Hams from the Fremont, CA area have been following the Fremont Police Department, and other local teams, to the desert for 9 years now. We have used APRS technology for 4 years, and we have brought a portable repeater system with us for two years now. In the midst of this support, we have developed wiring standards that help us easily integrate a wide variety of borrowed equipment, as well as helping commercial equipment makers develop and test new features, and we have been teaching a wide range of technical and operational techniques to hundreds of Hams in our region.
The equipment we use is designed to be modular. Each of the subassemblies (portable repeaters, trackers, etc.) can operate individually, or can be joined and configured to provide more capacity over a larger service area. Many of our volunteers are also involved with ARES and RACES groups, so the training and equipment can be used in their home groups.
Putting together the voice and data networks that supported our operations last year took more than 25 people that were dedicated to the operation of the voice and data networks. These people were the technical staff who built and tested the equipment before the event, who performed the installation and removal of the network equipment and the mobile voice/APRS packages. They were also the Net Control Stations, they were the staff at the field repeater sites, and the operators who managed to display our APRS data on the Internet (via JavAPRS Gateway) for other folks to watch, and they were the logistics and operations staff who help pull all of our efforts in the same direction and get our supplies to the right places at the right time.
The Core Group is separate from the volunteers who supported team-specific positions, such as the Van Operators, and Team Coordinators. The size of the Core Group needs to be fairly large to support one team. But, as we support more teams, the size of this group doesn't need to get much bigger. We need to add folks to handle the installation and removal of the extra vehicle radios, and possibly extra Net Control operators. The only practical limits to the number of teams we can support is based on the technology of the data network, and congestion of the voice nets.
The Core Group is recruiting volunteers, just like each of the running teams that wish to be supported. Many of the technical positions are needed well in advance of the event, for; building and testing equipment, and testing various configurations around the S. F. Bay Area; for building cables and wiring harnesses for our supported teams; for creating web-based documentation, and putting on the technical training for the various positions. Our "Advance Team" requires their volunteers to be in Las Vegas a few days before the event, to put equipment together and set the network up before the event, and take it all down again after the event. If you would like to volunteer for the Core Group, please sign up on the Volunteers Page, or you can send any question you may have by sending email to staffing@baker2vegas.org and we'll get answers back to you.
There are separate pages for each of the other groups that have committed running teams and have requested our help.
Make sure to make your room plans early, as there are ALWAYS other events during the week before and after B2V which tie up all of the local hotel rooms! Try to share a room with other team members if possible, since this lowers the cost of the trip for everyone who shares. (If you want to share a room, or are willing to share your room with someone else, you can note this on the volunteer form as well.)
We have reservations for a block of rooms at Circus-Circus again this year. You can call the hotel at 1-800-444-CIRCUS. (If you want to use the group reservation, please send email to staffing@baker2vegas.org or request the information when you fill out the the volunteer form.
(There will also be some team coordinator and group supervisor positions, which will be assigned to volunteers who are actively taking parts in the planning and testing portions of our preparation.)
There will be plenty to do, to help support our efforts.
This will also be a great opportunity for some hams to broaden their skills,
and to learn what goes into planning a large scale event. Even if you will be
supporting a different team during the race, you can also sign up for these
jobs
APRS Gateway Team
will develop plans for sending data from the race back to the Bay Area for display
at our served agencies. This will include both the the originating gateway with
us in the desert. The Orange County folks may also be interested in participating.
Data Network Stress Tests here in the S.F. Bay Area will help us refine the settings that we will depend upon during the race. You should have a mobile APRS tracker available for these tests, or (at a minimum) a fixed-location APRS station that can perform messaging and capture log files.
Cable and Harness Building Efforts may be needed by volunteers for other teams. (Believe it or not, there are some hams who own good equipment, but don't know which end of a soldering iron to hammer with!) Since all the mobile APRS trackers we will use must comply with both our wiring standard and packaging standard, we expect that there will be some folks willing to pay for the parts, but needing someone else to put them together for them. You must have good assembly skills to do this work, since you will be using someone else's parts and equipment!
And, because this wiring standard has made packet deployment fast and easy, we occasionally get requests from Hams who want to have interconnect cables made for their radios and TNCs for ARES/RACES use.
APRS Configuration and Documentation Team will work with a variety of GPS receivers and TNC's, in an effort to identify the settings needed for APRS for the race, and the TNC settings for GPS modes, and the settings of the GPS units to send the proper information...and then document these settings, and the procedures to set them, so that other people can work from those directions. (This was a major weakness last year, and we need to make sure we have this completed before the end of January!)
Voice Systems Testing Team is a perfect opportunity for Bay Area Radio Fanatics members to get familiar with the set-up and tear down of the portable repeater equipment. Practice and testing with the equipment will make sure that parts are working, properly labeled, and stored together. For information on B.A.R.F., email Paul Carlin, KE6NVU ke6nvu at attbi.com. (Hopefully, members of this group will also be able to come to the desert and set it all up again!)
Team Pages: [Fremont PD] [Alameda County S.O.]
[Roseville PD] [Union City PD]
Other Links: [Wiring Overview]
[Tracker Packaging]
[Equipment Donations]
Email the Staffing
team, fill out a Volunteer
Form, visit the Photo Gallery
or the Headquarters Page