HAM Public Service

[blindfire]

I was on the tech chat last night on the MMRA network and was talking to KB1OQA about what is involved in working the Boston Marathon or even the Ashland Half Marathon.

I had many questions that I didn't want to ask as it would derail the net.

1. I don't drive, but could get down to one of these events...is that a deal killer if I can't drive?
2. My understanding for the Boston Marathon is that they use the MMRA repeaters. Are the repeaters linked or do they use separate repeaters for different functions?
3. How long of a day do you typically work on the marathon?
4. Do they feed you or do you have to bring a lunch?
5. The topic of transportation buses was brought up and that they have Hams working on each bus to coordinate movement. Are you expected to bring a mag mount in that case or do you just get off the bus to make your call? (Silly question perhaps).
6. How much actual transmitting do you typically do? I know this depends on what job they give you, but was thinking about battery use.

That's all the questions I could think of at the time, but depending on answers, I could have more

 

[cockpitbob]

Hi Blindfire. I've worked the Marathon the last 2 years and I'm doing it again. It is such a big, highly organized event that they quit accepting Hams a few weeks ago so they could have a stable pool to organize. So, next year...

1) You'll need to get yourself to 2 places the day of the race. First, the hams meet at Wellesley (I think) to get their credentials, free jacket and final briefing. Then you go to your assigned location. How you get to those places is up to you, but you have to be 100% sure you'll get there.

2) The repeater network they use and how it is organized is astonishing. They use about a dozen repeaters including some temporary ones. They have separate repeaters for transportation, medical, along the course, starting line area, finish line area,... It's really an amazingly complex but well run system.

3) The length of the day depends. My first year I was at a first aid station at mile-21. Being that late in the course we stayed open pretty late: 5:30 I think. Since I was at the station at about 7:30am it was a pretty long day. Bring a chair. Last year I was at a water station at mile-7. We closed that down pretty early so it wasn't a long day.

4) Bring your own food and drink, though there may be stuff available for you. It depends on your assignment (first aid, water station, riding around on a bus, working a parking lot, shadowing some important race official, etc.

5) You need to bring your own antenna for a bus assignment. The problem is some busses are small and have fiberglass roofs. One guy from the Cape Ann club had to go to Home Depot and cobble together a big suction cup arrangement. I don't know how he found out far enough ahead of time. I suppose if the roof isn't metal a good HT antenna may do the job, but I wouldn't count on it.

6) Every assignment is different, but you will do very little transmitting. The main job is maintaining a strict listening watch and keeping the race people you are assigned to informed of what's going on. I've been told to watch for race #12345 because they were puking at the last water station but refused help. Or, if they are closing water stations 3 miles before you, your water station people will want to know so they plan their inventory of full cups.

It's a really amazing experience. And 4 years ago the Hams proved their worth. When the bombs went off the cell towers immediately overloaded and nothing got through, but with the Hams, communications kept going. One guy who was there wrote in his story that it was pretty amazing to get the call "stop all runners on the course". Many didn't stop until they got told a 2nd time a mile further down. Then they had about 20,000 skinny, nearly naked people do deal with on a cool day in April.

 

[ghettomedic]

See my in-line answers in red below.
I would definitely encourage you to participate if you can, I love doing events. I have worked several in various capacities.

I was on the tech chat last night on the MMRA network and was talking to KB1OQA about what is involved in working the Boston Marathon or even the Ashland Half Marathon.

I had many questions that I didn't want to ask as it would derail the net.

1. I don't drive, but could get down to one of these events...is that a deal killer if I can't drive?
Depends on your assignment. Most events require you to meet before and after at a specific location for briefing and then travel to your assignment.

2. My understanding for the Boston Marathon is that they use the MMRA repeaters. Are the repeaters linked or do they use separate repeaters for different functions?
As previously stated the Boston Marathon is extremely well planned and uses many repeaters. Some linked, some stand alone. Most other events have a primary & backup repeater or use different ones at different locations if the event is spread out. As for the upcoming Ashland 1/2 marathon we are using 3 of the MMRA repeaters that will be linked so you can use whichever you can reach / hear the best.

3. How long of a day do you typically work on the marathon?
Again, depends on the assignment. I worked on one of the buses last year and I had to report to the bus company at 6 am and didn't get back there until 6 pm

4. Do they feed you or do you have to bring a lunch?
Some events will provide with a bag lunch but I always bring my own food just in case.

5. The topic of transportation buses was brought up and that they have Hams working on each bus to coordinate movement. Are you expected to bring a mag mount in that case or do you just get off the bus to make your call? (Silly question perhaps).
If on a bus you will want an external antenna, preferably a mobile radio with more power. The loop buses are constantly moving and most transmissions happen while on the road so you can't just step out. Almost all the vans they used last year had metal roofs and they all had metal hoods. The committee that was assembled last year spend a lot of time working with the bus company to make sure we got as many acceptable vans as we could

6. How much actual transmitting do you typically do? I know this depends on what job they give you, but was thinking about battery use.
Again, all depends on the assignment. I would suggest at a minimum have one extra battery, two extras would be best.

That's all the questions I could think of at the time, but depending on answers, I could have more

 

[blindfire]

I went to the MARA meeting last night and found out that they are helping out with the Townsend Canoe Race sponsored by the Lion's Club. They provide HAMs that are placed up and down the river with a spotter to help keep track of the racers.

I'm DEFINITELY volunteering for this one. Being legally blind, I've been helped by the Lion's Club growing up. So, this public service will be a 2fer for me.

 

[chaser001]

Actually - I got an email last night saying that the BAA has opened up the registration for HAMs, apparently there are a lot of shortages in different areas.

This year will be my 3rd year working the start line.
1. You have to be in Hopkinton by 5AM. No driving involved once you're in Hopkinton.
2. At start it's mostly simplex, but we use a repeater for anything that needs to go town wide
3. 5am meeting to get credentials and jacket, usually we're done between noon and 1
4. last year they had sandwiches for us when we were done at 1, the year before that nothing. with the new restrictions at start I would bring some money to buy food, since you can't bring any, but they will likely provide food again.
5. doesn't apply at start, we're on our feet all day. last year my pedometer said I walked over 10 miles, I never left Hopkinton state park.
6. my first year I was on the radio a ton calling for buses, short transmissions. last year I mostly kept a listening watch as the bus company had their own dispatchers. both times my 1st batter was still more than 1/2 full at the end of the day, I did have a spare battery and a spare radio, both stayed in my bag the whole time.

 

[chaser001]

Another fun service event is the Alzheimer's ride - they have hams ride in the sag wagons as co-drivers basically you're looking at a map and calling net-control to tell them where your car is. if you find someone who breakdown or has a spill you pick them up and drive to a rest area and report that too. pretty fun day they have a 100 mile, 62 mile, and a couple other bike rides (but I don't remember the distance).

last year we had a lot of rain 1-2 days before the ride so a lot of gravel got swept into the streets and I ended up driving in front of the lead riders calling out locations that needed someone to show up with a broom so we didn't have riders crashing.

 

[Matt80]

A main reason for the shortage is the fact that several of the top long-time(20+ years) ham organizers are no longer involved with the comms logistics. The BAA is now planning the event, and a lot of comms are going to commercial or non-ham radio services. Last year's event was not well run from what i hear, and MANY volunteers have said they will not be back due to the poor experience. It's a shame, it was a wonderful event to be a part of.

A personal story:
I did several Boston Marathons in the 90s, then took a hiatus from Ham activities. My return to Boston was in 2013. My role that day was to shadow the lead medical guy at the finish. It was a fairly quiet day radio-wise but was still exciting being right at the finish. High fiving, getting hugs from runners thanking you for volunteering. Seeing the winners cross the line in person. Very cool.

I was standing a few feet from the Finish Line when the first bomb went off, and was the closest ham. Several of us stood there for several long seconds in shock, and then someone started yelling over the Finish Line net "explosions on the racecourse, explosions on the racecourse." Pandemonium then ensued. I can't begin to describe the horrors that I saw that day. Jeff Bauman was wheeled within feet of me, with Carlos Arredondo running next to him. Another frightening thing - my wife and father were also working the event as hams at the finish. From the echoes, it sounded like several other devices had gone off. It was a nerve-wracking hour till i was able to link up with them.

I returned for the 2014 event. I had the same assignment as 2013. It was an amazing experience, and brought a sense of closure to what had happened the previous year. I really hope that they fix their logistics issues so that people will volunteer in the future.

-Bring snacks and water.
-Extra batteries and radio if you can swing it. As far as radios, the Wouxon UV3D's perform great at the Finish, which is a VERY intermod-heavy location.
-Headsets or headphones are a must. DISABLE VOX!! We used earbuds plugged into a speaker mic(which disabled the speaker function)
-Wear good shoes. I was on my feet for at least 12 hours.
- 2013 i had a backpack. 2014 that wasnt going to happen. I was able to cram what i needed in a fanny pack and just had to carry a water bottle.

-Matt

 

[cockpitbob]

...my wife and father were also working the event as hams at the finish.

- 2013 i had a backpack. 2014 that wasnt going to happen. I was able to cram what i needed in a fanny pack and just had to carry a water bottle.

-Matt

Very cool that you, your wife and dad are all hams! Doesn't really matter what hobby it is. It's that all 3 of you are involved in the same one.

2014 (year after the bombs) was my first year working the marathon. Nobody was clear on if we hams could have a backpack or would have to only carry what gear would fit in our pockets. So, I got this clear backpack. It turned out to not be necessary, at least for me, but it reduces the chances that some power tripping security guy will give me a problem. It actually works quite well unless it's really cold out, then it gets stiff.

 

[Matt80]

Very cool that you, your wife and dad are all hams! Doesn't really matter what hobby it is. It's that all 3 of you are involved in the same one.

2014 (year after the bombs) was my first year working the marathon. Nobody was clear on if we hams could have a backpack or would have to only carry what gear would fit in our pockets. So, I got this clear backpack. It turned out to not be necessary, at least for me, but it reduces the chances that some power tripping security guy will give me a problem. It actually works quite well unless it's really cold out, then it gets stiff.

My uncle on my mother's side got us into ham radio, i was first licensed in 1993. Another uncle and cousin on my father's side saw the fun stuff we were doing and got their licenses too. We had fun with packet and ham TV (ATV) back when it was cool. My wife got her ticket when i got back into the hobby and started contesting. Having a YL is a great tool for busting pile-ups!

Yeah we had ordered clear backpacks too, but due to late delivery issues we ended up getting the fanny packs just in case. Worked out good for me, i did alot of walking and the fanny pack forced me to pack light.

-Matt

 

[Evtide]

This came in today's mail:

 

[Matt80]

Wow they don't give you much time to register by (monday). They must be really hurting, usually they have enough volunteers a couple months in advance.

 

[cockpitbob]

Interesting.
I got my assignment. I'll be on the course (as opposed to transportation, starting line, etc). Tomorrow I leave the house at 6:30am to drive to Framingham where they have a 4 hr training session. I think it's just for the first aid people and people covering the course. Not required but should be interesting. I'll see if I can get a read on the mood of the ham community involved in the Marathon.

 

[ghettomedic]

Interesting.
I got my assignment. I'll be on the course (as opposed to transportation, starting line, etc). Tomorrow I leave the house at 6:30am to drive to Framingham where they have a 4 hr training session. I think it's just for the first aid people and people covering the course. Not required but should be interesting. I'll see if I can get a read on the mood of the ham community involved in the Marathon.

The first half is general info aimed at medical but good info. The second half Communications go elsewhere and do a comms briefing/training and the medical folks do more in depth medical training. I am already committed elsewhere so I won't be able to attend but I went to it last year and will be meeting up with one of the head Hams at an event next weekend.

 

[cockpitbob]

I'm sitting in the auditorium at Keefe Tech in Framingham waiting for the Marathon med. & comms training to start. The third thing on the agenda is Course Disruption- How to Respond to an Active Shooter. I'm mentally conditioning myself to not groan or roll my eyes. Should be interesting, though I doubt enlightening.

 

[ghettomedic]

I'm sitting in the auditorium at Keefe Tech in Framingham waiting for the Marathon med. & comms training to start. The third thing on the agenda is Course Disruption- How to Respond to an Active Shooter. I'm mentally conditioning myself to not groan or roll my eyes. Should be interesting, though I doubt enlightening.

If they use the same material as last year it isn't anything to do with actually dealing with / avoiding the threat, just what to do with the runners once they are pulled from the course.

Sent from my SPH-P500 using Tapatalk

 

[cockpitbob]

If they use the same material as last year it isn't anything to do with actually dealing with / avoiding the threat, just what to do with the runners once they are pulled from the course.

Sent from my SPH-P500 using Tapatalk

Actually, it was all about what WE do during an active shooter, bomb, etc. To my surprise it was really well done, AND he never once said "shelter in place". I'll summarize it later when I have time.

 

[blindfire]

I'm sitting in the auditorium at Keefe Tech in Framingham waiting for the Marathon med. & comms training to start. The third thing on the agenda is Course Disruption- How to Respond to an Active Shooter. I'm mentally conditioning myself to not groan or roll my eyes. Should be interesting, though I doubt enlightening.

If the information on active shooters doesn't include doing some sort of tactical roll, I call BS!

 

[cockpitbob]

Srgt. Ridlon of Mass Special Tactical Operations Team (S.T.O.P.) {SWAT equivalent, it seems} gave a very good 1hr presentation on active shooter situations. I was very pleasantly surprised. My main take-aways are:

* Active shooter situations are over in 10-15 minutes.
* The shooters usually end it themselves within minutes of help showing up, or at the first real resistance they encounter.
* Time is your friend. Use/create a buffer zone, relocate, escape, or do anything to delay encountering the BG.


Strategies changed after the Columbine shooting. When the killing started, the cops on scene secured the perimeter and waited for SWAT (S.O.P. back then). But, all killing was over in 16 minutes. SWAT showed up about 30 minutes after the killing started. The 2 boys killed themselves about 3 minutes after SWAT showed up. This is how the majority of active shooter situations play out.

After Columbine, the S.O.P. changed to whoever is there when it starts to engage right away. It will all be over by the time SWAT arrives.

One other take-away I got regard a bomb scenario like 3 years ago. When a bomb goes off, don't everyone rush in to help the victims. At most, the minimum medical crew needed to deal with the number of injured should go in.
* If the BG knows what he's doing, there will be a 2nd bomb to take out the first responders.
* If everyone is there helping and a 2nd bomb goes off, there's no one left to help them.
* If everyone goes in to help, you have a crowd of people standing around getting in the way and adding confusion. This is what happend 3 years ago.
* The first cops on scene are NOT going to touch the wounded. Their job is to make the area safe (get the BG, find the other bomb, etc.)

He never addressed the possibility of us being armed, but he spent a lot of time putting responsibility for decisions and actions on us. A couple times he sort of implied that going on the attack was our decision. He explicitly stated that we are responsible for our safety, not the cops.


Edit: the presenter had a good sense of humor, but didn't mention tactical rolls.

 

[Realtor MA]

It had kind of slipped my mind. Like it always seems to. Now I'm half thinking about volunteering. I'm assuming I'll need a backup radio and a few batteries.
Are ham/communications volunteers able to carry a sidearm? Concealed of course.

 

[blindfire]

It had kind of slipped my mind. Like it always seems to. Now I'm half thinking about volunteering. I'm assuming I'll need a backup radio and a few batteries.
Are ham/communications volunteers able to carry a sidearm? Concealed of course.

Concealed means concealed and if you have a LTC-A unrestricted, you'll be on public property, so do the math.

 

[cockpitbob]

NOT TOO LATE TO VOLUNTEER AT THE MARATHON

Today I learned that they don't have a full compliment of Hams for the Boston Marathon and are still accepting volunteers. Go to www.hamradioboston.org to sign up. Don't delay.

If you're not sure what it's about, here's an article that paints a fairly good, though overly detailed, picture.

 

[cockpitbob]

Concealed means concealed and if you have a LTC-A unrestricted, you'll be on public property, so do the math.

You are pretty likely go get checked. Also, the last 2 years, from wherever I was standing I could see multiple police or military people. If anything bad went down, my life would have to be in danger before I would consider drawing. I'd be too afraid of being mistaken for a BG.

 

[Realtor MA]

Concealed means concealed and if you have a LTC-A unrestricted, you'll be on public property, so do the math.

I realize that but if I'm carrying radio gear, bags etc they may want to have a look. I could then refuse to be searched, or advise them that I'm armed. In either case if I"m going to be sent on my way I would probably have to walk home. Alternatively I could go without a sidearm but I'm not going to do that.

 

[Matt80]

Have they sent out a comms plan yet with frequencies being used? Curious to see how they are doing it. One guy I spoke to who was working the finish last year said that in addition to his HT, he was handed a GMRS/FRS radio and some commercial radio he had to monitor as well.

- Matt

 

[cockpitbob]

Have they sent out a comms plan yet with frequencies being used? Curious to see how they are doing it. One guy I spoke to who was working the finish last year said that in addition to his HT, he was handed a GMRS/FRS radio and some commercial radio he had to monitor as well.

- Matt

The state won't have their comms plan finished until the end of the month. Hopefully a few days after that we'll get the ham plan. I've been mid-course twice and I've never heard of GMRS/FRS radios being used. The state (MEMA) will be using commercial radios on the 800MHz band, the medical people will have commercial radios on some other band and then the hams will be using 2m/70cm. Actually, 2 years ago the hams at medical tents were issued the same commercial radios the medical people used and we had to monitor both the ham and commercial frequencies we were assigned. That was a real pain.

I just looked at last years ham comms plan. There were 4 categories:

Start Area: 2 repeaters and 4 simplex frequencies

Couse Wide: 9 repeaters and 1 simplex frequency

Transportation: 5 repeaters

Finish Area: 1 repeater and 9 simplex

It's really a very complex and well thought out system.
The frequency plan isn't made public. I assume the thinking is to not make things too easy for bad guys.

 

[blindfire]

The state won't have their comms plan finished until the end of the month. Hopefully a few days after that we'll get the ham plan. I've been mid-course twice and I've never heard of GMRS/FRS radios being used. The state (MEMA) will be using commercial radios on the 800MHz band, the medical people will have commercial radios on some other band and then the hams will be using 2m/70cm. Actually, 2 years ago the hams at medical tents were issued the same commercial radios the medical people used and we had to monitor both the ham and commercial frequencies we were assigned. That was a real pain.

I just looked at last years ham comms plan. There were 4 categories:

Start Area: 2 repeaters and 4 simplex frequencies

Couse Wide: 9 repeaters and 1 simplex frequency

Transportation: 5 repeaters

Finish Area: 1 repeater and 9 simplex

It's really a very complex and well thought out system.
The frequency plan isn't made public. I assume the thinking is to not make things too easy for bad guys.

Don't know why not making it public is going to help. Anyone with a scanner on 2m and 70cm can find the traffic easy enough. It's the commercial digital stuff that could be trickier.

 

[ghettomedic]

Don't know why not making it public is going to help. Anyone with a scanner on 2m and 70cm can find the traffic easy enough. It's the commercial digital stuff that could be trickier.

That is why the medical teams were mandated by MEMA and/or other state level agency a few years ago to go to the commercial radios as those use encryption. The Hams are more for non-secure logistics and commercial is supposed to be used only to call for ambulance resources. I found last year most of the medical people don't want to be bothered with the commercial radios so they hand them off to the Ham to deal with since we are comfortable with radios, my team never even turned on their commercial radio and just had me handle everything.

 

[chaser001]

2 years ago the BAA rep at South St. (START) had a commercial radio, it was dead by 9am and we called his cell phone if we needed him. Last year I was at Hopkinton State Park and our BAA rep had a commercial radio that he never listened to, I was his shadow and got information to him faster through the Net on the repeater than through the commercial radio, in some cases he had the message from me 5 minutes before I heard it over the other radio.

The bus company did have their own radios too that they were using to dispatch buses, it didn't work well and they just stacked busses up at the parking areas for us to load people on.

 

[blindfire]

2 years ago the BAA rep at South St. (START) had a commercial radio, it was dead by 9am and we called his cell phone if we needed him. Last year I was at Hopkinton State Park and our BAA rep had a commercial radio that he never listened to, I was his shadow and got information to him faster through the Net on the repeater than through the commercial radio, in some cases he had the message from me 5 minutes before I heard it over the other radio.

The bus company did have their own radios too that they were using to dispatch buses, it didn't work well and they just stacked busses up at the parking areas for us to load people on.

Interesting. Based on what I was reading earlier, I was wanting to volunteer less and less for the BAA race...but if they really aren't going to use the commercial stuff, then hams still have a value. I read it as if they wanted to get rid of the hams altogether. Guess not.

 

[cockpitbob]

Interesting. Based on what I was reading earlier, I was wanting to volunteer less and less for the BAA race...but if they really aren't going to use the commercial stuff, then hams still have a value. I read it as if they wanted to get rid of the hams altogether. Guess not.

They categorize the type of information to be moved and use the person/radio appropriate. Hams at first aid stations will not be calling for ambulances. They have an EMT designated for medical communications who will be using a commercial radio. At the medical tents the hams will be handling the hourly status reports, transportation calls, resupply requests and general non-medical information. BUT, the hams are a backup and will be prepared to do anything on the ham bands as required. If a bomb goes off, every medical person will probably have hands on patients and will want someone to do comms for them.

The BAA guy in charge came to the ham break-out training yesterday and gave us a little pep talk indicating we are valued and he really appreciates our service. He was "doing politics" so there's always a chance there was some BS in it, but I don't think so. Whenever the hams were mentioned in the various presentations it was in a tone like we were part of the team.

It's true that there has been changes in the last couple years, and good or bad, change will always get some people's panties in a bunch. Either way, I ignore all that poop. Those in charge can play whatever games they want, but I really don't have a dog in that fight. Odd as it sounds, I'm in it for me. I want to serve. I want the experience of being part of this gigantic, well run event. Then, there's the after-party at Fenway that night. I haven't gone before but plan to this time.