Couple things happened over the weekend that had me thinking about communications from sections to pits. A few details here might not make sense if you wern't at our meet, or know the area. Overlook them.
1. Saturday in Afternoon Section 9 we had a sportsman rider come very near tumbling down into a very deep chasm. Luckily he and bike highsided and stayed on top but it spooked us scorers a little bit. Had he and bike went down in that hole it would have been very ugly.
2. Upon arriving at Section 6 to score Sunday afternoon, my fellow scorer commented that the Champ line was crazy large and asked if I thought they should set things not quite so large when we were that far away from easily getting EMS on scene if something went bad. Like a crystal ball, one of our Champs didn't make it and ended up bailing down. Nothing hurt but egos, but very easily could have become a very bad day.
3. After we were finished up Sunday all scorers headed back to the pits for awards. Awards began and then we realized there were still scorers (and the club president) out in the desert. They hadn't all got back in yet. Once again, luckily there wasn't a major issue and it was just oversight that we started before they got in.
So in the 4x4 world these little radios are gaining quite a bit of popularity. They are stupid cheap (<$50ea) and with an upgraded antenna work surprisingly well. With the exception of some of the far out sections in Roswell i think they would transmit/receive the distance no problem. It seems like 10 radios would be a good investment to the club. 1 for the TM, 1 for someone at the registration table, and 1 for each section. I am unsure the process/cost of setting up a NMTA frequency with the FCC but I know many of my offroad race teams do it so it cant be too bad.
Thoughts? Do other clubs have coms with the pits/sections somehow? I have 5 radios, should I bring them out next event to try out? Am i just being a big ol scardycat?
1. Saturday in Afternoon Section 9 we had a sportsman rider come very near tumbling down into a very deep chasm. Luckily he and bike highsided and stayed on top but it spooked us scorers a little bit. Had he and bike went down in that hole it would have been very ugly.
2. Upon arriving at Section 6 to score Sunday afternoon, my fellow scorer commented that the Champ line was crazy large and asked if I thought they should set things not quite so large when we were that far away from easily getting EMS on scene if something went bad. Like a crystal ball, one of our Champs didn't make it and ended up bailing down. Nothing hurt but egos, but very easily could have become a very bad day.
3. After we were finished up Sunday all scorers headed back to the pits for awards. Awards began and then we realized there were still scorers (and the club president) out in the desert. They hadn't all got back in yet. Once again, luckily there wasn't a major issue and it was just oversight that we started before they got in.
So in the 4x4 world these little radios are gaining quite a bit of popularity. They are stupid cheap (<$50ea) and with an upgraded antenna work surprisingly well. With the exception of some of the far out sections in Roswell i think they would transmit/receive the distance no problem. It seems like 10 radios would be a good investment to the club. 1 for the TM, 1 for someone at the registration table, and 1 for each section. I am unsure the process/cost of setting up a NMTA frequency with the FCC but I know many of my offroad race teams do it so it cant be too bad.
Thoughts? Do other clubs have coms with the pits/sections somehow? I have 5 radios, should I bring them out next event to try out? Am i just being a big ol scardycat?