I enjoy engaging in amateur radio public service activities throughout the year. The bulk of my work is with the Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association (CAARA), which runs runner safety nets for half marathons March through December (and where I help coordinate volunteer staffing). I also participate in other events as they become available, including the Boston Marathon, Head of the Charles, and others.
This is a record of my public service activities.
Barns and Blooms Half Marathon 2026 - 2026-05-09
I was net control for this year's Barns and Blooms race. There was a light rain throughout most of the race so I pulled my van up to the start line and worked from there, which kept me warm and dry. Repeater access from this race is sometimes a bit spotty, but using an HT with a mag-mounted TWAYRDIO RH 660S worked well. When I swapped the roof mounted antenna for a regular HT antenna to go walking (those donuts weren't going to eat themselves) I noticed a marked drop in audio quality.
Twin Lights Half Marathon 2026 - 2026-05-03
I was Net Control for the Twin Lights half marathon this year. It was an increasingly windy day as the race progressed, leading to some tent-related excitement towards the end as some of our shelters tried to take an ocean vacation.
Marblehead Half Marathon 2026 - 2026-04-12
Today was a lovely day for a race, with lots of sun and highs near 60°F. I started at checkpoint 1, but since we didn't have full coverage for the race I relocated to checkpoint 5 after the lead runner passed by for the second time.
Fool's Dual Half Marathon 2026 - 2026-03-28
It was a chilly start to the season! Kevin (K1KL) was unexpectedly out of town so I kicked off the 2026 season as net control for the Fool's Dual Half Marathon. It was probably overkill, but I brought a mobile and an antenna on a tripod -- I've participated in enough events where net control was having difficulty reaching the repeater that I didn't want to be That Guy.
Happy Holidays Half Marathon 2025 - 2025-12-07
The Happy Holidays Half Marathon (aka Merrithon) is the last half marathon of the season supported by CAARA. For this event, rather than serving at one of the checkjpoints I was shadowing Fred WA1ESU at Net Control. I will be acting as net control for some of the races next year; the plan is to try to rotate several folks through the position so that we have multiple people with appropriate experience.