Calgary Amateur Radio Association
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Rally Radio Recce
Once again we regret to say that an event has been cancelled. This time, though, it was not directly due to the pandemic. There were insufficient rally team registrations for this Test Day to be viable, so the Calgary Sports Car Club decided to cancel the event.
Those who signed up should have already received a cancellation notice by email.
Note that the August Test Day is NOT the same event as the Rocky Mountain Rally (RMR). RMR is still scheduled for 01-02 October.
73, Garry, VE6GDS
Test Day Radio Operators;
Below is a link to an overview map for the 2021 August Test Day on the 29th of this month. This map should hold no surprises for those who are familiar with the Kananaskis Jumping Pound Demonstration area. If you are new to the rally scene, this material is intended to help you navigate at the event. It is recommended that all operators have this map available on Test Day.
This is a .kml format file. It is not an image file. This file is intended to be loaded into a GPS device, APRS software, or GIS software such as Google Earth, Google Maps, Bing Maps, etc. If you want to make a printable image, then load this file into the software of your choice and print your maps from that point.
For those who load these maps into GPS devices, it is suggested that you disable direction instruction features while at the event. Reading and understanding the map yourself tends to work much better in these isolated areas. Radio operators have reported that GPS devices frequently provide distracting, erroneous, or even dangerous directions in remote rally venues.
This map does not contain the radio operator assignment locations. For such a small event, these are often finalized close to, or even on the day of, the affair. Should we receive these details ahead of time, we'll post them to this blog. Otherwise, check in with the event officials on Test Day (likely at the marked Service area) and they will help to get you to your assignment.
Here is the link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10FK2qQLrdVdUyuGUdQLy4gVM7C5C5QcK/view?usp=sharing
73!
Attention Rally Radio Operators;
There is going to be an another event!
The Calgary Sports Car Club (CSCC) has advised us that they have another Test Day planned for Sunday 29 August in Kananaskis. If you are looking for an opportunity to get out and practice your radio operation skills ahead of the big event in October, then here is your chance.
A Test Day is a more modest undertaking than a full rally. These events make good opportunities to get experience with the rally scene before taking on a regional or national level event. The atmosphere is relaxed, but safety is still a priority.
Detailed information can be found at the CSCC website: https://www.cscc.ab.ca/rally-test-days/
The signup form can be accessed from the above link, but it takes some hunting to find it, so here is a shortcut for you: https://forms.gle/kmWjpek3nmRz2zKY7
Remember that Alberta Parks has implemented its new Kananaskis Conservation Pass policy. Be sure to read the instructions provided by the event organizer about this matter.
Dana and I will post any further information about this event that comes our way.
Attention Rally Radio Operators!
Planning for the Rocky Mountain Rally (RMR) is underway.
Organizing this event continues to face challenges from various angles. The COVID-19 pandemic (which we hope is finally waning) does continue to influence our lives. The fires in British Columbia have also affected event timing this year.
Given the recent lifting of pandemic restrictions here in Alberta, we are proceeding with the assumption that there will be no Health Emergency restrictions to prevent holding the rally. However, as experience has taught us a few times now, we will have to monitor the situation and deal with whatever comes along. If anything changes on this front, updates will be posted here to the blog.
Originally, the Pacific Forest Rally (PFR) was planned for 01-02 October. RMR was slated to happen the following weekend on 08-09 October. However, the extreme forest fire situation in British Columbia this year has caused the event planners to swap these two event dates. The objective of this move is to allow the PFR organizing team an extra week to deal with any fallout from the fires.
The Rocky Mountain Rally is now planned for 01-02 October, 2021.
This means that we have just over eight weeks to get ready!
With the date swap, RMR is now one week ahead of PFR. The planners are hoping that this will make it easier for Eastern teams to attend both events. If this strategy works out, then this could be an event with a full roster of rally cars. The long Powderface Trail with extra rally cars on it could make for a busy day of racing!
As noted in an earlier post, this RMR event will displace the usual Kananaskis Performance Rally (KPR) that has typically been held in the autumn. This means that there will only be the one performance rally event in our area this year. After waiting for so long, I am sure that we're all ready to get back out on the course roads again.
More information and Instructions for registration will be posted to this blog as soon as they are available. Check back here regularly for updates!
73, Dana, VA6DJH Garry, VE6GDS
Hello Rally Radio Operators;
It is 31 July and the Radio Operators survey is now closed. Thank you to everyone who took the time to support us and provide a submission. We will be analyzing the data and developing a report to share with you soon. Keep an eye on this blog to see when the report is posted.
Now that August is upon us, we will also be starting the planning process for the Rocky Mountain Rally in October. Details will be posted in this blog as they come available.
Thanks again for all your support!
We have been receiving excellent response to our survey. Thanks go out to everyone who has provided a submission. Your input is important to us and we appreciate you making the effort to support us in this way. However, August is soon upon us, and we will be taking the survey form down to begin analyzing the the information that has been gathered. If you have been procrastinating, now is the time to get this done! We want your ideas and opinions. Don't miss this opportunity to have your say.
The survey form will remain available until 31 July, as previously indicated.
The instructions for the survey can be found at this prior blog posting: https://caraham.org/page-1862770/10721614
Thank you to everyone who has already submitted a response for our Radio Operators survey. The input has been excellent so far. Dana and I appreciate the feedback and the many great suggestions that people have made.
The survey will remain open until 31 July - which is just over a week away! So, if you haven't had a chance to complete the questionnaire yet, we'd be grateful if you could take a few minutes to provide us with your input. With just a few more responses, the results will be very substantive and more interesting for the entire Amateur Radio community.
{update 2021-07-28} A compilation of some video clips was put together from this event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVoWqaZBRXc
Some events are coming to a start!
This past Sunday morning, a hearty group of people were up early and headed out to Kananaskis to participate in and to support a Rally Test Day put on by the Calgary Sports Car Club.
Recent weather has been hot with a background haze of smoke from distant wildfires. The early morning provided a brief reprieve from the smoke with dense fog and mist, which had mostly gone by 09:00. Overall a cooler day than expected, with a brief interlude of sun in the afternoon.
There were approximately 10 teams participating with cars who ran 120+ test runs over the ~7.5 hours we were on the course. The cadence kept the road, and the radio channel, busy.
This was a great day to be out in Kananaskis - and I even managed to wrangle another couple potential spectators for RMR when a couple of young gentlemen, out for a drive in the area, stopped and asked about what had been going on after they had spotted a rally car.
Hopefully this is a sign of things to come as we progress towards the Rocky Mountain Rally on 9 October 2021. Information about that, and any other test days that come up, will be posted here.
Dana, VA6DJH
Kananaskis 2021 - Test Day
{update 2021-07-17}: VE6AUY has good coverage in the area, I'll be monitoring that on the way in and out. As per the the provided details, the plan is to operate on a simplex frequency during the event.
For anyone signed up for the Kananaskis Test Day on Sunday, you should have an email with details. I've put the relevant locations into a .kml file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pJDRK1TnhoH9wYGUE5uLzT_0Zr9-r97U/view?usp=sharing See you there Dana, VA6DJH
Thanks to those who have submitted their responses for our Radio Operators survey. The survey has been available for about a week now, and we are already receiving very high quality input. People are providing us with well thought out material, so I am looking forward to compiling the data and getting a better understanding of what our operators are thinking. Interesting ideas are going to come out of this exercise.
If you have volunteered for Rally Radio Operations in the past and have not yet taken our survey, Dana and I would greatly appreciate it if you could spend a few minutes and provide us with your input. Don't miss out on this opportunity to have your say in how we plan, organize, and conduct our rally events.
