- WICEN-Members - mailman.crarc.org.au

WICEN ACT - Brookvale Horse Endurance Ride - cancellation
by Matt 10 Oct '25

10 Oct '25

Good evening all, we have received advice from the event organisers that they have had to regrettably cancel this years Brookvale Horse Endurance ride due to insufficient entries. We may be experiencing issues with this mailing list, so for those people who have responded to us (or believe that they have) could they please email me direct and confirm receipt of this email. If you have not emailed or filled out the google doc forms, no action is needed. Matt VK1MA From: Matt <doormatt(a)netspace.net.au> Sent: Tuesday, 30 September 2025 9:26 PM To: 'wicen-members(a)crarc.org.au' <wicen-members(a)crarc.org.au> Subject: WICEN ACT - Brookvale Horse Endurance Ride, call for volunteers Good evening all, The Brookvale Horse Endurance ride - the first (and pretty much only) WICEN supported event for Spring 2024 is approaching us. The event takes place on the trails in the Uriarra /Sherwood forest areas on Sunday 19 October with horses and their riders covering distances of up to 80km. This year's event is expected to be the same as last year's event with both legs in the Uriarra /Sherwood forest areas We need to provide operators for 5 check points and the headquarters - some checkpoints may need to have divided shifts and the HQ will definitely need multiple shifts, so anticipate needing at least 10-12 operators, although more is better! This event normally has some relatively early starts (historically around 5am for the early checkpoints), so an event well suited for the early birds. The checkpoints are off forestry tracks, so in most case relatively easily accessed by 2WD vehicles with a bit of clearance, but as always if they get really wet, they can end up being better suited to 4WD access, so please let us know what your vehicle situation is when advising availability. If you can assist with this event, please respond using the web form at the below link. Replying to this email is nice, but I am going to ask you to fill out the form so that all organisers can see the responses. Of course if you do have questions about it, please feel free to ask us direct. <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdoTX6UobHzcDWchuf6EyY7yH2TMJZxQRs gU1TlAOBjAutOag/viewform?usp=dialog> https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdoTX6UobHzcDWchuf6EyY7yH2TMJZxQRsg U1TlAOBjAutOag/viewform?usp=dialog Matt VK1MA WICEN ACT Coordinator

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WICEN ACT - Brookvale Horse Endurance Ride, call for volunteers
by Matt 30 Sep '25

30 Sep '25

Good evening all, The Brookvale Horse Endurance ride - the first (and pretty much only) WICEN supported event for Spring 2024 is approaching us. The event takes place on the trails in the Uriarra /Sherwood forest areas on Sunday 19 October with horses and their riders covering distances of up to 80km. This year's event is expected to be the same as last year's event with both legs in the Uriarra /Sherwood forest areas We need to provide operators for 5 check points and the headquarters - some checkpoints may need to have divided shifts and the HQ will definitely need multiple shifts, so anticipate needing at least 10-12 operators, although more is better! This event normally has some relatively early starts (historically around 5am for the early checkpoints), so an event well suited for the early birds. The checkpoints are off forestry tracks, so in most case relatively easily accessed by 2WD vehicles with a bit of clearance, but as always if they get really wet, they can end up being better suited to 4WD access, so please let us know what your vehicle situation is when advising availability. If you can assist with this event, please respond using the web form at the below link. Replying to this email is nice, but I am going to ask you to fill out the form so that all organisers can see the responses. Of course if you do have questions about it, please feel free to ask us direct. <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdoTX6UobHzcDWchuf6EyY7yH2TMJZxQRs gU1TlAOBjAutOag/viewform?usp=dialog> https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdoTX6UobHzcDWchuf6EyY7yH2TMJZxQRsg U1TlAOBjAutOag/viewform?usp=dialog Matt VK1MA WICEN ACT Coordinator

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WICEN ACT - No Rally of Canberra in 2026 ! - but the BMSC are running a round of the ARC in NAROOMA instead
by Phillip Longworth 01 Aug '25

01 Aug '25

Good evening all, It was announced today that there will not be a "Rally of Canberra" next year, instead the Brindabella Motor Sports Club (BMSC) are hosting a 3 Day event at Narooma over the 26th / 27th/ 28th June 2026. Not a lot of info as yet, nor any word of what the ask of WICEN will be though we have been assisting with communications for the Narooma Forest Rally for nearly 10 years and are again doing so for this year's Narooma Forest Rally on 13th September so it's a pretty good guess we'll be involved. For those interested, check out https://www.rally.com.au/narooma-to-host-eroad-australian-rally-championship -event/ . Cheers all, Phil Longworth VK1PL -- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software. www.avg.com

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Now putting out a desperate call for assistance with the WICEN effort at the Rally of Canberra next weekend.......
by Phillip Longworth 16 Mar '25

16 Mar '25

Good evening all, We are still somewhat short of operators for the Car Rally next weekend. Saturday we have only just enough people for the Forest Stages, however we are short some 3-4 people for HQ. Note that HQ can operate in Shifts so even if you can only spare a few hours please put your hands up. Sunday we are short 3 people to do SOS points in the field and 4 in HQ. PLEASE, if you can help out it would be appreciated !! Please send an email to WICEN(a)crarc.org.au and I will get back to you. ... Phil VK1PL -- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software. www.avg.com

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Repeater Installation at Mt McDonald tomorrow (SATURDAY 14th March)
by Phillip Longworth 14 Mar '25

14 Mar '25

Good evening all, The trip to Mt McDonald is on tomorrow (SATURDAY) with a meet time of 9.30 AM at Crusher Gate (Mt McDonald Road). John has the trailer / tower and UHF Antenna Array, Matt has the 2 Metre repeater and the Dualband Antenna and the Link Radio's, and I have the 70cm Repeater, 2 x UHF Commercial Channel repeaters, coax's, link antenna's and so forth. I cannot find the Diplexer to go on the Dual Band however so if anyone has one spare we could use it would be appreciated. Can someone bring a VNA or Antenna Analyser so we can check the antenna's, especially the link antenna's. Chat Channel for the trip out to site will be the temporary 2 metre antenna on Isaacs Ridge, please set your radio to 147.2000 MHz receive, 145.6000 MHz Transmit (-1.600 offset) and a CTCSS of 91.5 Hz for access. Chat channel for the trip home will be the Portable repeater on Mt McDonald, 147.125 MHz RX / 147.725 MHz TX (+ 600 offset). Please bring some tools and don't forget appropriate clothing and food / drink. Cheers, Phil VK1PL -- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software. www.avg.com

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Call for Volunteers - 2025 RALLY OF CANBERRA - March 21st - 23rd 2025
by Phillip Longworth 29 Jan '25

29 Jan '25

Call for Volunteers 2025 RALLY OF CANBERRA - March 21st 23rd 2025 Good afternoon all, This years major WICEN Event, the 2025 RALLY OF CANBERRA will be undertaken on the weekend of Friday 21st, Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd March 2025. This years rally is basically a repeat of the 2024 event with the Service Park once again at Exhibition Park along with the Rally HQ and the WICEN Net Control Station will also be at Exhibition Park. This years Saturday competitive stages will once again be conducted in the Pierces, Tidbinbilla and Uriarra forests. · Special Stage 1 & 5 is called Defib as its a quick stage that is a bit of a Heart Starter. It is 5.34 KMs long and runs in the Pierces East area starting just off Paddys River Road and run back to the Cotter River. It will have a Start and Stop point only. Meet Point will probably be around 6:00 AM at Cotter Reserve (Actual time and location is yet to be set), First Competitive car is scheduled to start at 8:53 AM and last car out of SS5 is expected around 4:00 PM. · Special Stage 2 and 6 is again Oakey Camp and is a competitive stage of 22.22 KMs and starts at Vanities Crossing Road (just up the hill from Cotter Reserve) and finishes at Tidbinbilla Lane (which is down near the entrance to Tidbinbilla Tracking station). This stage will have a Start, SOS A, SOS B, SOS C, SOS D and Stop. Meet times havent been set in concrete as yet but it is anticipated that the meet time will be 6:00 AM at the Old Cotter Pub carpark or on Paddys River Road at Pierces East. First Competitive car is scheduled to start the stage at 9:05 AM and the second running of the stage should finish around 5:15 PM at the latest (unless there is an incident on the course). · Special Stage 3 and 7 (Kingfisher) is a competitive stage of 10.10 KMs and starts at Mineshaft Road (just up the hill from Murrays Corner Picnic Area) and finishes at Big Johns Road (AKA Cottage 5) which is a few hundred yards further down Paddys River Road from the Vanitys / Oakey Creek Roads corner. This stage will have a Start, SOS A and Stop. Meet time is anticipated to be 7:00 AM at Cotter Reserve. First Competitive car is scheduled to start the stage at 9:55 AM and the second running of the stage should finish around 5:30 PM at the latest (unless there is an incident on the course). · Special Stage 4 and 8 (Blue Range) is a competitive stage of 18.69 KMs and starts at East West Road (about 2 KMs towards the Brindabellas from the Uriarra / Brindabella Roads intersection) ) and finishes in the forest at the top of Sherwood Road (Off Mountain Creek Road). This stage will have a Start, SOS A, SOS B, SOS C and Stop. Meet time is anticipated to be 7:15 AM at the East West / Brindabella Roads intersection. First Competitive car is scheduled to start the stage at 10:27 AM and the second running of the stage should finish around 6:15 PM. The Sunday competitive stages will be conducted in the Kowen forest area and consist of 4 stages, each being run twice with 3 of the stages being new this rear · Special Stage 9 & 13 (Bald Millpost) is a competitive stage of 9.44 KMs and starts on Gumnut Road and finishes at Millpost Lane (Both of these are near the big HQJOC Roundabout on the Kings Hwy). This stage will have a Start, SOS A and Stop. Meet time is anticipated to be 6:30 AM at the Hibernian Road / Kings Hwy intersection. First Competitive car is scheduled to start the stage at 9:16 AM and the second running of the stage should finish around 3:00 PM. · Special Stage 10 & 14 is a new stage called Mr Grumbles named after a long time local Rally supporter. It is a competitive stage of 17.81 KMs and starts at the end of the old Kings Hwy (now Sparrows Hill Road) and finishes at an intersection on Fernside Road within the forest. This stage will have a Start, SOS A, SOS B, SOS C and Stop. Meet time is anticipated to be 6:45 AM at the Corner of Sparrow Hill & Orchard Rds (Off Kings Hwy). First Competitive car is scheduled to start the stage at 9:44 AM and the second running of the stage should finish around 4:30 PM. · Special Stage 11 & 15 is called Revir Dr and is the old River Rd stage run in reverse. It is a competitive stage of 17.45 KMs and starts on Fernside Way not far from the end of the previous stage and runs through to a finish location near the Old Kowen Forestry Camp. The stage will have a Start, SOS A, SOS B, SOS C and Stop. Meet time is anticipated to be 7:00 AM at the Molonglo Gorge Car Park. First Competitive car is scheduled to start the stage at 10:12 AM and the second running of the stage should finish around 5.00 PM. · Special Stage 12 & 16 is called Old Kowen and is a competitive stage of 11.6 KMs and starts at the Spectator Point in Kowen forest, does a large loop in the forest and returns down and across the jump and finishes at Old Kowen Road. This stage will have a Start, SOS A and Stop. Meet time is anticipated to be 7:30 AM at the Kowen gate First Competitive car is scheduled to start the stage at 10:40 AM and the second running of the stage (which is being run as a Power Stage with the Top 10 competitors being run in REVERSE ORDER) should finish around 5:30 PM. So, to save you doing the maths, we need to have people to undertake Field Station tasks with 16 Field Stations on Saturday and 16 Field Stations on Sunday, plus 6-7 people in the HQ Net Control Station each day also. As in the last couple of years, we are not required to radio in scoring traffic and hence the exercise is a lot less stressful than in earlier years. We will however still need to track vehicles and radio that information back into HQ. This exercise only requires operators to have a VHF 2 metre and/or 70 cm UHF radio capable of 10 Watts and at least a ¼ wave vertical antenna and be able to operate for the indicated periods listed above so some battery calculations may be required. If you dont have a suitable radio then we can arrange the loan of equipment from Club and personal stores, just let us know early. For those who have recently obtained their licences or have not done a WICEN exercise before, dont hold back as its an excellent way of getting out and building up your experience. So, onto the Begging and Pleading part. Please see the below 2025 Toyota Gazoo Racing Rally of Canberra: 21 to 23 March 2025 Volunteer registration now open message and PLEASE, if you can assist the link will take you to the Volunteer Registration form. Please ensure you complete all the fields and in Section 3 in the Prior experience and What Role sections please enter WICEN RADIO OPERATOR so the team can identify the WICEN / CRARC team and refrain from rostering you for other duties. You are welcome to bring family and/or friends with you, just make sure that a registration form for them is completed and submitted as well as your own. We are happy for people to email and queries, please send them to wicen(a)crarc.org.au please, NOT a reply to me and especially not a Reply All please. Cheers all, Phil Longworth VK1PL Deputy State Coordinator, WICEN ACT Life Member, Canberra Region Amateur Radio Club ============================================================================ ====== 2025 Toyota Gazoo Racing Rally of Canberra: 21 to 23 March 2025 Volunteer registration now open Dear Rally Supporter 2025 Toyota Gazoo Racing Rally of Canberra 21 to 23 March 2025 Volunteer registration now open Thank you for your contribution to the event in the past. We would like to invite you to be part of the team again. The 2025 Toyota Gazoo Racing Rally of Canberra on 21 to 23 March 2025 is the opening round of the EROAD Australian Rally Championship. It will again run in the forests around Canberra in similar areas to recent years. We are always grateful for the efforts of the team of volunteers, and as a thank you for your time and effort we like to offer some gifts and prizes. In 2025, we will again have various lucky prizes available to our volunteers. To get the ball rolling we have two prizes for our early birds. Register before 15 February to go into the draw for: Prize 1 - A Toyota Gazoo Racing merchandise pack Prize 2 - Rally of Canberra polo shirt and coffee cup (photo on the right). This is an exclusive small batch of ROC shirts (you will also get your official t-shirt). Register now at https://tinyurl.com/roc25vol Questions can be emailed to volunteers(a)rallyofcanberra.com.au We are looking forward to seeing you at ROC25. Toyota Gazoo Racing Rally of Canberra Organising Team Email volunteers(a)rallyofcanberra.com.au Website: <http://rallyofcanberra.com.au> rallyofcanberra.com.au ============================================================================ ====== -- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software. www.avg.com

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WANTED - WICEN Organising Team for Rally of Canberra 2025 !!
by Phillip Longworth 17 Jan '25

17 Jan '25

WANTED, WICEN Organising Team for Rally of Canberra 2025 !! Hello everyone. As hinted upon in the CRARC NEWS of 26th December 2024, I am needing to withdraw quite a bit from all the WICEN activities and we need a few people to stick their hands up to take on some of the coordination and organising activities. Activities that need to be undertaken are as follows.. 1. Attending Rally of Canberra Organising meetings (online or physical). 2. Investigating and documenting the manpower requirements to feed the Roster preparation. 3. Creating and populating the WICEN Operator & HQ Roster. 4. Driving the course to inspect nominated SOS locations and undertake radio coverage checks. 5. Designing the Amateur and Commercial Repeater networks and arranging installation on the hilltops (Including co-ordinating access to Kowen Fire Tower with ACT Rural Fire Service). 6. Preparation of equipment and installation of equipment into Rally HQ / Net Control 7. Preparation of BMSC Radio Fleet radio allocation, issuing, return & fault finding / rectification. Now, some of the above listed activities can be combined (and some should be as they rely on each other) and please note I am not bowing out completely this year, it's just that I can't do it all due to other work and family commitments and so I will be around to assist / mentor / train people and introduce people to the local Rally Organiser fraternity. The Rally of Canberra 2025 is scheduled for the weekend of 21st - 23rd March, so there is just on 2 months (9 weeks) til it's run, so things need to get going quickly. If you can assist with any of the listed above activities then please let the WICEN team know by email to WICEN at CRARC dot ORG dot AU (Replace the obvious spelling with the standard email address formatting). Please DO NOT REPLY to this email or send to me direct at my home email address. NOTE, this is not a call for Rally Volunteers in the field, that will be done in the coming week so please hold off til you see an email for that. Thanks in advance, and I hope to see lots of emails ! Phillip Longworth VK1PL Deputy State Coordinator, WICEN ACT Life Member, Canberra Region Amateur Radio Club -- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software. www.avg.com

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WICEN ACT - Save the date - Rally of Canberra 2025 will be on Friday 21st, Saturday 22nd & Sunday 23rd March 2025 !!
by Phillip Longworth 02 Nov '24

02 Nov '24

Hi All, I have just received an email indicating that the Rally of Canberra will be held over the weekend 21st - 23rd March 2025. At this point that is all there is, no schedule or route / stage info as yet but thought I'd let everyone know the date so it can be added to peoples calendar's. A call for volunteers will be done closer to the event, probably towards the end of February ! Cheers, ... Phil Longworth VK1PL -- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software. www.avg.com

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ACT Endurance Riders Association Inc. (ACTERA) Brookvale Horse Endurance Ride - WICEN Exercise on Sunday 6th October
by Phillip Longworth 24 Sep '24

24 Sep '24

The ACT Endurance Riders Association Inc. (ACTERA) will once again be hosting an Horse Endurance Ride consisting of 80km, 40km, 22km and 13km rides on Sunday 6 October 2024, at 'Brookvale' on the outskirts of Canberra. WICEN ACT provides radio communications for the Safety and Tracking of riders whilst they are participating in the various rides. WICEN have people at five (5) checkpoints in the Uriarra / Blue Range forest area's and a Headquarters co-located with the Ride base officials. This year many of our long-time volunteers for this event have indicated they are not available and so to support the ride we are seeking assistance from the general Amateur Fraternity in the ACT and surrounds. The 5 checkpoints this year are all EAST of Ride base, the area out west of Ride base along Doctors Flat Road towards Wee Jasper is not being used, and the majority of locations are accessible by 2 Wheel Drive vehicles. Many of the checkpoints are open for many many hours and so we would like to run 'shifts' if possible so individuals are not out in the forest for too many hours. CP 1 is within the Sherwood Homestead area (behind locked gates) with the commencement time to be 'on-site' being 5.00 AM and an anticipated close time of around 12.30 PM, access to this location is from Mountain Road and in via Sherwood Road. CP2 is on the Corner of East West Road & West Knob Road not far off Brindabella Road and has an open time of 5.30 AM and anticipated close of around 1.45 PM, Access via 2WD. CP3 is on Blue Range Road approx. 1.9KM from Brindabella Road and has an open time of 5.45 AM and anticipated close of around 3.00 PM, Access via 2WD. CP4 is on the intersection of Blue Range Road and Two Sticks Road and has an open time of 6.30 AM and anticipated close of around 12.00 Noon, Access via 2WD. CP5 is presently listed as being on the Intersection of One Stick and Two Sticks road, however the organisers are contemplating moving it back down the course due to the poor condition of the roads in that location, CP5 has an open time of 7.00 AM and anticipated close of 3.30 PM and a 4WD would be preferred. Then we have HQ which is located at the Brookvale property along Doctors Flat Road some 1.5 KM from Mountain Creek Road. HQ needs to be open around 4.15 AM to handle Travellers Net as the Field Point persons move into place, HQ would then remain open until around 4.00 PM in the afternoon and ideally we need 4 persons across the day for that. The tasking is not onerous, basically the people at the field stations note the arrival time of each rider noting their Bib Number and time of arrival (within a few minutes), though when a large number of riders arrive at the same time it can be confusing as some riders may yell their number and keep riding and some will stop and chat. About every 15 Minutes you'd then call into to HQ and pass the information across. Of course anyone who has urgent messages to pass would call in ASAP. We normally try to notate the Arrival time AND the Departure time of any rider who remains at a checkpoint for more than 10 minutes, though it is understood this may not occur due to other people arriving and departing. It is normally the younger riders and horses in training that will linger. WICEN Operations will be on 2 Metres using a Portable Repeater erected on "Pig Hill" as in past years with VK1RAC on Bulls Head being an alternate. The ride officials will also have their own radio communications using some of the WICEN 80 MHz radio and commercial licenced frequencies. So, now the "Begging" part of the email (and apologies to people who may get this email numerous times via different lists).. Please, Please, Please, if you can assist on Sunday 6th October (Yes, it is the Sunday of the 'long weekend') then please jump onto the registration form at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfx9jrYqVh3tCAuXswsy_vqD-8LjhxdSmAZ Eshlx6gX8G30Ww/viewform and register your interest and availability. Cheers for now, Phil Longworth VK1PL Deputy State Coordinator, WICEN ACT Life Member, Canberra Region Amateur Radio Club -- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software. www.avg.com

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WICEN ACT support to the Brookvale Horse Endurance Ride - call for volunteers
by Matt 14 Sep '24

14 Sep '24

Good evening all, The Brookvale Horse Endurance ride - the first (and pretty much only) WICEN supported event for Spring 2024 is approaching us. The event takes place on the trails in the Uriarra /Sherwood forest areas on Sunday 6 October with horses and their riders covering distances of up to 80km. This years event has changed with the first leg no longer going up west of the ride HQ - both legs will be in the Uriarra /Sherwood forest areas. We need to provide operators for 5 check points and the headquarters - some checkpoints may need to have divided shifts and the HQ will definitely need multiple shifts, so anticipate needing at least 10-12 operators, although more is better! This event normally has some relatively early starts (historically around 5am for the early checkpoints), so an event well suited for the early birds. The checkpoints are off forestry tracks, so in most case relatively easily accessed by 2WD vehicles with a bit of clearance, but as always if they get really wet, they can end up being better suited to 4WD access, so please let us know what your vehicle situation is when advising availability. If you can assist with this event, please respond using the web form at the below link. Replying to this email is nice, but I am going to ask you to fill out the form so that all organisers can see the responses. Of course if you do have questions about it, please feel free to ask us direct. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfx9jrYqVh3tCAuXswsy_vqD-8LjhxdSmAZ Eshlx6gX8G30Ww/viewform Matt VK1MA WICEN ACT Coordinator

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