The time of year is upon us again for the 2017 Fargo Marathon!

In partnership with local emergency responders, RRRA will once again be providing the communications backbone for the Marathon aid stations. For those that have volunteered in the past, the course is very similar to last year’s. One main difference is starting inside the Fargodome instead of out on University.

Please see the Fargo Marathon 2017 page for the event schedule, equipment list, etc.

RRRA communications support for the Fargo Marathon will be coordinated through the Marathon Mailing List. So all operators who wish to volunteer for this event must subscribe to the Marathon Mailing List; even those who who signed up on paper at the May club meeting.

Three amateur radio operators (hams) are still needed to provide communications support for Walk MS: Fargo 2017 on April 29th, 2017. And a cross-band repeater is needed for the Start/Finish Line position.

New hams are encouraged to participate in this event to gain experience in Amateur Radio Public Service Communication operations.

Radio operators interested in volunteering for this event should contact .

Seven amateur radio operators (hams) are needed to provide communications support for Walk MS: Fargo 2017 on April 29th, 2017.

Our served agencies are accustomed to utilizing direct (i.e. person-to-person) and virtually instantaneous communications to conduct their operations. These means of communication (e.g. the telephone, email with attachments, and instant messaging through a wide variety of platforms) depend upon extensive, and often fragile, infrastructure which can be disrupted during incidents ranging in scale from a localized fiber-optic cable cut to regional severe weather events.

As past FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, KK4INZ, said in Ham Radio Now Emcomm Extra #8, when an incident occurs “they just want their email to work.”

Traditional public service (aka Emcomm) messaging often does not meet the expectations of today’s served agencies (our customers). Amateur Radio operator typically utilize indirect communication paths with paper forms for origination / delivery and transcription style transfer methods (e.g. voice or CW); this does not provide the style of communication preferred by our customers.

Those who were unable to attend the Fargo and Sabin SKYWARN® classes may wish to visit the NWS WFO Grand Forks, ND page to learn about other 2017 Spotter Training Sessions in the Red River Valley.