This was the first performance rally run by the CSCC this year - and the first to be opened to spectators since the previous instance in 2020.

It was a successful day with no major incidents, and we're not sure the weather could be much better for this time of year.  A sunny day with temperatures getting slightly over freezing was certainly an improvement over the previous incarnation with 40 below temperatures before any windchill.   It was a long day, but also ended up being a bit shorter than expected due to the event being able to run ahead of schedule - which definitely isn't always the case.

We had several amateur radio operators who were new to supporting performance rallies - and you couldn't know it by listening to the radio traffic. Every one of them did a bang up job - fitting in perfectly with the rest of the team.

The CARA Communications Trailer was deployed to house Net Control. This crew was there early, and some had some longer waits before staffing a position on one of the active stages.   From the Radio Coordinators' perspective - the trailer appeared in position and on time, functioned through the day, and was taken care of at the end of the day.  It definitely takes effort to do this, and we really appreciate the volunteers who took on this piece of the deployment.


Repeaters were an interesting topic.   It may be a little trite to say that we expect some unexpected repeater behaviour on rally day - but it really does seem to be the rule.

Reach of VE6OLS and VE6MTR into the area was investigated extensively before this event -  most recently in a coordinated visit to the area 2021-01-30.
The experience on this rally day was seeing more significant multipath propagation than was observed previously.  This was also true for VE6AUY - where the magnitude of multipath propagation on the day had also not been observed by us before. A squeal on VE6GAB earlier in the morning was likely a low voltage or temperature related, and went away later in the day.

Finessing of antenna location - on the order of inches - was needed in some locations to work these repeaters.

There was also at least one example of a blocker location able to tune to a clear reception of the VE6GAB repeater, but not able to transmit back into it.  We hadn't seen, or at least recorded, this kind of asymmetry until the previous rally RMR2021 where some creative split channel operation ended up being used.

To be clear, we do not think there were issues with the repeaters causing weak reception - we suspect propagation characteristics are responsible for our observations.


You may have noticed some interactions with both VE6AUY and VE6GAB active - the output frequencies of these repeaters are only 15kHz apart and this sometimes causes some trouble with radio front ends filtering out the other channel.  Sometimes swapping the sides of a dual-VFO radio can help with this. It is also possible that some attenuation may help with this for any component of the interference that might be related to intermodulation.  We welcome any discussion about this topic - both in explaining it, and also in ideas to mitigate it.

The challenges of operating radios along the valleys in these mountainous areas are sometimes frustrating, but they are also part of the interesting allure of the area.
The communications contingency protocol (backup repeaters/channels) worked as intended, and there was also one undocumented contingency that did not end up being used: Radio Support was strategically situated at a location known to have good simplex reach through the area.  This is one of our preferred locations for VE6RNQ portable repeater.

We are happy with how the "scrub" role is working out.  This is the formal designation of a final check on radio operators departing the stage roads that had been already happening informally.   Being formally designated means that the hole is noticed, and extra attention can be put onto the exit from that stage.   Timings and locations made it difficult to implement a scrub on Harold Creek at this event - and thus the extra attention was applied to monitoring the exit of that stage road.

Final check outs were received from almost everybody on their way out of the area: everybody is tracked as they come into the area, and we're satisfied at the end of the day when everybody who was checked in is also checked out.  A fully cleared checkin sheet always means a more restful night for us.


For a radio deployment - we looked after 31 amateur radio operators who came into the area, and most of the event officials in the area also happen to be licensed hams.
Thank you to all the volunteers!

It is always a privilege to see this group show up with a generous amount of dedication and incredible quality of work.



Dana Harding, VA6DJH
Garry Spicer, VE6GDS


Next up - Rocky Mountain Rally 2022 - May 28th.