TARA Communication Exercise - America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride June 1st, 2008
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TARA Contact: Dick, KD7JMR
Date: June 1st, 2008 (Sunday)   Start time: 6am  
StartLocation: Horizion Casino and Hotel
Appx Finish time, 5:30pm
as of May 31, 2008


Assignment location/info Open Time Close Time Assignees
Comm Van BASE Horizon 05:00 17:30 ++ see below for van assignments
Hwy 89 Road Closure* Hwy 89* 06:00 08:30 Ken - K7KBA (split duty with SAG1)
rest stop* Vikingsholm parking lot 89 Emerald Bay 06:00 09:30 Tony - KB7NV
rest stop* Homewood Resort Parking lot 06:00 11:00 OPEN - changes pending!
Check point* Tahoe City 08:00 14:30 Paul-KI6OCB & John-KI6NIC - changes pending!
Lunch Stop Kings Beach 08:15 14:30 Daryl- KE7HXD & Robert - KI6CPW
rest stop Truckee ** see Comm Frequencies below   08:00 12:30 Will - KD7NIR & Phyllis - KD7OKI
rest stop Hwy28 USFS Parking lot (skunk harbor) 09:15 14:30 Herb - AA7MR
rest stop Spooner Summit 09:30 16:30 Dale - KV7S
Course Roamers / Shadows   Event course 06:30 17:30 SEE SAG assignments below

*PLEASE NOTE:
Hwy 89 - closes 6:00am - 9:00am
If your location time is between this closure window, you'll need to be past the road closure point to get to your loacation on the West Shore on time !!
(or take the LONG WAY around the East Shore!)
All communications...
should be made through NCS.
The TARA Communications Van (NCS) will be located at the West end of the Horizon casino parking lot.
There will be times when direct communication
between stations will process information in a more expeditious manner.
In those cases, please request prior authorization from NCS for the direct contact.

Use of your tactical callsign is legal when you first begin your transmissions.
As in: "NCS this is truckee"
Please remember to provide you legal FCC ID when you finish your traffic and you don't expect to transmit again in the next 10 minute time window.
If you are not sure when you might transmit again, go ahead and sign with your FCC and tactical callsigns at the end of your traffic.

The 146.850 is the "Project 73" mobile repeater.
Battery power will be initiated....meaning we will be on battery power from Saturday afternoon through the entire ride on Sunday.
Be alert to any loss of communications (partial or otherwise) and prepare to switch to the TARA repeater.
WA6EWV has a repeater at Heavenly, also on 146.850. That unit will be switched off prior to Sunday's ride,
giving us a really clear frequency for our use.

The 3300 registered bikers...
will (should) have: The ride coordinator (Curtis Fong)
has great need for us to communicate a flow of information to him.
This allows him to adjust his scheduling and position his SAG (Supplies and Gear) vehicles to
be of greatest benefit. NCS will be regularly requesting flow information but site communicators
are asked to initiate any information considered of value. If you think it's of value,
it probably is - pass it on. There will be some 3300 bikers out there and this is one of the
first rides of the season - meaning many of them aren't as well conditioned as they think.
There may be as many as 300 un-registered bikers in the procession.

In reporting incidents
please make every effort to have the biker's number available.
This is one of the earlier rides, so bikers may not be in the quality shape they'd like,
meaning there may be some mishaps due to exhaustion, improper bike handling, etc.
If it comes time to report a condition of a rider, get as much information as you can
- bib #, name, sex, age, extent of the problem, etc. This allows the ride director to
determine a course of action.
There are motorcycle SAGs and Vehicle SAGs on the course - work with them !

As riders arrive at your station, attempt to get the first couple numbers and pass to NCS.
Do the same for the last couple leaving your place. In between, no need to report except
for the ebb and flow.

Every participant has a bib number, colored wrist band and helmet sticker.
There'll be some folks decided to just saddle up to the group, even though not registered.
There is no obligation for the sponsors to look after these interlopers.
But we do - it's the proper thing! So pass information on these folks in case of difficulty too.

LUNCHES
Every year we make an effort to get lunches to everybody.
Every year we fail a little or a lot. Best practice is to bring your own food and drink.

SITE BREAKDOWNS
The site crews aren't supposed to close shop until approved by the ride director.
In fact, he says they can't break things down until he says so and, furthermore,
even when they have approval, they shouldn't depart the premises until he says so.
So let NCS know if you see something awry.

Treat this as an exercise in preparation for true Emergency Communications.
Keep a log - ICS form 309 works well for most of us.
Be professional - the folks at the next station are listening to you to determine how they can do better.

POOL PARTY & DINNER !
If you like "pool parties" (a pasta feed) the ride director
has one going at Horizon about noon until 1600. We're all invited.

It's a day of great fun. Enjoy!

Comm Frequencies: ++ COMM VAN ASSIGNMENTS: Support And Gear Assignments:
SAG Wagon Communicators are requested to join their drivers at the Horizon and be dispatched in sequence as directed by the ride coordinator.
Please email questions to Dick, KD7JMR
Click above for ride map
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