Good and bad experiences...

[K3MRI]

I'd love to hear some of your good and bad experiences with public service events. I'll start it off with a mini mini beef of mine and that's toilets. It may seem silly, but on one of my first marathons, as an operator, they put me at a mile marker that has zero facilities. Not fun. Plus it was a downtown so no nice tree to hide behind. I also wish that there were more hams involved in these types of events. It's often a problem to have a critical mass of operators making the operation somewhat inefficient. Last thought is parking. Often there is no parking at public service events, especially on races, so you may end up walking a few miles...

[KD3Y]

I've had nothing but good experiences so far with public service events.

My club provided coms for a 70 mile triathlon last year.  We had hams at all the first aid stations, a ham mobile to drive the race route to pick up broken down bikers and worn out runners, and a ham assigned to the race coordinator to give him updates and information as the race progressed.  It was the first time I got to actually use my receiver hitch mast setup on my truck.  It worked a whole lot better than a handy talky with a rubber duck.  I had a local shop weld me an aluminium tube mount to fit in my trucks receiver hitch so I could mount a j-pole on a 16 ft mast.  Then I can usually sit on the tailgate and operate from a mobile radio powered from a solar-charged battery.

We also provided coms for a large bluegrass festival last fall.  Hams were stationed at points were the roads we blocked off for traffic control, hams were walking around providing first aid and to assist visitors, and a ham was assigned to the event staff to pass along information that was relayed from the other hams.  Normally with some event like that where they close streets for the event, whomever is running the show issues us some kind of pass so we are considered "staff" and can pass the road blocks where the general public isn't allowed to enter.

Coordination with event coordinators and clear communication goes a long way in things like that so the event staff knows what we expect from them, and so we know what they expect from us.   So far as the toilet situation, well it is what it is.  After about the first 2 hours, the porta-potties are so nasty I just don't bother.  It pays to leave the coffee mug at home in that situation.   We try to have enough volunteers so that if one ham assigned to a fixed post where he can't just leave, he can call one of the roving hams to come take his spot for a few minutes while he finds a toilet.   We usually try to rotate thru the fixed posts in shifts so that no one spends more than 2 hours on a post.  That gives everyone the opportunity to have a restroom break, get something to eat, or just rest for a little bit.   Having one ham assigned to a fixed post for 5 or 6 hours is just too much.

 

[K3MRI]

Sounds like a great, well-organized, experience. Indeed, the HT challenges are often a problem, especially when repeaters are too far or if the distances are too great for simplex. Unfortunately, in many events, having a vehicle is a problem. One of the solutions we've implemented often is a mobile repeater. It works really well when it is properly located. Also of note in your post is how you were also picking people up. I have found that in most events, they do not want us doing that. It's more like... just do what you do... communicate. I default to wanting to help out in more ways that just keying up the mic, but sometimes that is all they want.

Thanks for sharing!!

[KD3Y]

Absolutely.  That's one thing some "volunteers" forget.  Our services are at the will and pleasure of the event leadership, we don't try to "run the show" so to speak.   That's why communication with the event staff beforehand is so important so we understand what they want from us, so we know when to act and when to sit down and shut up.  Volunteers are invited to help in an event and they can be "fired" anytime the staff leadership makes that call.

[NS7X]

K3MRI wrote in August 2019, "I'll start it off with a mini mini beef of mine and that's toilets." 

Sorry, but that comment made me laugh as it brought a great memory to mind.

The OM (Bob) and I used to work the Bataan Memorial Death March which is a marathon held annually in the desert at the White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico.  (It honors our troops who were captured early in World War II and who were force marched on the infamous Bataan Death March.)  The runners in this event not only have the desert to deal with, but also the elevation, as well as the high desert winds.  In addition to that, many of the runners enter in the "heavy class" meaning they carry 40 pound packs for the run.

Anyway, Bob and I were the "comm unit" for the last water stop on the marathon.  We always had three or four porta-potties at our location, and trust me on this one, those porta-potties did a whole lot of business.

One year, those desert winds I mentioned earlier were extraordinarily strong.  So strong, in fact, that our porta-potties didn't just blow over, but they went on a tumbling ride down an arroyo.  Bob and I, of course, reported the incident to net control.  Net control asked us how many porta-potties were occupied when they went air-borne.  We answered that we didn't know, and further, we weren't going to be the ones to find out.  So, net control sent LEO to do the (pardon the expression) "head count." 

Fortunately, no one was in any of the prodigal-potties, but to this day I shudder to think what the insides of those chemical toilets must have looked like.
 

[K3MRI]

I will never look at a portapotty the same way again. I will have visions of myself tumbling across the desert.