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Welcome to the Beargrease Amateur Radio Coalition website!
Welcome to BARC! BARC stands for Beargrease Amateur Radio Coalition. We are a
group of ham radio operators dedicated to the John Beargrease Sled Dog
Marathon, which is a 150 and 400 mile sled dog race run on the north shore of
lake superior in the great state of Minnesota. If you would like to learn more
about the Beargrease, or the race in general, you may navigate to the official
Beargrease website at Beargrease.com.
BARC is an organization that was founded for the sole purpose of providing
health and welfare communications using our ham radio licenses
and equipment for the John Beargrease sled dog marathon. Our
primary function is communications, while many volunteers do so much more than
just talk on the radio. Ham radio operators staff net control, road
crossings, and checkpoints throughout the race course. We work the entire race
from start to finish, which usually is 3-5 days, 24 hours a day. Of course, we
never ask anybody to work the entire time, but we often times work in "shifts",
which can sometimes be very long. Whether working net control, road
crossings, or checkpoints, the action can go from intense to boring
quickly. We may work for 6 hours straight, with hardly enough time to take
a break, or we could sit around waiting for teams for 6 hours straight.
We're at the mercy of the flow of the race.
Of course we're not all business either. For many of us, race week is the only
time we see each other. Operators come from as far away as Ontario, to
Wisconsin, to far southern Minnesota. Some of these far away operators have
been volunteering for this race for over 10 years. While we strive to keep our
communications over the air professional and accurate, it is not uncommon to
see a bunch of hams huddled around a campfire at a remote checkpoint telling
jokes and having a good time between teams. We're a group that understands when
it's okay to goof off a little and have a good time and when it's time to get
down to business.
Net Control
 Net control is operated out of Fitger's in Duluth. It is warm, and unlike most checkpoints and
road-crossings, has pizza delivery! This is the "luxury" volunteer opportunity
of the race. Net control is generally worked by those experienced with the
race, or with demonstrated net control experience. There are usually 2 people
working net control at any given time, sometimes 3 or more when it is
busy. Net control operators are responsible for receiving and logging
information from checkpoint and road crossing operators both on paper and into
a tracking program on the computer. Likewise, net control operators pass
traffic between race officials, marathon headquarters, and maintain orderly
control of the race net. There is lots of opportunity to try your hand at net
control with an experienced operator. If you are interested in working Net
Control, please email  for sign
up information.
Road Crossings
 Road crossings are the "roughin' it"
part of the race. Some people love working crossings, others hate it. Ham radio
operators staff road crossings throughout the race and report team crossings to
net control. Depending on the crossing, Sunday afternoon can be very intense
with teams every few minutes, regular traffic, and lots of spectators. Often
times early in the race, teams are reported in groups due to how frequent and
how close they are. On the flip side, road crossings, especially those further
up the shore, can be very boring later in the race, with teams every few hours,
little traffic, and virtually no spectators. Boredom can quickly set in, and
some operators have difficulty with the long wait times between teams, and the
isolated feeling that comes with sitting in the middle of nowhere with the
radio being the only link to the "outside world".
 Road crossing volunteers must also
be prepared to be self-sufficient. Make sure to bring food, and be prepared to
take a walk in the woods if nature calls. Road crossing volunteers often times
will bring foods like beef stew or instant soup and use a portable stove to
warm up food, and water for coffee/soup. Some crossing operators take it even
further and bring a house on wheels (camper), wall tents, or ice fishing houses
and set up camp at
their crossing, while others work out of their vehicles. Some volunteers bring
along portable video games, laptops, or portable DVD players to pass the time,
one guy even sets up a satelite dish to watch TV, while others work HF from
their vehicles between teams.
In addition to the communications responsibilities at road crossings, many BARC
volunteers also choose to assist the mushers by arriving at the crossings early
to shovel snow onto the road. The appreciation received from the mushers is
much worth the hard work, as avoiding the wear on sled runners means a lot to
mushers. If you are interested in volunteering at a road crossing, please email for sign
up information.
Checkpoints
 Ham radio operators also work each
checkpoint throughout the race. We report the bib numbers, dog counts, and
check-in/check-out times for each team, as well as reporting beargrease
officials and veterinarian arrivals and departures and miscellaneous judge and
vet traffic between checkpoints (we're usually the only link from the
checkpoint to the outside world as cell phones dont work at most checkpoints).
Each checkpoint is usually staffed by 3-4 BARC volunteers for the duration of
the race. Some checkpoints require less operators due to their nature and times
they're open. Billy's for example is only open for a few hours on the up-bound
leg, but is open for up to 24 hours on the down-bound leg. Finland is usually
open for the entire race with a good 12-24 hour break between the up-bound and
down-bound leg. Sawbill will sometimes have the first down-bound team only
hours after the last up-bound team left.
 Operating conditions vary from
checkpoint to checkpoint. Some can be worked from inside a camper with the
occasional step outside to communicate with the Beargrease officials, while
others can be worked with a handheld. Most work with a team of operators
trading off between who gets to be outside on the handheld and who gets to sit
inside on the base station, communicating with net control. Some checkpoints
are very remote. Sawbill for example is completely outdoors, and operators must
be completely self sufficient; there are no buildings, electricity, and often
times the rest-room (outhouse) is snowed in. Sawbill is worked using campers
for shelters, generators for electricity, and hefty antennas on tall masts to
maintain reliable communications. Many checkpoint volunteers go all out and
have a lot of fun working the race! If you are interested in volunteering at a checkpoint, please email for sign
up information.
The Beargrease race is an extremely fun event for everyone involved! Some BARC
volunteers take the week off work just to work the race. Others work for just
one day. We're a close knit group of friends that has a passion for the race
while we graciously accept new volunteers into our "family" with open arms. If
you presently have a ham radio license, feel free to contact any board member
and "get your feet wet"! Even if you aren't currently licensed, check us out,
we'll be glad to tell you all about what we do. Spectators, feel free to stop
by and say hi if you see us out there working. Most BARC volunteers have been
at it for years and love to talk about what they do, where they're from, and
why they love this race so much! We'll see you on the trail! 73!
This website is provided solely for the purpose of providing information
about the Beargrease Amateur Radio Coalition. We try to provide information
that is up to date and of the highest quality. However, we do not make any
representations with regard to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of
information contained within this site. This site is owned and maintained
Voluntarily by Brendan Johnson, W0KTX.
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