![Selfie in the desert showing Jared, truck, trailer, side by side, antenna mast, radios, table, and chair]()
Each spring, the Salty Lizard gravel
bike race brings hundreds of cyclists to Utah’s west desert. Most of the course
has no cell service, so amateur radio operators provide communication support
for the 3 aid stations and drive the SAG vehicles which roam the course. I
volunteered to help out at this years event, which was held on April 4, 2026.
The race course goes around and through the Silver Island
Range, a small outcrop of
rock in the middle of one of least hospitable places on earth. There are few
plants, and fewer animals. The range lies within a 90 mile stretch between fresh
water sources. If you don’t bring it, you don’t have it. The difference between
the mountains and the surrounding salt flats is there’s more rock on the
mountains, and less salt. For a ham radio operator, this unforgiving environment
makes a great place to pressure test your skills and equipment.
Using the Incident Command System
Rex KC7SHL from the West Desert Amateur Radio Club organized
the ham radio support for the event. He used a few of the forms from the
Incident Command System (ICS) which is part of National Incident Management System (NIMS)
from the United States Department of Homeland Security. We sometimes think of ICS
as only being useful for managing large multi-agency disaster responses. But ICS
was designed to be easily adapted to any size event, whether emergency or planned.
It was easy adapt the ICS for this bike race. In advance of the event, Rex sent
out several iterations of the ICS 201 Incident Briefing form, which contained
all the evolving details of the event. This form had an overview map, the GPS
locations of the various aid stations, and the three routes different groups of
riders would be following. He included the ICS 204 form so everyone was clear on
what our assignments were. He also sent the ICS 205 with the radio frequencies
we would use as part of the event. A few pages of filled out forms, easy to
follow and understand, clearly communicated all the information we needed.
![Salty Lizard 2026 ics form 201]()
I logged the key activities at my station using ICS form 214, starting when I checked in with
Rex at the start/finish line the night before the event started. I logged when I arrived
at my aid station, when I had my radio station set up and operational. Early the next morning
before the first group of riders started, I logged when I established contact with Net Control.
By the time the event was over, my activity log fit neatly on a single page.
Loadout
Here’s the key equipment I used during the event. Don’t look at this list and
think that if you don’t have all this you can’t do an event. There are many
events that require nothing more than a 5W handheld and an extra battery.
Because of the location, terrain, and length of the event, I needed to bring
quite a bit of stuff to operate my station.
- Kenwood TM-V71 50W mobile radio
- 25ft Max-Gain Systems push-up fiberglass mast
- Diamond X50 antenna
- LMR400 feed line
- 40 Amp Hour LiFePO4 battery
- 42W Powerfilm rollable solar panel
- MPPT solar charge controller
- Baofeng UV5R Mini
- Wouxun KG-UV9PX
I also brought along the following backup gear:
- Yaesu FTM500DR 50W mobile radio (it’s mounted in my truck but can easily be removed and
pressed into service elsewhere)
- Honda EU1000i generator
- Diamond X300 antenna
- Extra feed lines
- Kenwood TH-D75
![Radio setup for Aid Station 1: truck, trailer, side by side, antenna mast, radios, table, and chair]()
Lessons Learned
I had a few specific things I wanted to test on this event.
First, I wanted to run the Kenwood as a cross-band repeater, with one side of
the radio connected to the repeater used for the event, and the other side on a
simplex frequency. This setup allowed me to use a handheld during the race,
which otherwise would not be possible because a handheld can not reach the
repeater we used. This setup worked great, and I did all my comms using through
the cross-band repeater using a handheld.
Second, running the Kenwood as a cross-band repeater materially increases the
transmit duty cycle, because every signal received is also transmitted. I wanted
to find out if my solar panel could keep up with the increased current load. In
ideal solar conditions, not too hot, and full direct sun, my solar panel put as
much power back into the battery as the radio drew out.
Tips and Tricks
If you decide to do an event, here’s some tips and tricks I’ve learned that
might be helpful.
Be self-sufficient. Bring everything you’ll need during the event, including
water, food, shade, and a chair.
Make a checklist of everything you need for an event. If it’s your first event
consider a dry-run at a local park. Use your checklist to pack up everything you
need for the event. Drive to the park, and set up your station and get on
the air. You’ll quickly learn whether your equipment all works like you expected,
and what you forgot to put on your checklist.
Two is one and one is none. Have a backup for everything. One of the ham radio
operators at this event couldn’t get his station working because he had a short
in his feedline, and he didn’t have a second cable. My backup antenna saved me
on this trip. I planned to use a Diamond X300, but when I went to attach it to
the mast I found that one of the screws was missing. Had I not brought along
a second antenna, I would have been out of commission.
Bring ping or orange flagging tape to attach to the guy lines on your mast.
You don’t want anyone tripping or running into them during the event.
Shade is great for humans, and essential for equipment. I brought a small
tarp to create shade for the battery and the Kenwood radio. If they sat
in direct sun all day I’m sure they would have overheated.
Get an inexpensive zipper binder to use for your log book. Hole punch all
your materials for the event, including blank pages for your activity and
communications log. This will keep the papers from blowing away in the breeze
during the event.
This event was long, I was on station from 6:45a to 2:35p. I went through
several handheld batteries. If you are using a handheld in long events like
this one, it’s a good idea to have a main power source (large battery, solar panels,
generator) that you can recharge your handheld batteries from.
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