Broadcast - 27 Nov 2022
As promised last broadcast, we have an updated report from Roger VK7ARN, on last weekend’s Safety Communications Crews “Horsing about”, so over to Roger for some words.
“The 160km endurance ride, the “100 Miler” is a feature of major endurance events, especially the annual nationally run “Tom Quilty Gold Cup” and of the various State Championships. The Tasmanian championships were held at Scottsdale on the 18th to 20th November. There were three events – 160km starting at midnight on Friday night, the 95km starting at 05:30 and a 55km at 08:30.
NTARC provided safety communications and rider tracking with a base at Santarena Park, Jetsonville, between Scottsdale and Bridport. Two checkpoints, at Rodeo Road crossroads and Rex’s Race, provided on track monitoring and the ability to report progress.
A relatively large crew was needed given the 24 hour time span of the 160km ride and the number of passes through each checkpoint. In Rodeo Road’s case, the total number of horse and rider passes recorded was around 340 over almost the full 24 hours. Rex’s Race was relatively short lived with only 124 passes over about 12 hours. Most of the Rex’s Race crew dispersed to other duties when they became free.
The NTARC crew were VK7s ZAB, ZSB, KPC, RC, ZTT and ARN. From the South were WICEN’s VK7s TW and VWK plus Richard, son of ARN.
Last minute apologies were received from VK7RI, who was struck down with a positive COVID test, and from VK7ES who grabbed a surgery opportunity arisen due to a late cancellation.
The being continually improved NTARC RFID System, now widely known of due to its exposure at the recent Tasmanian Expo, was successfully deployed. This left checkpoint operators minimally inconvenienced with radio operation and better able to focus on system monitoring via the local built in system Wi-Fi. Rider numbers and times of passing were noted manually in case of a rare glitch in the system. This left time to be generally sociable with riders (and occasionally horses).
NTARC member Peter SP, who is in Switzerland, occasionally phoned in and took over control of the main computer to check on the system during the event. We did have an issue when loading the rider list for the 55km event as the system flagged there was a duplicate RFID card. It turned out the card from a rider in the 160km event that was vetted out had been re-issued to the late entry in the 55km event. Thanks Peter.
The weather storm continued through much of the night but had cleared to a fine day on Sunday morning to enable a pleasant pack up and the presentation of awards to the horses and riders so deserving. The drives home were unremarkable (or not reported as otherwise), if in some cases long, due to enroute visitations, distance, and Midland Highway roadworks.
Reports from the client organisation were, once again, of a high degree of satisfaction with the services rendered. As usual, NTARC set up dual monitors in the public area to display the rider’s progress through the three events. Andre’ noticed no one had used them for the first couple of hours. Having a look at the Webserver for the public Wi-Fi revealed the secret. All the strappers were sensible and using their phones to display the pages! Advertising of the service and instructions in its use had obviously paid off.”
Thank you Roger for the update, I know I was expecting this update, but I still get excited when people actually send items in to be included in the broadcast.
I can only reiterate NTARCs thanks to Justin, Randal and Richard for the assistance provided and the considerable time involved in traveling from Hobart and Huonville especially at the moment while the Midlands Highway is still undergoing an upgrade.
As this is the last Equine event for the year it seems a logical time to thank Roger for his contribution in his role as Safety Communications Coordinator, he takes event preparations very seriously and produces a veritable dossier of meticulously prepared information covering the various aspects of a multiple ride course, including maps and RF path propagation calculations. Trust me, without this you wouldn’t even be able to find some of the Check Point locations, let alone know when to expect riders and from which direction! It all comes together and helps make an enjoyable event and a social occasion to get together with the knowledge you are also helping the community by providing safety communications.
A more detailed account of the event including photos is available on the NTARC web site under “Blogs”.
End of Year Celebration This year’s event will be on Tuesday the 13th of December. To be held at the family friendly Mowbray Hotel. Those who wish to attend please register the number of places required to the Secretary or on the registration sheet soon to be provided at the club rooms. Registration is imperative as there will not be the ability to cater for “Late Walk-ins” on the night. It will be at 6pm for a 6:30 meal.
It’s that time of the year again - All club members will soon receive e-mailed instructions on renewing your membership for 2023, which scarily is just around the corner!
UPCOMING EVENTS
Club Technical night - Wednesday 30th November. Held at the NTARC Club rooms, 7.30pm until late.
TestNet and TechNet – Wednesday 7th December. TestNet/CW course on 3.580MHz from 7pm till 7.30pm….and a TechNet on 3.567MHz from 7.30pm till about 8.30pm. Your host for the evening will be Nic VK7WW.
Coffee Morning - held every Friday in the NTARC Club rooms. Get warm while you catch up, time is from 10am to noon and we look forward to seeing you all there. We currently have a couple of QSL cards awaiting collection, so why not pop in, check the QSL box and join us for a cuppa and chat.
End of Year Celebration - will be held on Tuesday the 13th of December at the Mowbray Hotel.
FINALLY - A reminder to all members that if you have any items of news you would like added to our weekly roundup, no matter how trivial, then please email them to the Secretary at the following address news@ntarc.net all items to be received no later than 5pm on the Friday prior to the Broadcast.
That’s all folks,
73 from Stefan, VK7ZSB, Secretary NTARC.
