NavShield 2022 at Tarlo River National Park

While many club members were burning up the 160m band at Berrima, some 36km to the west sou’west, Richard VK2SKY and Simon Brown VK2TW donned their WICEN uniforms to assist with Bush Search and Rescue (BSAR) NSW’s annual NavShield event.

As is normal for this event, multiple emergency service agencies were involved, both as competitors and/or event support, including the NSW State Emergency Service, NSW Rural Fire Service, St John Ambulance, Ambulance and Special Operations Team, the Australian Defence Forces, the Salvation Army, and others, as well bushwalking and rogaining clubs.

WICEN was there flying the flag for VRA Rescue NSW, and of course Amateur Radio! For those who don’t know, WICEN is a support squad of the VRA, specialising in – guess what? – radio communications!

If you’re unfamiliar with rogaining, it’s basically long-distance, cross-country navigation using only compass and map. No GPS or Google Maps allowed!

Each year, NavShield happens in a different location within about three hours drive from Sydney. The location is kept secret until shortly before the event starts, to prevent any team gaining an advantage from “research”. This year it was in Tarlo River National Park.

The course was roughly 10km × 10km, plenty of space to get lost in. There were only three checkpoints on the course, and about three dozen flags planted at various locations, each worth a different number of points. Teams could electronically “punch” whichever flags they liked, aiming to get the maximum number of points earned. They could participate on just the Saturday, or stay out overnight and make a two day event of it.

Simon and I arrived on site mid-Friday afternoon, when it was still a calm sunny winter’s day. Fortunately it stayed dry, but the wind and the cold would prove to be another matter!

After setting up our tents, we set about helping the SES personnel prepare the IMB (Incident Management Base) in any way we could. This involved everything from setting up radios and battery chargers, raising the HF antenna and unfurling a 100m ethernet cable from the antenna to the control head, pre-filling log sheets, lugging concrete blocks to support the satellite ground station, you name it.

BSAR provided a broadband tactical HF antenna, for NVIS communications on commercial 2/5/7MHz channels. We hooked up an antenna analyser and found the SWR a bit over 2:1 on those bands – and the Amateur ones for good measure – not perfect, but adequate for the job at hand. In any case, most communications was on PSN (the NSW government’s Public Safety Network), which performed well over the entire course, thanks to a CoW (Cell on Wheels) provided by the SES Operational Support Unit. We also had a VRA handheld for keeping in touch with our WICEN colleagues back in Sydney.

We also had UHF CB and Iridium satellite phones, both of which came in handy during the event. No mobile phone coverage or internet, except very limited bandwidth via a small satellite ground station, for essential external comms only. I was tempted to fire up my ICOM IC-705, but I don’t think my Sotabeams Band Hopper IV link dipole would have survived the night… also, the nearest 2m repeater was about 60km away.

Weather conditions on site were challenging, with temperatures down to -6C on Friday night and a couple of degrees warmer on Saturday.

By Saturday afternoon, we were getting weather forecasts of high winds, 50-60kmh (gusting to 90kmh), which arrived by the evening, making conditions somewhat difficult for everyone. Despite the extra efforts to secure them, several tents were damaged, and by morning Simon and I had to relocate to an SES comms van.

Despite the conditions, most participants finished the event in one piece, though there were a few trips to Goulburn Base Hospital. These events gave us good practice in real-life emergency traffic handling, but there was better to come…

By the end of the one-day event (6pm Saturday), one team still had not returned to the Event Base. When they were about 30 minutes overdue, the meticulous plan for such events was activated, so as to be ready for a real Search and Rescue operation. Fortunately, the missing team was eventually located, in good health and spirits and able to walk off the course, so all ended well. Plus, more good emergency traffic practice for Simon and me!

By comparison, the second half of the two-day event was fairly uneventful, with most teams setting off at first light but many having continued trekking throughout the night, sleep and fatigue be damned. By midday, everyone was accounted for, and we were packed up and ready for the drive back to Sydney.

The Salvation Army’s Emergency Services Unit (yes, they have one) provided catering for the event, and they did fine job of it. Arguably, the most notable meals were Saturday night’s dessert that included ice cream (“who cares if it the air temperature is close to zero? Challenge accepted!“) and Sunday’s breakfast of French Toast and bacon with maple syrup. The frosty air temperature took its toll on the walk back to the comms tent, but the food still tasted good. Also worthy of mention was the fruitcake below, which was still moist and tasty despite the Best Before date on the packet!

My ego won’t let me omit the generous review that the SES Incident Controller, Glenn Strkalj, gave us for the event – thanks Glenn:

“WICEN NSW members provided Communications Operators at Incident Management Base. Communications Operators need to be calm and disciplined when large amounts or critical radio traffic is apparent combined with the Command team also liaising with them at the same time. Our WICEN NSW operators Simon Brown and Richard Murnane were exactly this: calm, well-disciplined and with good humour throughout. Many thanks to WICEN NSW for providing such great operators.“

For those into numbers, about 262 messages were passed, mostly by Simon and me; had they been Trans-Tasman Contest contacts, I think we would have fared pretty well. Not bad for my first NavShield, and somehow I doubt that it will be my last!

73 Richard VK2SKY