Post Action Report
Rally Radio Operators:
Thanks to everyone who participated in this year's Kananaskis Performance Rally. We had a strong team for the event and it showed. We deployed quite a range of radio communications assets and were able to keep the information flowing despite some challenging RF conditions on the Powderface Trail.
Recognition goes out to the following people for their contributions to this year's event:
Pericles & Elsie Afaganis VA6PTA
Ty Burrows VA6KEK
Dave Cason VE6DED
Larry Chapple VE6KC
Ian Drummond VE6IXD
Robin Greig VE6RBN
Dana Harding VA6DJH
Alan Kearley VE6BUZ
Ian Kerr VE6IKR
Lloyd Kortbeek
Peter LaGrandeur VA6RPL
Wilson Loree VA6JWL
Greg Maciejewski VE6AFT
Robert MacLachlan VA6BM
Paul Meijer VE6PKM
Stephane Raimbault VE6NR
Kurt Schantz VA6KOS
Jason Shaver VE6JGS
Patrick Spencer VE6PDS
Ken Vigar VE6DXM
Jim Weisert VE6GO
Matt Wilfort VA6AMX
Robert Wilson VE6CCL
Ian Willumsen VA6IAB
I'd like to make special mention of a few people who put in extra effort to support us all this year. Dana (VA6DHJ) and Ty (VA6KEK) got the temporary repeater (VE6RNQ) tested and set up on the Powderface Trail. With permission, they took the repeater up one of the logging roads so that it had some significant height. This gave it clear signals from one end of the Powderface Trail to the other, and enabled Net Control to get access to it from near the Service area. At the same time Peter (VA6RPL), Alan (VE6BUZ), Wilson (VA6JWL), Rob (VE6CCL), and Pat (VE6PDS) got the Comms Trailer into place and running smoothly for Net Control. Nice work done by all!
At Net Control this year we had Stephane (VE6NR) and Ian (VA6IAB). With some coaching from Vince d'Eon (VE6LK), Stephane and Ian stepped up and got the job done - and a fine job it was! While we had a few minor glitches getting set up on the Powderface Trail, these gentlemen kept everything in order and managed to guide us through all the stages without any serious incidents. Proper job!
We had an early dose of winter this year, with record snowfall striking in September and early October. We all wondered if those conditions would persist into our rally weekend, but things cleared up for the event. We experienced a brief snowfall on rally day, but it passed quickly and only left a little of the white stuff on the roads. Overall, we had good weather and good road conditions for the rally.
There was a lot of new logging activity along the Powderface Trail and several new logging roads to prove it. One of those roads came into existence in the weeks just prior to the rally, leading to some last minute changes to our blocker plan. The event organizers also elected to extend the course farther south by about 5Km this year. So, the maps changed significantly from previous events.
Those field operators with APRS screens were most able to adapt to the map changes and find their new assignments, as the changes were quickly reflected on the APRS beacons. Net Control also had an APRS screen in place for this year's event to support their situational awareness. I encourage radio operators who have not used APRS in this way before to consider implementing such a configuration. As Bob Bruninga (WB4APR), the inventor of APRS, has indicated many times - APRS is not a vehicle tracking system! It's a tactical communications system, and is an ideal tool for helping to manage information at an event such as a rally.
We had three repeaters configured for this event. As Keith (VA6PIX) mentioned at our pre-operations briefing: this may seem like overkill, but we have seen two repeaters fail at an event before, so having backup plans is key to keeping things on track. Additionally, the Jumping Pound / Powderface Trail area has to be one of the most difficult environments in Alberta for VHF Communications. Having options helped us to manage situations as they developed. We used VE6AUY as our approach / departure channel, so that operators could check in and check out as they came in and left the venue. VE6RYC was our main operations repeater, used by Net Control to direct the stages. That is, until we ran into signal fading issues in the afternoon and switched Net Control to the VE6RNQ temporary repeater to finish out the day. Our field operators did a really good job of keeping up with the channel changes. I don't think we had to hunt down anyone who got stuck on the wrong frequency. Great work!
When it comes to logistics, our field operators shone this year. The Jumping Pound loop operators were ready on time in the morning, despite some map changes that were made to accommodate truck traffic during the event. Our Early Charlie and Early Echo operators got into place and managed to keep the Powderface Trail from being cluttered with cars parked along the road. Our Powderface Trail operators got into place without any serious problems, overcoming a missing operator and a number of map changes that had been implemented just the night before. There were also several operators who transitioned from the Jumping Pound Loop to the Powderface Trail between the morning and afternoon stages. These operators did well to get into place even though the timing was tight and we had a little snow blow through right as the transition was happening. Finally, we got everyone off of the Powderface Trail at the end of the day without any incidents or anyone getting left behind. Thanks to everyone who made this all happen.
I'd like to take a moment here to relay some recognition from Keith (VA6PIX), the event organizer and 000 official at Kananaskis. At another recent rally (Pacific Forest), a staffer from RallySafe was observing the Net Control function, run by Roger Heward (VE6RAH) and Dave Kissinger (VA6DK). According to Keith, the staffer said "...he’d never seen such a thorough radio operation...". Keith also noted that the radio protocols we use for these events are the result of many years of refinement by all our radio operators. For the unfamiliar, RallySafe is a satellite based tracking tool that the Net Control operators can use to keep track of the rally cars and officials' vehicles. We didnt use RallySafe at Kananaskis this year, so the communications between Net Control and the Field Operators had to be even tighter to ensure a safe and successful event. Well done all!
I have another item of thanks that needs to go out. After the Cochrane Winter Rally back in March, Roger Heward (VE6RAH) took the time to forward a list of suggestions for improvements to the CARA Communications Trailer. Peter (VA6RPL) and the rest of the trailer crew put a lot of effort into implementing many of those suggestions. As a result, the Net Control operators for the Kananaskis Rally had a much upgraded environment in which to work. Thank you Roger and the Comms Trailer team.
For those who may be looking for them, you can find the results from the rally here:
http://cscc.ab.ca/kananaskis/2018/results/event1/summaries/overall.html
I did get some photos sent to me and I'll aim to get those posted soon. If anyone else has photos, please let me know and I'll make them available.
Once again, we had a great day at the Kananaskis Rally and all our radio operators did a commendable job of supporting the programme. Thanks everyone and I hope to see all of you at Cochrane!
73,
Garry Spicer
Radio Coordinator, Kananaskis Rally 2018
