CIARC - Public Service - McCall Trail Running Classic

It is critical that volunteers arrive at the assigned location no later than the assigned time for your position to be staffed. Arrival times of participating racers have been estimated to ensure that positions are staffed prior to the arrival of racers. Late arrival may result in losing track of racer's progress along the course and could negatively impact efforts to assist a racer in the event of a racer becoming lost or injured. Please be on time.

Operating positions that are described in this document may appear with a color coding that indicates the priority of staffing as follows:

PRIMARY for a position that requires staffing.
SECONDARY for a position where staffing is urgently needed.
SECONDARY for a position where staffing is not urgently needed but is desired.
THIRD for a position where staffing would be desirable.
FOURTH for a position where staffing would be desirable.

MCCALL TRAIL RUNNING CLASSIC - COMMUNICATIONS PLAN REVISION HISTORY
DATE	DESCRIPTION
8 February 2017	Initial creation of 2017 plan, and preliminary assignments that became available as of the February 2017 meeting. Added note to schedule & staffing section to indicate that each staffed position needs to remain manned until the course sweep has passed through, or until race staff confirms that the course sweep has bypassed a staffed position.
6 July 2016	Updated Aid Station assignments for staffing of the 2016 event. Staffing assignments to be reviewed at the July 7th CIARC meeting.
13 July 2015	Updated Mileages associated with moving the 40-mile course to Buckhorn Summit, and several other minor corrections to reconcile to the MCTRC race organizer's spread sheet. Added a cut-off at the Buckhorn Aid Station of 3:30 PM, after which runners will not be allowed to proceed outbound toward Buckhorn Summit.
3 July 2015	Changed Kennally Aid Station name to Buckhorn Aid Station. Updated course map to show Buckhorn Summit course leg.
28 May 2015	Created first draft of 2015 MCTRC Communications Plan, based on the final 2014 plan. Removed Lake Fork Trailhead aid station and course leg. Added Kennally aid station and Kennally Summit course leg. Added roster of volunteers. Updated course maps as appropriate for course changes.

PLANNING CHECKLIST
ITEM	RESPONSIBLE PARTY	DESCRIPTION	COMPLETED
	MCTRC	Course information received (may be described as relative changes from previous year).	Yes
	Aid station location information received (may be described as relative changes from previous year).	Yes
	Participant roster received (occurs at cut-off date, updates occur on the day of the race)	Pending
	CIARC	Solicit for volunteers	Yes
	Update communications plan for this year's event.	Yes
	Prepare roster sheets for electronic distribution to aid station volunteer radio operators (available after race registration cut-off date).	No
	Provide list of volunteers and assignments to MCTRC staff.	Yes

10-Mile, 20-Mile & 40-Mile Race Courses

RACE PROGRESSION

STAGE

40-MILE COURSE

20-MILE COURSE

10-MILE COURSE

1

START
JUG MOUNTAIN RANCH

2

4.6 miles to AID 1

3

11.45 miles to AID 2

7.0 miles to AID 2

10.4 miles to FINISH
JUG MOUNTAIN RANCH
CUTOFF:

4

16.55 miles to Aid 3

12.1 miles to Aid 3

CUTOFF:

5

20.0 miles to AID 4

14.1 miles to AID 1

6

24.2 miles to AID 5

(OUTBOUND)
CUTOFF:

20.0 miles to FINISH
JUG MOUNTAIN RANCH
CUTOFF:

7

28.6 miles to AID 5

(INBOUND)

8

31.2 miles to AID 3

CUTOFF:

9

33.2 miles to AID 1

10

39.1 miles to FINISH
JUG MOUNTAIN RANCH
CUTOFF:

Job Descriptions

The following provides a description of the primary and secondary positions for each of the aid stations and the start / finish line. Note that when a volunteer is not available for the secondary position, the volunteer at the primary position must fulfill both the roll of the primary position and the secondary position.

All data recording and related radio traffic must include:

The aid station number associated with the status report.
The race that the participant is enrolled in (i.e. 10-mile, 20-mile, 40-mile).
The participant's registration number.
The time of arrival at the reported aid station.

Job Positions & Descriptions
Location	Position	Description
Start Finish	Primary	The primary operating position is located near, but not directly at the finish line. The reason that this position is physically offset from the finish line is that noise, including loud music, makes radio communication impossible if the station is co-located with the finish line. Further, the music will be heard on the radio transmissions, which is a violation of CFR Title 47, part 97.113(a)(4). This need to maintain the station position separate from the finish line imposes additional difficulty in recording participant finishes. Further, this location is the busiest, with all of the tasks defined for both the primary and secondary positions occurring simultaneously, and at a high frequency. Acts as Net Control Station (NCS). Informs aid station operators of additions and deletions to the participant roster when the aid station operators provides initial notification that an aid station is staffed. Receives notifications from aid stations that indicate a participant has arrived at an aid station. The participant's arrival time is recorded against their registration number in the participan tracking log. Provides status updates, upon request, to the race organizers / staff. Notifies the race organizers / staff of any injuries reported from aid stations & coordinates evacuation with race organizers / staff. Notifies the race organizers / staff of any lost participants reported from aid stations & coordinates search and location efforts with race organizers / staff. Notifies the race organizers / staff of any participant dropping out of the race and coordinates pick-up with race organizers / staff and / or race participant's support crew.
	Secondary	This position is located with the race staff at the finish line. The volunteer serving at this position must periodically deliver recorded data to the volunteer that is located at the primary position. Record arrival of race participants at the finish line. Transfer the logged arrival to the master log at the primary position. Act as Alternate Net Control Station (Alternate NCS) when the primary operator needs to leave the station.
	Third & Fourth	This position is located with the race staff at the finish line. The volunteer serving at this position must periodically deliver recorded data to the volunteer that is located at the primary position. Assists secondary operator in transporting finish line data to primary operator.
Aid Station 1 Through 5	Primary	The radio operating position may or may not be co-located with race staff. The operating position is at the discretion of the volunteer operator serving in the primary position, and is based on radio communications capabilities. If the signal path between the primary operating position and the repeater is not optimal when co-located with race staff, the primary operating position may need to be located away from the race staff. If the primary operating position needs to be located away from race staff, the need for a secondary operator becomes more imperative. Check-in with the Net Control Station (NCS) upon arrival at the aid station. Transmit race participant data to the NCS as it becomes available. Do not hold onto data in an effort to run a list of participants as this becomes overwhelming to the NCS. Notify the NCS of any injured participant that requires evacuation. Notify the NCS of any participant that drops out of the race. If necessary, a request can be made simultaneously to request transportation for the race participant that drops out.
Aid Station 1	Secondary	This operating position is co-located with the race staff. Record race participant data, including race participant registration number and time of arrival at the reporting aid station. Deliver recorded race participant data to the primary operating position.
Aid Station 2 Through 5	Secondary
Aid Station 2 Through 5	Third & Fourth	This operating position is co-located with the race staff. Assists secondary operator in transporting the race participant data to primary operator.

Please be aware that the race staff that is located at the aid stations is primarily concerned with providing for the physical needs of the race participants, and are not concerned with the collection of and reporting of race participant status reports. Volunteer operators should not have an expectation that the race staff will be of any assistance in performing the roll of the volunteer radio operator.

The following provides a description of the primary and secondary positions for each of the aid stations and the start / finish line. Note that when a volunteer is not available for the secondary position, the volunteer at the primary position must fulfill both the roll of the primary position and the secondary position.

All data recording and related radio traffic must include:

The aid station number associated with the status report.
The race that the participant is enrolled in (i.e. 10-mile, 20-mile, 40-mile).
The participant's registration number.
The time of arrival at the reported aid station.

JOB POSITIONS & DESCRIPTIONS
LOCATION	POSITION	DESCRIPTION
Start Finish	Primary	The primary operating position is located near, but not directly at the finish line. The reason that this position is physically offset from the finish line is that noise, including loud music, makes radio communication impossible if the station is co-located with the finish line. Further, the music will be heard on the radio transmissions, which is a violation of CFR Title 47, part 97.113(a)(4). This need to maintain the station position separate from the finish line imposes additional difficulty in recording participant finishes. Further, this location is the busiest, with all of the tasks defined for both the primary and secondary positions occurring simultaneously, and at a high frequency. Acts as Net Control Station (NCS). Informs aid station operators of additions and deletions to the participant roster when the aid station operators provides initial notification that an aid station is staffed. Receives notifications from aid stations that indicate a participant has arrived at an aid station. The participant's arrival time is recorded against their registration number in the participan tracking log. Provides status updates, upon request, to the race organizers / staff. Notifies the race organizers / staff of any injuries reported from aid stations & coordinates evacuation with race organizers / staff. Notifies the race organizers / staff of any lost participants reported from aid stations & coordinates search and location efforts with race organizers / staff. Notifies the race organizers / staff of any participant dropping out of the race and coordinates pick-up with race organizers / staff and / or race participant's support crew.
	Secondary	This position is located with the race staff at the finish line. The volunteer serving at this position must periodically deliver recorded data to the volunteer that is located at the primary position. Record arrival of race participants at the finish line. Transfer the logged arrival to the master log at the primary position. Act as Alternate Net Control Station (Alternate NCS) when the primary operator needs to leave the station.
	Third	This position is located with the race staff at the finish line. The volunteer serving at this position must periodically deliver recorded data to the volunteer that is located at the primary position. Assists secondary operator in transporting finish line data to primary operator.

JOB POSITIONS & DESCRIPTIONS
LOCATION	POSITION	DESCRIPTION
Aid Station 1 Through 5	Primary	The radio operating position may or may not be co-located with race staff. The operating position is at the discretion of the volunteer operator serving in the primary position, and is based on radio communications capabilities. If the signal path between the primary operating position and the repeater is not optimal when co-located with race staff, the primary operating position may need to be located away from the race staff. If the primary operating position needs to be located away from race staff, the need for a secondary operator becomes more imperative. Check-in with the Net Control Station (NCS) upon arrival at the aid station. Transmit race participant data to the NCS as it becomes available. Do not hold onto data in an effort to run a list of participants as this becomes overwhelming to the NCS. Notify the NCS of any injured participant that requires evacuation. Notify the NCS of any participant that drops out of the race. If necessary, a request can be made simultaneously to request transportation for the race participant that drops out.
Aid Station 1	Secondary	This operating position is co-located with the race staff. Record race participant data, including race participant registration number and time of arrival at the reporting aid station. Deliver recorded race participant data to the primary operating position.
Aid Station 2 Through 5	Secondary
Aid Station 2 Through 5	Third	This operating position is co-located with the race staff. Assists secondary operator in transporting the race participant data to primary operator.

Please be aware that the race staff that is located at the aid stations is primarily concerned with providing for the physical needs of the race participants, and are not concerned with the collection of and reporting of race participant status reports. Volunteer operators should not have an expectation that the race staff will be of any assistance in performing the roll of the volunteer radio operator.

Schedule & Staffing

AID STATION RADIO OPERATORS
CALL SIGN	NAME

Anyone not listed among the volunteer operators in the above table who wishes to participate in this event should contact (), or use the Contact Us form on the CIARC web page, to be added to the roster of volunteer operators and to indicate any assignment preference.

MCCALL TRAIL RUNNING CLASSIC - STATION DESIGNATORS
AID STATION	LATITUDE	LONGITUDE	ACCESS	POSITION	FCC CALL SIGN	NAME	ARRIVAL TIME	TACTICAL CALL SIGN	LOCATION
', $start_finish_location_name ); ?>			', $start_finish_access ); ?>	PRIMARY				Net Control	Jug Mt. Ranch
				SECONDARY
				THIRD
				THIRD
1 ', $aid_1_location_name ); ?>			', $aid_1_access ); ?>	PRIMARY				Aid 1
				SECONDARY
				THIRD
				FOURTH
2 ', $aid_2_location_name ); ?>			', $aid_2_access ); ?>	PRIMARY				Aid 2
				SECONDARY
				THIRD
				FOURTH
3 ', $aid_3_location_name ); ?>			', $aid_3_access ); ?>	PRIMARY				Aid 3
				SECONDARY
				THIRD
				FOURTH
4 ', $aid_4_location_name ); ?>			', $aid_4_access ); ?>	PRIMARY				Aid 4
				SECONDARY
				THIRD
				FOURTH
5 ', $aid_5_location_name ); ?>			', $aid_5_access ); ?>	PRIMARY				Aid 5
				SECONDARY
				THIRD
				FOURTH

If any volunteer operator needs to cancel then the above assignments will need to change. Because of the high volume of traffic (i.e. simultaneous departures and arrivals) and requests from support crews and race management that require additional radio traffic, it is desirable that the start / finish line, and aid station 1 at Jug Mountain Saddle, be staffed by a minimum of two communications volunteers at all times. As such, the start / finish line will receive priority staffing. In the event that there are not enough operators to provide two operators at the start / finish line then the first station operator that becomes free, due to no further pending race traffic, should re-locate to the start / finish line.

Although multiple volunteers are desired at each aid station, and the start / finish line, only one licensed radio operator is needed at each location. Additional volunteers need not hold an amateur radio license.

The schedule for staffing a station is dependent upon the station location along the course and the position that is being manned. Stations that are far from the start / finish line can be staffed later in the morning than the start / finish line. Once staffed, each station will need to remain staffed until all race participants scheduled to pass through the location have done so. Once all expected race participants have passed through a station location then that station can be de-staffed.

Once the last runner has left aid station #2 on the inbound course to the finish line, there is no longer any need for radio communications and all stations can be de-staffed. Note that there may be a need to coordinate with support crew to pick up any runners that drop out at an aid station. If an aid station has runners that have not departed inbound, and those runners are dropping out, please keep the aid station staffed until a plan has been conveyed to pick up those runners.

IMPORTANT: ALL POSITIONS NEED TO REMAIN STAFFED UNTIL THE COURSE SWEEP PASSES THROUGH AT THE END OF THE RACE, OR UNTIL RACE STAFF CONFIRMS THAT THE COURSE SWEEP HAS BYPASSED A STAFFED POSITION.

Frequency Plan

ICS-205 INCIDENT RADIO COMMUNICATIONS PLAN

1. Incident Name:

4-SUMMIT CHALLENGE

2. Date/Time Prepared:

Date: 15 JUL 2017

Time: 1200Z

3. Operational Period:	Date From: 15 JUL 2017	Date To: 15 JUL 2017
3. Operational Period:	Time From: 1200Z	Time To: 2300Z

4. Basic Radio Channel Use:
Zone Grp.	Ch #	Function	Channel Name/ Trunked Radio System Talkgroup	Assignment	RX Freq N or W	RX Tone/ NAC	TX Freq N or W	TX Tone/ NAC	Mode (A,D, or M)	Remarks
		PRIMARY	CIAR2N		147.020 MHz		147.620 MHz	100.0 Hz	A	REPEATER - OFFSET
		ALTERNATE	CIAR2B		146.900 MHz		146.300 MHz	123.0 Hz	A	REPEATER - OFFSET

5. Special Instructions:

6. Prepared by:

Name:

Position/Title:

Signature:

ICS-205, Page 1

Date/Time (mm/dd/yy): 07/29/2017

Aid Station Locations

Aid Station #2 Location - Louie Lake

Access requires local back-woods knowledge. ATV/UTV vehicles may have access from Boulder Lake Road. Staffing at this position requires station operator(s) with local knowledge.

Aid Station #4 Location - Shaw Twin Lakes Ridge

From Hwy. 55, turn east onto Elo Rd. Turn left (east) from Elo Rd onto Farm To Market Rd. Continue straight from Farm To Market Rd onto Boulder Lake Rd. Follow Boulder Lake Rd to an unnamed road that will take you to the Aid Station. Click here to download a route file for Garmin Basecamp. 4WD or AWD recommended.

Net Operating Procedures

The primary operating frequency will be the No Business Mt. 2-meter repeater, operating on 147.020 MHz with a positive offset and a CTCSS tone of 100.0 Hz (named CIARC2N in the memory of many radios). The secondary operating frequency will be the Brundage Mt. VHF/2-meter repeater, operating on 146.900 MHz with a negative offset and a CTCSS tone of 123.0 Hz (named CIAR2B in the memory of many radios), and the W7CIA VHF/2-meter repeater, operating on 146.960 MHz with a negative offset and a CTCSS tone of 123.0 Hz..

Operators should be aware that the CIARC repeater on No Business Mt., operating on 147.020 MHz, is operating with an inoperative Power Amplifier, at a greatly reduced power output level. If the No Business repeater cannot be heard, please switch to the No Business or W7CIA repeater.
Stations must be staffed by the time indicated in the Schedule & Staffing section.
Stations should call and check-in with the Net Control upon activating a station.
The McCall Trail Running Classic is scheduled to start at 0630 local.
Tactical call signs may be used. A tactical cal sign will consist of AID followed by the number of the Aid Station.
For all traffic to net control, announce your tactical call sign and wait for acknowledgement from net control.
1. Emergency Traffic
  
  After acknowledgement by net control, convey the following information.
  1. This is Aid <INSERT NUMBER>.
  2. Report Type: Injury
  3. Runner Number
  4. Location of runner (if not at aid station)
  5. Injury Area
  6. Request: <WHAT ACTION IS BEING REQUESTED>
  For example: Aid 3 reports runner 075 with a lower leg injury. Runner would like support team to pick up runner at Aid Station 3.
2. Runner Departure Reports
  
  All runners are to be logged out upon departure from any aid station.
  
  After acknowledgement by net control, convey the following information.
  1. This is Aid <INSERT NUMBER>.
  2. This is a Departure report for runners: <LIST NUMBER OR NUMBERS AS APPROPRIATE>
  Each station should keep a written record of departures. This will prove useful should a runner go missing where records can be cross-checked in an effort to locate the trail segment where the runner is located.
3. Traffic Acknowledgement
  
  Net control will read back all traffic. This may come in an abbreviated format where the net control operator simply states COPY <LIST NUMBER OR NUMBERS OF RUNNERS AS APPROPRIATE>. If net control reads back traffic with no errors, the reporting station should reply by stating READ-BACK CORRECT. If net control reads back traffic with errors, the reporting station should reply by stating CORRECTION and then provide the correction or clarifying traffic in one transmission.

Use of a tactical call sign does not fulfill the FCC requirements for station identification. Identifying your station, using your FCC call sign, is required once every 10-minutes. If you stop transmitting then it is unnecessary to identify until your station actively transmits again.

The automatic identification of the repeater, using morse code, occurs at 10 minute intervals during repeater use. The repeater identifier can be used as a reminder to indicate when your station should be identified. If you are transmitting when the repeater identification occurs, other stations that were not transmitting when the repeater identification occurred will have heard the repeater identifier and may perform station identification, and their identification can also serve as a reminder to identify.

It is recommended that stations should perform identification in numerical ascending sequence, by aid station number, in order to avoid simultaneous transmission. Each station need only key and announce their own FCC call-sign. Should the Net Control Operator fail to make a time announcement, each station is still responsible for their own identification.

Please let the repeater squelch tail drop before beginning a transmission. This ensures that time is made available for emergency traffic to break in.

For those unfamiliar with the term squelch tail, this is the short burst of random noise that occurs in your radio that is due to a delay in detecting that the receiver is no longer hearing a signal and your receiver muting the audio. This same delay occurs in the repeater receiver, resulting in two short bursts of noise being heard when a station stops transmitting. The second burst of noise will occur delayed from the first burst of noise by the duration of the repeater squelch tail timer (nominally set to 1.5 seconds). If there is any doubt, your radio may include an S-Meter or an LED indication of signal strength, and these devices can be observed to determine when the repeater transmitter has been dropped when the S-Meter returns to zero or the LED turns off.

If you find yourself transmitting on top of another station, then you are probably having difficulty interpreting the squelch tail sound, and may even be queueing off of other noise that sounds similar to squelch noise. Mobile flutter and signal fading can closely mimic squelch tail noise but have subtle characteristics that allow for differentiation from squelch tail noise, the most obvious being that there is no consistent delay, associated with the squelch tail timer (nominally 1.5 seconds), between the noise bursts.

The following is an '.mp3' recording of the 147.020 MHz repeater squelch tail. The first noise burst in the recording demonstrates the squelch decay at the repeater receiver while the second noise burst, which occurs 1.5 seconds after the first noise burst, demonstrates the squelch decay at the local receiver after the repeater transmitter stops transmitting. This second noise burst represents the squelch tail. Amateur Radio operators often refer to this as the Ker-Chunk with the Ker representing the first noise burst and Chunk representing the second noise burst.

Do not use voice queues, such as hearing an answer to a question in the speech of another station, to determine when to transmit. Always wait for the second noise burst, or a visual indication of end of transmission (such as an LED or the Signal Strength Meter) before transmitting.

When calling a station, always use the call sign of the station being called prior to your own call sign. For example, if KE7TQV were to call N7IBC, then the call would be N7IBC, KE7TQV or Aid 1, Aid 2.

If you need to leave the radio for any reason, please call net control prior to leaving the radio and inform net control that you will be absent. Upon returning to the radio, please contact net control to indicate that you are again available for traffic..

Should the 2-meter repeater fail during the MCTRC event, communications will move to the 70cm repeater. Should the 70cm repeater not be available then communications will move to 147.540 MHz simplex..

Did Not Start

MCCALL TRAIL RUNNING CLASS - PARTICIPANTS THAT DID NOT START
BIB #	COURSE	FIRST NAME	LAST NAME

Injury Report

Runner Injury Report
Aid Station Number	Runner Number	Runner First Name	Type of Injury	Request	Time

Race Status Report

This report is updated and maintained at the start / finish line, and serves to notify the race organizers of the progress of the race. Maintaining this report will result in avoiding having to browse through all three race logs to determine who has progressed the furthest and at what time they reached a particular aid station. When properly maintained, this report can be handed to the race organizers to review without any impact to net operations or logging of participant progress.

MCCALL TRAIL RUNNING CLASSIC RACE STATUS REPORT
10-MILE RACE			20-MILE RACE			40-MILE RACE
LOCATION	BIB #	TIME	LOCATION	BIB #	TIME	LOCATION	BIB #	TIME
JUG MEADOWS SDL			JUG MEADOWS SDL			JUG MEADOWS SDL
			LOUIE LAKE			LOUIE LAKE
			BOULDER LAKE THD CUTOFF:			BOULDER LAKE THD
			JUG MEADOWS SDL			SHAW TWIN
						BUCKHORN OUTBOUND CUTOFF:
						BUCKHORN INBOUND
						BOULDER LAKE THD CUTOFF:
						JUG MEADOWS SDL

The following log is to keep track of the race sweep personel and to provide status on the race course being clear of participants toward the end of the race.

MCCALL TRAIL RUNNING CLASSIC SWEEP STATUS REPORT
LOCATION	SWEEP #1 TIME	SWEEP #2 TIME	SWEEP #3 TIME
JUG MEADOWS SADDLE
LOUIE LAKE
BOULDER LAKE THD
SHAW TWIN
BUCKHORN OUTBOUND
BUCKHORN INBOUND
BOULDER LAKE THD
JUG MEADOWS SADDLE

End of Race Report

This report is to be filled out by communications personnel at the start / finish line and delivered to the race organizers at the close down of communications operations. Communications are closed down when the last participant is logged through the last aid station. After this point in time, there is nothing to communicate and no need for communications personnel on the race course.

This report indicates the bib numbers and names of participants that are still on the course, along with their time through the last aid station. These participants will be located between the last aid station and the finish line, at the time that communications are shut down.

MCCALL TRAIL RUNNING CLASSIC END OF COMMUNICATIONS REPORT
BIB #	NAME	TIME AT LAST AID STATION	NOTES