SEATTLE MARATHON 2012

Kids Staged Marathon & 5K Run & Walk

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Half Marathon, Half Marathon Walk, Full Marathon, & Full Marathon Walk

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Greetings,

Despite all the changes during the last year, it is once again time to start planning for the Seattle Marathon.  Again we, the public service oriented Hams of this area, have another opportunity to serve.  I believe that this event utilizes more Hams than any other event in the Seattle area.

We continue to have the AMICA Insurance Company as the major sponsor and the University of Washington Medical Center will continue to be the Official Medical Provider.  The Marathon Association expects that there will be over 16,000 participants in this year’s Marathon.  About 3,000 volunteers are needed to make this possible.  Of that number, we’ll need over 150 Hams to properly cover the course.  Each Ham’s effort will provide several services to both the participants and organizers.

As is the case every year, I continue to find more staffing opportunities than I have volunteers.  A continuing need is for Hams that are EMT or Paramedic trained.   I’d like to invite each of you, even if you aren’t available to help us, to spread the word to your fellow Hams.

Some Hams will communicate for water stops, or monitor and possibly Marshal intersections.  We will assist the “split timers” with the event starter’s gun sound.  We will have Hams with the 3 water trucks, providing coordination.  About 10 APRS equipped Hams will communicate as the “Pooped Out Participant Pickup Patrol”.  Other Hams will staff the several Seattle Center communications positions, shadowing the event organizers, supporting the Recovery Area, etc.  There will be a need for several Hams, on bicycles, to provide coverage and assistance for the last several miles of the event.  Handheld radios with the 440MHz band are almost always sufficient to support this event.  

The Kids Staged Marathon will still be held on Saturday, the 24th of November.  This is a 1.2-mile run around the perimeter of Seattle Center, with around 2000 or more kids and many parents participating.  Experience tells me that I’ll need about 10 Hams for this short event.   A 5K Run/Walk will also be held that same morning.  I’ll need a few additional Hams for this event since they overlap.

I hope that you will work with us this year.  I will try to follow your wishes as to assignment.  The position that you served last year is yours unless you ask for a change of assignments.  I will work with new Hams to select an assignment that will meet their needs.  I will try to make everybody happy – if possible. 

There will be four meetings at my home – to orient you and to deliver the materials to you, that will make it possible to handle whatever assignment we ask you to take.  While I only ask that you attend one of the four meetings, I encourage you to make every effort to attend. 

As in past years, there will be ID badges, tee shirts and orange baseball caps for identification, as well as orange vests for your safety.  Our next e-mail will give the details, but please reserve a couple of hours on Saturday, Nov. 17 or Sunday, Nov. 18.  I’ve asked David Flood to rewrite the PowerPoint presentation so hopefully it will more informative and will help shorten the meetings.  There will still be apples and Krispy Cream donuts for your enjoyment. 

So I am asking each of you to plan to be a part of this great event and to let your fellow Ham friends know also.  Please confirm your participation as a member of the great Ham radio support team for this year’s Seattle Marathon as soon as possible.  Thank You! 

To learn more about the Seattle Marathon, look at this site            http://www.seattlemarathon.org

Please e-mail your reply as soon as possible – to   w7aka@...   or call my home at 425-226-4115 or my cell phone at 425-890-5752.

Thank you,

Fran Underwood, N7FWZ

Flooding?  Power outage?  Extreme weather? 

Any one of these types of disasters could mean your family, neighbors or fellow community members are displaced and require shelter.  Whether they need shelter from the elements or because their homes are uninhabitable, there will BE no shelter without trained volunteers to help open and maintain that shelter.  PLEASE help your community today by learning how to set up an Emergency Community Shelter.  Two upcoming events include:

First:  Learn the skills needed for opening and running shelters

American Red Cross Shelter Operations

and Shelter Simulation

Saturday, October 20^th, 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Duvall Fire Station

Next:  Practice the skills learned in this class

Shelter Exercise/Drill

Saturday, November 10^th, 8 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Tolt Congregational Church, Carnation

Other participants include:

-        CERTS (Community Emergency Response Teams)

-        MRC (Medical Reserve Corps)

-        SnoVARC (Sno-Valley Amateur Radio Club)

Sponsored by the Carnation-Duvall Citizen Corps.  For registration or more information contact Kathy Brasch at 425-788-8260 or email kb1@....

Come join us in making our communities

Stronger, Safer and Better Prepared!

I checked out the repeater today about 11:00AM today.

I was able to watch the solar panel charge controller perform switching from acceptance mode (14.4 battery voltage) to float mode (battery voltage 13.42).  This is Very Good.  The charge controller is programmed to be in acceptance mode for two hours when solar power is available and then go to float mode for battery maintenance. 

I measured the current draw in transmit mode, high power 10.5 amps (40 Watts) and low power 6.6 amps (25 Watts)

The current draw in receive and standby mode is about 0.65 amps.

These numbers are less than my original design inputs, 12 amps (25 watts) and 1.2 amps receive.

I also took the repeater out of service for 30 minutes and installed the MOV static electricity and voltage protection between the solar panels and the charge controller.

The repeater is back up and working great.

Best Regards,

Dan KA7GPP

Phone: 425-941-2339

dpflugrath@...

The Woodinville ARES group is sponsoring a location for the Boy Scouts Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) on October 20, 2012 at a place east of Cedarcrest High School in Duvall, WA.

More information here:  http://www.woodinvillearesgroup.org/Pages/JOTA.aspx

The brochure about the Duvall event is found here:  http://www.woodinvillearesgroup.org/Documents/JOTA%202012%20Brochure.pdf

Thanks,

Leroy Collinwood

NE7L