We have been assigned a fantastic spot for the Roanoke Go Fest at Elmwood Park. (No information yet on Explorer Park location.)  We are at the corner of Elm and Williamson Road, right at the entrance to Go Fest where a lot of people will be walking in.  The pictures to the left show the location and what it looks like. We are that one little tag at the bottom left. We have trees close to run an End Fed antenna for HF and UHF.  We are at the corner, so we can set up two 6 ft tables instead of crowding into one, and use a 10×10 canopy, so there should be plenty of room. Remember we are sharing our space with the Red Cross. They will have their own participants, but when necessary, we will cover for each other.  They will also have Ernie, the robot, to attract people.

The times that we need hams to monitor the tables at Elmwood Park has been shortened.  The time for vendor tables ends at 8:00PM on Friday and Saturday night.  Go Fest still has activities up until 10:00 Saturday night, but it is music or other large activities for people to attend. 

Marty K4EQS, our president, is planning on being at the Go Fest each day to help with setup and tear down to make sure that everything is running fine.  So anyone can be a participant without having to worry about getting things set up or torn down.  We still need volunteers to run the tables during the hours shown below.  The goal is to spread the word about ham radio, get people to know about it and get interested in it.

People can bring their own radios, or they can use the radio of RVARC, which is a YAESU 991A that can handle all frequencies. Just make sure, if you bring your own radio, that you take it with you when you leave.  We do not want anything left behind.

Here are the ideas we have so far:

• Set up a POTA station at Explorer Park and have hunters check in. People can walk by, hear this going on and look at a map to see where contacts have been made.
• Set up a “Get on the air” Station at Elmwood Park where people can talk on the radio themselves.
• Demonstrate the usefulness of 2 meter communications for outdoor activities and emergencies.
• Set up a JOTA station at Explorer Park for the Scout Jamboree on the Air (JOTA).
• If we have any loose hams with handhelds walking around the park, they can connect with people and let them communicate with the base station.

The vendor coordinator of the Go Fest seemed really excited about our participation.  Let’s do a good job of promoting ham radio to the area. Please submit the day and hour and station that you can man to webmaster@w4ca.com.  I will put your call sign in the picture below. We need 2 people at each station continuously, with replacements at any point.  Never leave the radios unattended.