Hi all,
The 2026 Wings Over Camarillo Airshow is coming up Sat-Sun August 15-16
Since I might not have access to every possible mailing lists, please feel free to forward this call for volunteers to any other ham radio operator, and/or any other ham clubs/groups/organizations that you are a member of.
This year I am coordinating the volunteer registration, and since our epileptic dog passed, I will be able to attend in person for the first time in a few years.
*Overview*:
If you have volunteered in previous years, there should be no (or minimal) changes from last year.
Each day is divided into two shifts, a morning shift and an afternoon shift
There are two main types of jobs, the roaming color teams (and rovers), and the net control (and comm lead / asst comm lead) jobs
There is also a show director "shadow" job, which should be a very exciting close-up assignment, you will have two radios: a commercial show radio and your ham radio. The Shadow will follow the show director and provide communication support to the show director. You are welcome to sign up for two consecutive Shadow shifts and stay with the show director for the entire day.
The net control (and comm/asst comm lead) will be based in the comm trailer, slightly longer shifts to ensure overlap between morning and afternoon shifts
The showgrounds is divided into four sectors A/B/C/D (maps showing the four sector and grids will be provided)
There are four two-person color teams (blue/green/purple/red), each two-person color team will cover one of the show sectors for an hour and then move to a different sector (as instructed by net control), allowing each color team to enjoy all sectors of the show.
The rover position is similar to color teams, but roves solo and not limited to single sector at a time and can rove over the entire show, also acting as a "gofer" and as backup for any color team member who might need to take a break
The color teams and rovers will stroll through the showgrounds enjoy the static displays and the airshow above, while providing eyes/ears/comms
Plan on four hours of walking in the hot August sun.
Bring your HT, headset/earpiece, a yellow shirt, communications vest (if you have one), hat, sunscreen, food/snacks, water, etc
Free entrance to the show, parking, t-shirt, pancake breakfast, lunch, and all the water and soft drinks you can drink
If you volunteer for a morning shift, you may stay and enjoy the show in the afternoon, and vice versa come early enjoy the show in the morning then work your afternoon shift
You may sign up for both morning and afternoon shifts and/or for both days or for different job types.
*Registration instructions:*
The volunteer registration requires multiple steps and forms to fill in and submit
1- to start the registration process, please go to:
https://woc.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/?id=111532&job_name=ham%20radio...
however, if you attempt to get into the volunteer registration from the main sige, you will have to Click on "sign up now" button
2- Enter your first name and email on the first form
Note: the volunteerlocal.com site does not use passwords, instead it sends a unique login link to your email address, please double check your email address If you enter a wrong email address, you will not get the confirmation message with the login link (if this happens, please contact me)
3.a - If the profile associated with the email you entered is already in the system you will be taken directly to the sign up page (step 6)
3.b- Otherwise, it will prompt you to enter more profile details on the next form Enter the rest of the required details (for group select "Ham Radio Operators") and click "Complete Application"
4- The ham radio jobs/shifts are password protected, therefore, on the sign up page you will NOT see the ham radio jobs unless you enter the password *ham73*
5- once you enter the *ham73* password, you will see a yellow "Ham Radio Operators" button but both days note that all shifts might be in a "collapsed" mode
6- if shifts are collapsed, click on the yellow button, then click on the date(s) to expand the list of available jobs/shifts for each day
7- Select the jobs/shift(s) you would like to volunteer for.
*If you do not see a job/shift, it means that it was already taken**. *Please contact me if the shift you want is your only availability, and I'll do my best to swap.
8- Scroll to the bottom of the page and click to check the disclaimer acceptance checkbox and fill in your name, then click "sign up to volunteer"
9- You should receive a confirmation email from Robert Bush who is the administrator of the Wings Over Camarillo volunteerlocal.com website
*Please keep this message handy since it includes an "Open your profile" button at the bottom.* if you do not get a confirmation email, or if you have any questions/concerns/problems, please contact me directly
avi@carmi.us or 805-616-2636
Please leave a message if stupid Verizon thinks you are a spammer.
Do not reply to the email sent by the VolunteerLocal website, as it will go the the global volunteer coordinator
*but wait, there's more...*
The volunteer details form (step 4b above) might NOT include your call sign, even though it is a required field...
If that happens, please enter your call sign in "your profile" page:
A.1.a- click on "open your profile" button (from the email at step 10 above) and it should take you directly to your "volunteer application" page (step A.2 below)
A.1.b- or go back to https://woc.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/ and click on "View your profile and check your shifts" button
then, if you are already "logged in" it should take you directly to your "volunteer application" page (step A.2 below)
otherwise, if you are not "logged in", the "View your profile and check your shifts" button will take you to "Access your profile" page, fill in your email address and click submit the system will then send you an email message from Robert Bush, click on the profile link in the email message, which should take you directly to your "volunteer application" page (step A.2 below)
A.2- the "volunteer application" page will show your name and current shifts
A.3- finally, to enter your call sign, click on the "Your profile" button next to your name, which should pull down a form with your current information
A.4- fill in your call sign, check the rest of your information for accuracy and then click "save information"
you can repeat step A.1.a/b at any time to get back to step A.2 where you can view your current shifts, sign up for additional shift(s), cancel existing shifts, or update your profile.
Please contact me directly if you have any question or issues, or if you enter a wrong/typo in your initial email address (since this will send confirmation to a non-existing email address... )
More details about the event, such as the map, parking passes (and where to park), entrance procedure, how to get the breakfast tickets, etc, will be sent to registered volunteers via the volunteerlocal.com website as these details become available.
Thanks,
-avi