Fw: WPA S2 Franklin County alternate SET report

[Steve Elliott]

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Harry Bloomberg <hbl...@gmail.com>
To: D. Daniel McGlothin KB3MUN <kb3...@mcglothin.us>
Cc: Steve Ewald WV1X <sew...@arrl.org>; Daniel Sullivan KO1D (EPA D5 DEC) <djs...@me.com>; Drew McGhee KA3EJV (WPA S2 DEC) <dr...@psu.edu>; Steve Elliot KA3UDR (Bedford Co. EC) <ka3...@yahoo.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 6, 2013 10:45 PM
Subject: Re: WPA S2 Franklin County alternate SET report

Yikes!  1200 messages???  That must be some kind of record.

It's late and I'm getting ready for bed...I will absolutely read this in detail tomorrow.

73,

Harry Bloomberg W3YJ
hbl...@gmail.com

On Wed, Nov 6, 2013 at 10:29 PM, D. Daniel McGlothin KB3MUN <kb3...@mcglothin.us> wrote:

Harry,

[copied to KO1D and to KA3UDR as per my OES requirement.]

Harry W3YJ, you asked for a narrative to accompany
the WPA SET reports.  Here is Franklin County's
alternative SET report.

Steve WV1X, here are the SET report(s) for
Franklin County, WPA.  The narrative embedded in
the forms summarizes this SET as "MTeC Event
progress & Safety messages; more than 1,200
tactical messages managed on a VHF directed net
plus relays and FRS sub-net with event course set
in ~120 square miles of mountainous area and
passing more than 1,200 tactical messages."  If
you would want me to develop this into a QST
article, I'd be pleased to work with you on that.


Attached to this email message are the SET
reporting Forms A & B; links to several maps of
the MTeC event area are embedded in the text as
these maps are too large to include in the email
message.

----------8<----------8<----------8<----------

Franklin County prefers to use the annual MTeC
(Michaux Team Challenge, put on by the
Chambersburg YMCA) as an alternative SET activity.
This is a large public service event that takes
place on the last Sunday of October. Teams of 4
participate in a 'triathlon' (trekking, biking,
paddling) sprint adventure race with a number of
'challenges' (puzzles, rock climbing, rappelling,
net climbing, jousting, etc.) scattered throughout
the course.  This is a day long event; this year
the shortest time was expected to be about 4.5
hours and the longest time about 8.5 hours.  This
year there were 34 registered teams; there were 18
ham radio operators providing communications;
there were approximately 80 other event staff on
on the course.

This year was the MTeC's 11th anniversary, we hams
have been working this event for the past 10
years.


We hams start our planning for this event a couple
of months early, when we are given the probable
course layout for the event (each year's course is
unique).  Along with this course comes likely
check and observation posts, and, in particular,
where the event organizer will want
communications.  We look over the map, consider
the terrain, reflect on our past experiences with
this event, and then usually sigh and say "this
year will be another difficult one."

Why is it difficult?  The event is held in a
portion of the Michaux State Forest, a part of the
Appalachian Mountain range, straddling the
Franklin and Adams county line, and reaching north
to Cumberland County. The terrain is mountainous,
has only intermittent cell or satellite phone
service, spotty repeater coverage from 3 different
regional repeaters.  And the event's central
location, and the finish line, is tucked away in a
RF-hole at the back of the Caledonia State Park.
The event course covers an area usually of about
120 square miles, once you account for the
contestants' path, the driving routes to and from
the observation and check posts, and where 'lost'
participants may end up.  Take a look at the
'draped contour map' ( http://mcglothin.us/KB3MUNscrapbook/2013_MTeC/MTeC2013_DrapedContourMap.pdf ),
a shaded topo map, showing the area for this year's
course, and sigh with us.

Anyway, we sorted thru the event planner's
information, sketched out where the course would
be run, located the communications positions, and
then looked closely at the topo map again.  We
have historically run this event as a directed
voice net over 2m FM simplex; this means that we
need to identify a location or two for a net
control station.  We look carefully to determine
whether any positions will need to probably relay
to another location to get messages to and from the
net.  We look where repeater coverage might be,
too.

Then we plan an RF survey.  Three to four weeks
before the event is run, we spend a half day on a
Saturday testing the RF characteristics of the
communications locations to each other and
especially to the net control station location(s).
Based on this information, we decide if we will
need to run more than one NCS station, and where
they should be located. Sometimes, we will plan
for one or more subnets with liaison to the main
directed net.  Infrequently, we have shifted the
NCS location during the event.  We also plan for a
subnet using FRS radios in possession of the event
staff in the rafts and kayaks, and around the
lake.  The event staff manage this FRS subnet as
an ad hoc voice net, and at least one ham  station
is assigned the additional responsibility of being
liaison between that FRS subnet and the main event
net.

The day before the event, we are all checking our
batteries, packing out vehicles, and making sure
that we have more than enough 'stuff' packed to
communicate.  We also are responsible for our own
hydration and food requirements, even though the
event staff tries to get us some of their hot
food.  And we pack clothing for the weather--it
is, after all late fall in the mountains and in
the forest, and it may be raining/snowing. Last
year, by the way, was the first the event was
delayed due to snow--not because there was snow,
but because it was a heavy wet snow the eve of the
event and branches were still breaking off during
the night.

Then comes the day of the event.

Some of us like to breakfast together before such
events.  Those that have planned to do so meet up
with themselves somewhere that opens early.  Most
of us are at the park shortly after dawn for any
last-minutes activities such as erecting antennas,
setting up fixed stations, getting our position
assignments, reviewing one last time any new or
changed information about the course, and, when we
remember, getting a group photo.  You can see how
we distributed assignments in the 'communications
assignments' ( http://mcglothin.us/KB3MUNscrapbook/2013_MTeC/MTeC2103_Communications_Assignments.pdf );
you can see the course marked in orange in the
'course map' ( mcglothin.us/KB3MUNscrapbook/2013_MTeC/MTeC2013_CourseOnTopoMap.pdf ).

This year, the first challenge for the teams was
to find the location B and check in their bicycles
and required bike support gear.  This was to occur
between 6:45am and 7:45am.  After bike check-in,
the teams were to go to location G for team check-
in before 8:00am.  B and G are separated by about
8 miles of roadway.

At 9:00am, after a brief worship service sponsored
by the YMCA, the contesting teams are taken to the
event's starting line.  This year they were bussed
to location S; location S happened to coincide
with the net control station location (marked NCS1
on the map).  Promptly at 9:30am, the teams were
given a puzzle to figure out (intended to spread
out the teams so that all are not nipping at each
others heels). Once the puzzel was solved they
were to run to location A and then back to
location B to get their bikes.  This year, almost
all the teams, probably 'following the pack'
started in the wrong direction.

Oh, yeah.  We had chosen the location S to also be
the NCS location.  At 2,000 feet elevation, with a
clear shot to every communications post, this was
an ideal location--just so the park rangers did
not lock us in when the service road gates were
closed.  By that 9:30am time, event staff teams
with their ham communicators were to be setting up
at the first half-dozen assigned locations. The
ham at location A drove there, well mostly there,
and then hiked in (up?) to position carrying, in
his backpack, a mobile 2m rig, and antenna, and a
medium sized battery. Sure, location A could have
used an HT to reach the NCS, but that staff team
was to later wind up walking a (nearly non-
existent) trail to monitor contestant team's
biking progress thru that particularly rough area.

It has been said that no battle plan survives
contact with the enemy.  In our case, our plan
started to crumble an hour before the event
started. I was helping setup the NCS location, and
so was not at the 8:00am final staff meeting--at
this meeting the hams are attached to their staff
team. I must have goofed in reading the planner's
notes, because the staff team I thought I was to
hook up with acquired another ham and went to a
different location than I had planned--the rock-
climbing and repelling challenge.  Once the race
was underway, we two hams tried to trade positions
as I was a 2- man ham team, and thus we could form
a local relay between the net and the two widely
separated challenges.  Ever try to drive somewhere
thru the woods in a hurry?  I finally found the
challenge site after only a couple of wrong turns.
Then the ham I/we relieved took an additional
half-dozen wrong turns to get to his new assignment.

While we were working hard at not getting too lost,
the race was developing its own mess of corrupted
plans.  Later the event planner said it seemed
like 'building with jello'.  We were becoming
concerned that the staff team at location A would
not get there before the first of the race teams.
Well, A was staffed and on-air not any too soon.
Then we became even more concerned as the race
teams were not clearing the location A as soon as
planned.  By this time, the competitors were
starting to get strung along the course with
expected separations.  But two teams had not yet
found location A, and it was past time for the
staff at A to leap-frog to the next location
before the competitors reached that location.  Now
we were down to just one 'lost' team--who
eventually reached the A location.  That team
estimated they had ran an extra 10-12 miles.  So A
could leap-frog, but the other locations B, C, D,
E, and F needed to keep open for these last
several teams; so anchored, the latter checkpoints
and observation posts were remaining un-staffed.

Using a series of on-the-fly adjustments of the
event staff teams, and of creative reassignment of
the hams, we muddled thru, and did get each
position covered, often 'just in time'.

Meanwhile, at the lake, the water-based event
staff was putting the pontoon-bridge together
using the FRS subnet to add their communications.
A pair of hams scheduled to arrive at noon did so,
and then the FRS net joined the VHF net.

Several injuries kept the doctor and the nurse
busy; in addition, blisters, cramping, and mild
hypothermia were continuous concerns at every
observation post.

As we wound up the afternoon, the net control
station was moved to a high point (marked NCS 2 on
the map) with a commanding view of the northern
third of the course.  This allowed the NCS station
at S to close.  Three hams, in teams of 2) had
manned the checkpoint at S.  The NCS was kept
quite busy. Even though the NCS could reach each
of the other comms positions without difficulty,
most of the comms positions could not hear each
other.  Each communications post could often only
infer that NCS was not busy and so could receive
messages from that comms post.  Our net control
operators performed at their best, and as expected
handled the difficulties of managing the competing
demands on their attention quite well.  Of course,
our outpost hams also did an admirable job in
politely yielding and inferring when to stay 'shut
up'.

The priority messages were established to be
between the NCS and the mobile race director, and
the mobile doctor and nurse vehicles.  After that,
any emergency messages from the outposts were next
in the hierarchy--and there were a few messages at
this 'emergency' level as we were looking for the
several contestants 'lost' or injured throughout
the day.

The type of messages each outpost sent to the NCS
was the first and last team numbers to pass, and
the total counts of teams thru the checkpoint. At
quieter times on the net, almost all outputs also
reported the sequence of the contestant teams thru
the checkpoint.

As for the race, 34 teams had registered; 32
started; and 30 completed the course.  As for us
hams, all 18 of us thoroughly enjoyed providing
this absolutely necessary communications component
of this special event.  And we were even able to
have our stations broken down and to leave the
park before dark.

We hams in Franklin County use this MTeC event as
our alternate SET activity.  To us, this provides
the most rigorous exercise available of real-time
communications over a vast but local region, with
a very fluid and continually changing event
scenario.  MTeC requires us to exercise our
radios, our emergency power supplies, our
ingenuity, and especially our operating skills in
situations where one has incomplete information
about the surrounding event.  As we share the NCS
responsibility from year to year, we have a broad
pool of net control capable hams who also know
what it is like to be a net participant in a very
realistic emcomm scenario.

A footnote:  We were hoping to use an adaptation
of APRStt to use the DTMF keypads on our rigs at
some of the checkpoints to report contest teams
thru a check-point.  We had tried a rudimentary
variation of APRStt a couple of months earlier at
a bike tour event in the county. As a result of
that trial, and with conversation with Bruninga
WB4APR and several of the manufacturers of APRS
hardware and map viewers, a streamlined version of
APRStt for use in events like this MTeC was
described.  Unfortunately, we were not able to get
firmware programming for the APRStt hardware
completed and tested in time for this event.  We
will continue to push for inclusion of APRStt in
events such as this as the hardware and software
are further developed and improved.

The following 18 amateur radio operators
participated in providing the communications for
this year's MTeC event:

   N3QBI   Darrell Lingenfield
   KB3EHT  Mike Rider
   K3LN    Ellen Engle
   WA3USG  Dick Goodman
   N3ECF   Sandy Goodman
   KB3PCA  Dave Dice
   KR3EE   Rich Reese
   KB3MUN  Daniel McGlothin
   KB3YSU  Ken Brown
   KB3TQO  Chris Brushie
   KB3QJA  Mike Glover
   K3ZIV   Bill Beyrer
   KB3WOX  Anthony Ogburn
   KB3GBF  Gerry Rosenberry
   N3LTQ   Milt Engle
   W3PDW   Brian Umbrell
   W3EAI   Dave Olson
   W3KO    Patti Olson


For information about the MTeC event, you can take
a look at these web sites:

YMCA:
  http://www.chbgy.org/Races/mtec.cfm/

MTeC home page:
  http://www.mtecrace.com/

MTeC Facebook page:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3KZgGHn1GU

MTeC 2013 Captains Meeting (video):
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3KZgGHn1GU

Cumberland Valley Amateur Radio Club photo gallery
including prior MTeC photos:
  http://w3ach.org/photo_gallery/default.html

APRStt:
  http://www.aprs.org/aprstt.html
  http://www.aprs.org/aprstt/aprstt-coding25.txt

----------8<----------8<----------8<----------

73 de Daniel KB3MUN

D. Daniel McGlothin KB3MUN, ARRL OES & TS
Franklin County ARES Emergency Coordinator
Franklin County RACES / ACS Officer
Fulton County (acting) ARES Emergency Coordinator
Fulton County (acting) RACES / ACS Officer
(717) 377-2337 cell
(717) 762-4044 work
kb3...@mcglothin.us