Fredericksburg, VA., May 24, 2012: Sunday, May 20, members of the
Rappahannock Valley Amateur Radio Club (RVARC) supported the running of the
Marine Corps Historic Half in Fredericksburg, Virginia.


This was the fifth running of this annual event and once again the hams of
the RVARC donated their time, skills and equipment to support the United
States Marine Corps and the athletes who participated in the 13.1-mile race.
The club president, Tom Harmon (AK1E), and club event coordinator Warren Lee
(W4SHS) manned phone, packet and APRSR radios and computers in the net
control station at the command and operations center while 26 other club
members were stationed around the course at mile markers, aid and water
stations, and in the lead and trailing vehicles escorting the runners. One
member, Frank Haas (WA4PAG), ran the course as a participant, carrying an
HT.


Operators deployed in the pre-dawn darkness two hours before the starting
howitzer. All stations were manned and ready when, just five minutes before
the gun, all communications on the primary net simplex frequency were
disrupted by a case of tropospheric ducting that brought in traffic on a
repeater more than 200 miles away. All stations then switched to our
secondary frequency and the net was back up and ready when the gun went off.
The only other problem the club encountered during the event happened
several hours later when the club's EmComm truck, nicknamed "Harvey" and
owned and operated by Bernhard Behling (KJ4VOV), suffered a catastrophic
alternator meltdown while following the last runner. Tom Hitt (W4LLK) then
took over in his own car as the tail vehicle for the remainder of the race.


This year marks the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Rappahannock
Valley Amateur Radio Club, and ARRL-affiliated club, which has been the
recipient of many awards as an enthusiastic supporter of public service
events in the Fredericksburg area for the last six decades.


Those hams who took part in Sunday's event were:

Tom Harmon (AK1E), Warren Lee (W4SHS), Jack Cavanaugh (KB4XF), Dar Horne
(KD4CVC), Nick McCormick (KK4GBI),
Dave Seals (KG4SUM), Bob Kenny (AA2FD), Larry Campbell (AK4FB),
Joe Hammel, Jr (N3KWA), David Collins (N4WDC), Steve Hare (KI4UDE), Paul
Travis Jr (K0PT), Tim Gajewski (KU4IY), Andy Thompson (N9VT), Wayne Gardner
(KI4DAK), Chuck Hayward (KK4GSI), Robby Cherry (KD4WUO), Dennis Kieper
(K4GZS), Patrick Schwarz (KB8RTZ), Gordon Thomas (WB4LNT), Dave Perrussel
(KK4GBC), John Cross (WB4TYS), Jim McCloud (KU4C), Tom Hitt (W4LLK), Scott
Bey (KK4DBA), Bernhard Behling (KJ4VOV), David Garvin (NO3B), Frank Haas
(WA4PAG)