in the wind. It would be a good idea to bring a weight or tent stakes of some kind if it is a windy day
Tom VA3TS has some highly visible arrows to affix to the signs to aid participants
The net control station should be placed away from the bandstand music.
Handouts should be available and on-hand to give out.
The club has 2 FRS radios to provide communication between the control station and the event organizer
Don't forget to get a picture of all participants for the newsletter.
Mobile stations are ok with the exception of the "Walking path Midway" which is not accessible by vehicle.
* The station at the walking path exit should be a higher power rig, 10w+.
The use of VOX should be discouraged
This is 2023 feedback from Dave VE3WI regarding the park entrance and traffic coming down the park hill.
I was at that location last year and got pretty concerned about traffic roaring down the hill and not slowing down. I tried to herd the runners onto the sidewalk but they spilled out onto the street many times.
I fed back to the organizers that more prominent signs were needed to tell drivers coming down the hill to slow down & watch for pedestrians.
This is 2024 feedback from John VA3KOT
I would like to suggest a couple of changes for future Terry Fox events.
1. Relocate the NCS away from the bandshell. Yesterday (and in previous years) there was no interaction between NCS and event organizers. Also, the very loud continuous music was distracting. I wore headphones but they didn't help. I suggest a position across the bridge in the overflow parking lot would be quieter.
2. Use a portable repeater instead of VE3OSR. Although OSR is a very good repeater some stations around the course were difficult to copy. Perhaps this was due to heavy tree cover, or maybe all the 30A/110V power cables, associated heavy duty transformers and RV inverters in the campground. I know from personal experience that RV inverters are very RF noisy.
A portable repeater should be a regular VHF/VHF device and not a crossband repeater. My previous experience as an NCS in heavily treed parks taught me that UHF is unsuitable in that environment.
A gain antenna on a tall pole as has been used at the BPMR is also a good idea.
I don't know if we have such a repeater and, if we do, whether it can be easily moved to perhaps an off-road location. We should test various locations around the park to ensure we effectively cover all stations. If this suggestion is accepted I volunteer to be part of a field trial team.
Apart from those two suggestions I thought the event went very well
This is 2024 feedback from Dave VE3WI
The portable repeater worked very well for the BPMR. It could be run from a battery & inverter if a mains connection wasn't available and the Park wouldn't permit a generator. But I think a couple of us should take handhelds to the Park and test simplex. I'm sure we've used simplex there before and it worked OK.
The NCS does need to be located remotely where the noise level is low enough. We are there to assist the organizers so the NCS and the boss should have GRS handhelds in case they need to talk.
Antenna elevation is always a good thing, e.g. a simple GP made from copper wire and a coax socket, mounted on a 8'-10' pole. The ant. can be rolled or folded up, and straightened out for next year!
