CARA

Calgary Amateur Radio Association

Enjoy Amateur Radio | Serve Our Community


Public Service & Ham Events (see blog below)

Amateur radio operators have a history of volunteering expertise and equipment to support others' activities - some are fundraisers for registered charities, others are individual club activities or competitions.   Participation is usually as part of a network, controlled by a central dispatcher "net control".

They also can be emissaries of the hobby, such as at community fairs and exhibitions.

Radio operators interested in participating in any of these, please monitor the CARA Events Calendar for news of upcoming events.

Equipment required for these events generally include a personal vehicle, a dual channel dual band cross band (VHF/UHF) 50 Watt mobile, and a dual band dual channel (VHF/UHF) 5 Watt handheld.

Event Date Organization/Association Location Type Information Coordinator
Winter Field Day 25-26 Jan 2025 Winter Field Day Association Calgary ARES/Field Deployment  CARA Info Forum  
Great Cookie Race 22 Feb 2025 Foothills Nordic Ski Club Kananaskis Cross Country Skiing Calendar Entry
 VA6DJH
Cochrane Winter Rally 9 March 2025 Calgary Sports Car Club   Car Rally
executive at caraham.org
Supertrain 05-06 April 2025 Calgary Model Railway Society Calgary  Exhibition TBD TBD
MS Walk 26 May 2024 MS Canada Calgary  Walk    VE6SWN, VE6REG
Rocky Mountain Rally 1-2 June 2024 Calgary Sports Car Club   Car Rally

Calendar Entry

executive at caraham.org
Banff Jasper Relay 8 June 2024

fundraiser for
The Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada

Banff  Relay Runners     VA6DJH
Ghost of the Gravel 14 June 2025 (unconfirmed) Deadgoat Racing  Water Valley  Gravel Cycling  Calendar Entry  VE6DLN - see calendar entry
MS Bike Ride 22-23 June 2024 MS Canada Airdrie-Olds Road Cycling Calendar Entry  VE6REG - see calendar entry
ARRL Field Day 27-28 June 2025 ARRL  Calgary  ARES/Field Deployment Calendar Entry fieldday at caraham.org
Ride of Courage 11-13 July 2025 Kids Cancer Care Water Valley Road Cycling Calendar Entry
Moose Mountain Trail Races 23 August 2025   Bragg Creek Trail Runners    VE6DE 
Bar J Bustle CTR 31 Aug - 01 Sept 2024
~Water Valley  Equestrian TBD TBD
Kananaskis Rally 10 November 2024 Calgary Sports Car Club   Car Rally Calendar Entry executive at caraham.org
Santa Shuffle (December) Salvation Army Calgary      VE6SWN

A best effort is made to keep this list up to date.  Not all listed events have an affiliation with CARA.  In the event of conflicting information, this list is not authoritative.  If you have updates please contact CARA Executive or VA6DJH with the URL to this page and the update.

Past Items, unclear of next participation:


Public Service & Voluntering Events Blog


  • 20 Dec 2024 8:39 PM | Peter LaGrandeur (Administrator)

    "Temporary Install" Mobile Radios for Events Are Back in Service

    Greetings, all, and Merry Christmas.

    May Santa drop off whatever toy you desire under your tree.

    Be sure to leave milk and cookies for him.

    Just dropping you a line to say that CARA’s two “temporary install” event radios have been “re-organized” to assure much better readiness and functionality for events.

    These improvements should assure that the delay and frustration caused by the ambulance not being ready at the November KPR doesn’t happen again.

    I will be placing them in storage in the next few days in the sea can beside the comm trailer.

    The ICOM IC_2720 are quite nice mobile radios for this purpose.

    Some of the features of the new ‘readiness’:

    •  they are “ready to go” for future events
    • Pre-programmed channels are now in the radios’ memories.  These include:
      • General calling channels
      • Repeater channels commonly used in area events
      • UHF channels used for cross banding between the 2720’s and handhelds
      • A long list of repeaters in southern Alberta, and a few in south east BC.
    • They are much better equipped with the various items needed when installed in a vehicle or control room:
      • Ambulance service at far distance from net control in mountainous terrain, rain, sleet fog, snow, etc.
      • Recovery vehicles
      • Misc roles like blocker, check points, etc.
      • ‘net control’ service in the CARA comm trailer, with required power pig tails for the Riog Runner
    • Laminated user-friendly cards affixed to the radio ‘bread board’
      • List of pre-programed channels in the radio memory
      • How to turn cross banding ON / OFF
      • How to manually add or clear a memory channel
    • A plastic duo-tang protective binder with the ICOM IC-2720H User Manual, along with other documents.

    Please refer to a new page on the CARA web site with more complete details, with photos, of how these ‘temp install’ radios are now set up.

    https://caraham.org/page-1862853

    Questions, suggestions, and need for maintenance?  VA6RPL@techworld.ca .

    Happy radio operating at future events !!

  • 13 Mar 2024 6:54 AM | Robert (Administrator)

    ARRL Field Day is June 22-23 2024

    Every June, more than 40,000 hams throughout North America set up temporary transmitting stations in public places to demonstrate ham radio's science, skill and service to our communities and our nation. It combines public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach, and technical skills all in a single event. Field Day has been an annual event since 1933, and remains the most popular event in ham radio.


    event details and registration:


  • 27 Oct 2023 8:01 AM | Peter LaGrandeur (Administrator)

    The Kananaskis Performance Rally is fast approaching on October 28, 2023. CARA's comm trailer will again be deployed. If you are interested in learning about the trailer, and setting it up, and packing it up, please contact Peter VA6RPL at VA6RPL@techworld.ca for details.

  • 04 Jul 2023 1:55 PM | Dana Harding (Administrator)

    Edit 2023-07-10 - 

    A shared file location has been established for distributing current versions of documentation: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1KcHyd4rUdTSmjzpopjPeGzeV3CT3IxFe?usp=sharing

    Radio Operator Meeting is scheduled Wednesday 2023-07-12 19:00-20:00 via Zoom

    https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88370206595?pwd=ajQvL0s0OVl1SzUzZzZGRUFzVFVmdz09

    Meeting ID: 883 7020 6595

    Passcode: 7373


    =


    Edit 2023-07-04 - briefing information is now available.  Update 13:55 - now have live teams link.

    Microsoft Teams meeting 18:00-19:00  (6 p.m. to 7 p.m.)

    At their offices  5757 4th Street SE or via Microsoft Teams:

    Microsoft Teams meeting

    Join on your computer, mobile app or room device

    Click here to join the meeting

    Meeting ID: 247 311 038 992
    Passcode: FooUkV

    Download Teams | Join on the web

    Learn More | Meeting options


    ====

    We have made a registration form live for this upcoming event. 


    As radio operators, our mandate from the event is to support road safety and to ensure communications coverage. Your expertise is invaluable in meeting this mission and ensuring the smooth flow on the course during the days of the event. 

    We have some secondary objectives in supporting the cyclists themselves, looking after the volunteer teams, and providing situational awareness for the Ride Manager.


    Expect to be paired up with other event volunteers, either as a rover team, or as part of a critical intersection team.


    The event occurs on 14, 15, 16 (Fri, Sat, Sun) July 2023 -  starting and finishing in Water Valley, AB each day, with overnight stays in Camp Kindle on Friday and Saturday nights.


    We understand that being available for all three days is a significant time commitment. If you are only able to help for one or two days, we will do our best to work with your availability.

    Sign up now and be part of an amazing team that will make a difference!
    https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdZU5ZDiVOpfsTZFoXqkran7h9lYeyFgnVybICwOZrvJ1D_Fw/viewform?usp=sf_link


    This event is a fundraiser for:

    Organization: https://www.kidscancercare.ab.ca/

    Event information: https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/peer-to-peer/6e3b5571-aff8-4840-bde0-11770677c91f


    73,

    Dana Harding, VA6DJH  va6djh@oneharding.com

    Garry Spicer, VE6GDS ve6gds@gmail.com

  • 07 May 2023 9:12 PM | Dana Harding (Administrator)

    <Original post was 2023-02-15, edited 2023-05-07 - Dana and Garry have taken this on.>

    Kids Cancer Ride

     Location Start finish at Water Valley but the route will be approx. 180 km each day
     Dates July 14th to 16th

    We will require 12 to 15 radio operators each day. More information as it becomes available.

    Contact:

    Dana Harding, VA6DJH  va6djh@oneharding.com

    Garry Spicer, VE6GDS ve6gds@gmail.com


  • 19 Feb 2023 10:09 PM | Dana Harding (Administrator)

    Ghost of the Gravel is looking to explore some amateur radio support for a cycling event through the Ghost PLUZ.

    Event date is 18 June, 2023 - starting and ending in Water Valley, proceeding on roads up through the Ghost PLUZ.

    If interested or for more information please contact:  Derek Neabel VE6DLN   ve6dln @ proton.me

    Event information:  http://deadgoat.ca/ghostofthegravel/


  • 13 Feb 2023 5:32 AM | Peter LaGrandeur (Administrator)

    The Cochrane Winter Rally is fast approaching on March 11. CARA's comm trailer will again be deployed. If you are interested in learning about the trailer, and setting it up, and packing it up, please contact Peter at VA6RPL@techworld.ca for details.

    This event is organized by the Calgary Sports Car Club.

    Here is a link to CARA's involvement in this event:

    https://caraham.org/RallyRadioRecce 

  • 20 Jun 2022 8:38 PM | Neeroo Sharma-Hall

    Here is a link to the current operator roster.  Please advise of any errors or changes.

    2022-Field-Day/Roster.pdf

    Neeroo, VE6NRO
    ve6nro@gmail.com
    403-651-1772


  • 30 Mar 2022 1:07 PM | Peter LaGrandeur (Administrator)

    The Banff to Jasper Relay is a running relay marathon from Banff to Jasper done in ~10 mile segments.   The relay itself is split in half so that the entire event can be completed during the daylight.  CARA has traditionally supported the 'South' portion from Castle Junction up to the Saskatchewan River Crossing.

    The date is Saturday June 4th, 2022

    Event information https://www.banff-jasper-relay.com/


    Please contact Robin VE6RBN   ve6rbn @ gmail.com  for questions or more information.



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