Hello everyone,

This email is going out to people on the ACT WICEN MEMBERS and VK1-NEWS email lists and so some people may get it twice.

This is the formal request for assistance for this years National Capital Rally which is being conducted Friday 1st June through Sunday 3rd June 2017.

The draft itinerary and maps from the organisors reveals there will be 4 physical stages on the Saturday and 3 physical stages on the Sunday with each stage being run twice.

Saturday is basically the same as last year as follows.....

SS1 / SS6 will be Colverwells which is a small piece of Kowen Forest located between the Railway line and the Molonglo River accessed from the Kings Hwy near Weetalabah. This stage is approx 6.5 KM's of competitive distance and will have a Start, SOS A & Stop. Guestimate meet time is expected to be around 0630 and a potential finish time around 1630.

SS2 / SS7 will be Hibernian which is located off the Kings Hwy near where the now closed section of the old kings Hwy at "Sparrows". This stage is approx 22 KM's of competitive distance and will have a Start, SOS A, SOS B, SOS C, SOS D & Stop. Guestimate meet time is expected to be around 0645 and a potential finish time around 1700.

SS3 / SS8 will be Womboin Reverse which is the old "River Road" and "Womboin" stages combined into one and run in the reverse direction to previous years. This stage is approx 25 KM's of competitive distance and will have a Start, SOS A, SOS B, SOS C, SOS D & Stop. Guestimate meet time is expected to be around 0730 and a potential finish time around 1715.

SS4 / SS5 will be Homestead which is a very short stage at the "jump" in Kowen Forest. This stage is approx 1.7 KM's of competitive distance and will have a Start & Stop only. Each competitor will go through twice before heading off to Service prior to running the 3 longer stages again later in the day. Guestimate meet time is expected to be around 0900 and a potential finish time around 1430.

We will need 17 Field stations for the Saturday and around 6 or 7 people in HQ across the day also.

Sunday is quite different to last year and is as follows.....

SS9 / SS12 will be Sherwood which starts out on East West Road near Uriarra Village and runs through the forest finishing off Blue Range Road. This stage is approx 24.75 KM's of competitive distance and will have a Start, SOS A, SOS B, SOS C, SOS D, SOS E & Stop. Guestimate meet time is expected to be around 0600 and a potential finish time around 1545.

SS10 / SS13 will be Laurel Camp which is located in the Pearces West / Tidbinbilla part of the Brindabellas. This stage is approx 16.4 KM's of competitive distance and will have a Start, SOS A, SOS B, SOS C & Stop. Guestimate meet time is expected to be around 0630 and a potential finish time around 1630.

SS11 / SS14 will be Tidbinbilla which starts out near the Tidbinbilla Tracking Station and weaves it's way back to Paddys River road near Cotter. This stage is approx 18.3 KM's of competitive distance and will have a Start, SOS A, SOS B, SOS C & Stop. Guestimate meet time is expected to be around 0700 and a potential finish time around 1730.

We will need 17 Field stations for the Sunday and around 6 or 7 people in HQ across the day also.

We need to firm up people's availability and restrictions so as to be able to organise a roster. Volunteers also need to REGISTER AS A VOLUNTEER on the NatCap Rally website, please get in early at http://netiernationalcapitalrally.com.au/#volunteer so you can be listed to get a T-shirt etc (there will not be an additional T-shirt run this year, if you aren't registered by the cut-off date then no shirt). Please note that you are a WICEN Radio Operator in the "Comments and Previous Experience" section (regardless of whether you have done rallies before or not) of the registration page, and select "Administration" in the "Area's interested in working" section.

I am also looking for people to look after the booking out, and returning back in of the fleet of radio's used by the officials. The officials use a set of Commercial UHF frequencies and have a set of ICOM Mobile and Handheld radio's, along with other radio's borrowed from WICEN and elsewhere. The tracking of these radio's has been very problematic over the past few years and so I'd like to get some people from a radio background to handle the issueing and receipt of these items instead of it being left to "anybody who is around" at HQ. It is not very onerous and would suit somebody who has time to spare during the week leading up to the Rally (Tues 29 May - Fri 1 June) and don't mind sitting around with not much to do.

If you can assist then please email to wicen@crarc.ampr.org the following information....

National Capital Rally 2017 WICEN Availability...... Your Name & Callsign : If you are available for Saturday 2nd June Y/N If Y, are there any time restrictions on you ? Y/N (and if Y, please state what they are) If you are available for Sunday 3rd June Y/N If Y, are there any time restrictions on you ? Y/N (and if Y, please state what they are) Do you have any vehicle restrictions that would restrict you being able to traverse dirt roads in the forest Y/N Do you have VHF radio (2 metres) capable of 10 watts or more with a suitable antenna Y/N Do you have UHF radio (70 cm) capable of 10 watts or more with a suitable antenna Y/N Can you operate said radio's away from your vehicle Y/N Your Mobile Phone Number for contact. Please list any preferences of what you would like to do.

Please let us know even if you cannot assist as that way we can make notes that you are not available and we (hopefully) won't make further contact.

Cheers All,

Phil Longworth VK1PL Deputy State Coordinator, WICEN ACT