The 2009 Race Dates are March 14-15, 2009

The new "Official" Baker to Vegas (LAPRAAC) web site is
http://www.BakerVegas.com

Current Race Rule Book

This page is presented by the San Francisco Bay Area B2V Ham Radio Team. We work with Team Fremont (Fremont P.D.), and other teams from the San Francisco Bay Area, to provide tactical and support communications for the teams which we support during the Challenge Cup Relay. This event is, hands down, the best training exercise we can participate in each year, with many of our volunteers returning year after year, so the newcomers always have experienced folks to work with. (And there is the matter of pride, from helping a team who regularly finishes at the top of their category!)

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Our Picture Gallery is finally online!
 [B2V Trackers] [Job Descriptions ]

This page is meant to be a roadmap, providing links to related information on this site, as well as other sites. Please browse the whole page before jumping to the other links. If you have a URL that you'd like to see added, please email logistics at baker2vegas.org and tell us about it.

What is 'Baker to Vegas'?

For the uninitiated, the phrase 'Baker to Vegas' (B2V) refers to the Challenge Cup Relay; A 120-mile, 20-stage, foot, relay race, which starts in Baker, California (gateway to Death Valley), through the California desert, over the mountains, to Las Vegas, Nevada. The teams are restricted to Law Enforcement teams (Police and Sheriff departments, judges, bailiffs, and other agencies and service teams). All of the teams are responsible for providing their own logistics and support efforts, including communications.

In 2002, our group of Ham Radio Operators, and other volunteers from the San Francisco Bay Area supported the Fremont PD. In past years we've supported the Roseville P.D., the Alameda County Sheriffs Office, and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Temple Station. (We've been supporting Team Fremont for over a decade, and we support other teams in Northern California by helping these agencies develop/improve a working relationship with their local Ham Radio communities. We help train their Hams, and their Hams become their direct logistics/communication support team.)

 In 2006, Fremont P.D. finished second in their division (the 300 division) and 31st over all with a run time of 15:32:42. We also supported 3 new teams:

·        CHP Hayward in their first participation ever (15th  in their division (mixed) and 198th overall. Run time was 19:31:29).

·        Tulare County SO (13th  in their division (1000) and 192nd over all. Run time was 19:15:42)

·        Sonoma County SO (34th  in the Inv Class and 190th over all. Run time was 19:14:22)

If you are interested in having our support for your team in 2007, please email logistics at baker2vegas.org with your information or request, and I'll forward it to our group for discussion at our next meeting.

We have created a guide  for building a B2V tracker which we hope you find useful.

You can read the original Ham Support for the 1995 Baker-to-Vegas Challenge Cup, a chronicle that was submitted to QST magazine. The article that appeared in print (April 1996) was a slightly shorter version.

Our Picture Gallery has some pictures of some of the technical work, as well as some cleaner images of the new technology we are using this year for vehicle tracking. Pictures are a bit dated. The image section is under construction (Dec ’03).

Here are a few other URLs you may find useful

These URLs are for the areas that we live in

Support teams for other agencies

The County of Orange RACES web pages for the 2000 Challenge Cup Relay race support are available at www.ocraces.org/b2v. The primary contact for their group is Capt. Ken Bourne (W6HK), Chief RACES Radio Officer for Orange County, and you can email Ken Bourne (kbourne at earthlink.net). The past contact, Ken Mirabella (KM6YH) is also reachable by email as kjm at flo-bin.com.


Our Team Pages: [Fremont PD]
Other Links: [Tracker Packaging] [Equipment Donations]
fill out a Volunteer Form, visit the Photo Gallery