BeaufortRadioAmateurGroup

W4BFT

Beaufort, SC

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The annual Beaufort Christmas Parade is Sunday, 8 December. We have been asked to support the parade, mostly with the lineup. This is the biggest of the three parades that we support and your help is needed and appreciated. We should be on station around 1:30 PM for a 3:00 PM march-off. Meet near the corner of Boundary and Adventure Streets and find a ham to get your assignment and lineup sheet. The location and parade route is basically the same as recent parades.

Some parade hints - you can skip if you have them already memorized:

H/T’s are the primary communications, and H/T’s are only slightly better than marginal for this purpose.
- They need to be on "high" power (which drains the battery the quickest).
- The little antennas don't work as effectively when close to your body, especially for transmitting.
- Start with a fully-charged battery. Bring an extra charged battery if you have one.
- Put the primary and backup channels in memory ahead of time (frequency, tone, shift . . . )
- Keep transmissions short and to the point. This saves batteries and keeps the frequency clear.
- If you carry your H/T on your hip, it may not get out very well. It usually works better if you hold it in your hand when you transmit.
- Parades are noisy. Consider using an earpiece or speaker-mic close to your ear so you can hear reliably. I have seen over and over where people missed calls because they didn't hear the little H/T speaker down at their hip.
- If it has been quiet for a while, check it out. Is there a "hot mic"? Is someone sitting on the transmit button? Is it you? Are you still on the right frequency?
- Consider "locking" your H/T keypad so you won't accidentally do something you didn't mean to.
I've done all these things myself, so I'm not talking down to anyone.One last thing: Most of the folks we support are very appreciative of our help. There are a few curmudgeons out there (and maybe a few amongst ourselves?). If anyone is unhelpful or giving you a hard time, just try and defuse the situation as best as you can. Don't add fuel to the fire.