No subject

It's about $80 per night after tax (subject to change), and one of the
more affordable hotels within a short radius of the finish/start line.
The official hotel for the event is the Rosen Center, where dinner will
be served Saturday night. A special rate is available there, but rooms
may be sold out by now. Whatever you decide, don't wait.

COMMUNICATIONS PLAN:
The bikeMS tour will operate on several frequencies:
- The NI4CE Network (Pebbledale, Verna, and Riverview will be available
along most of the course...see www.ni4ce.org for full frequency list)
- N4HHA/R in Orlando (443.100, PL 103.5)
- Echolink will tie the two systems together, just like it does for the
Thursday AMSAT nets.
- Secondary repeaters will be used (TBA) to handle less critical
communications.
- Some have asked about D-Star. Due to the limited number of radio
owners, and lack of a connected D-Star machine in Orlando, our
communications will be analog this year.

WHAT YOU NEED:
Since we rely heavily on UHF repeaters, you will need a radio capable of
UHF. A high-power mobile is preferred, especially at the midpoint of the
course. There are plans to move the antenna on the Pebbledale tower to
the east side of the tower, now that Riverview is in place to serve
Hillsborough and points west. If that happens, it will greatly improve
the coverage that NI4CE already provides.

APRS is a very useful tool in an event like this. We would like to have
as many people as possible visible on APRS. If you don't have it, that's
OK. Please don't let that stop you from joining us.

We will have a limited supply of spare radios for anyone who might not
have one of their own. If you have a spare that you are willing to lend
for the weekend, please let us know. Spare antennas are needed, too.

HOW TO HELP:
Signing up is easy! Send an E-Mail to me at jason at ni4ce.org, and/or to
Paul at na4ar at ni4ce.org. We'll make sure that you receive E-Mail
announcements on the Yahoo! Groups reflector created for the event. Let
us know what position(s) you are interested in, as well as the days you
are available. Even if you're not available for the full weekend, we
still welcome your help for either day.

You can also help by spreading this message! If you know fellow hams who
might be interested in helping us, in either the Tampa or Orlando areas,
pass this message along to them. We need at least 50 volunteers this
year, so there's plenty of room for anyone who wants to join us.

The bikeMS is a way for us to use our hobby to support a worthy cause,
and have fun at the same time. It's challenging, inspiring, and lots of
fun. You can't ask for more than that.

We look forward to seeing you April 26 and 27.

73 de Jason, KD4ACG
For more information, contact me at jason at ni4ce.org