Brisbane WICEN was invited to assist this year in helping the Kokoda Youth Foundation run the 2025 Kokoda Challenge event at Kenilworth in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. This was a unique event for us as it was more traditional message passing rather than counting bicycles or checking off horse endurance ride competitors. There would be a handful of checkpoints, and competitors walked or jogged between them on one of three possible routes: 18km, 30km or 48km.
They each carried a RFID tag that was scanned by Kokoda-operated equipment and transmitted back to base via the Internet. WICEN’s role, was in providing a back-up communications link for more higher-priority traffic such as coordinating vehicle pick-up for competitors that decide to pull out. This was of critical importance this year due to the rather sketchy LTE mobile coverage in the area.
The Kokoda volunteers relied on two main communications channels: LTE mobile services, either using their personal mobile phones or using Motorola LTE-based two-way handheld radios; or using SpaceX’s Starlink service. In the event these failed, messages would pass through us. The event was based out of Kenilworth, with checkpoints taking the competitors through Connondale National Park all the way to Stirling’s Crossing near Imbil and back. From the WICEN end, we operated a voice repeater on the 2m band at a high point in the national park.
Given the sheer number of people camped at Kenilworth, some of us opted instead to camp at Stirling’s Crossing. Close enough to be in contact with base without being in anyone’s way. This also was the location of the most distant checkpoint, operated by Gary VK4ZGB.
Yours truly operated a checkpoint only a stone-throw from that repeater near the junction of Pullen Lane and Coonoongibber Creek Road. This was the first checkpoint for the event, and saw all competitor traffic with 18km competitors heading north along Coonoongibber Creek Road, and the other competitors turning west to go up a rather steep hill. From the radio perspective, operations was easy, we could just use hand-held radios as the repeater was so close.
Since we were the first cab off the rank, we got there early. Navigating there was a challenge as the GPS was of the opinion that Coonoongibber Creek Road ended just as we entered the forest. It was unaware of any intersection with Pullen Lane, and it positively flipped its lid the moment we entered said forest. OpenStreetMap proved to be more accurate, chalk one up for crowd-sourced data projects.
We arrived there about 06:00, to find portaloos at our site (a rare luxury for us), all tipped over. So first order of the day was to stand those back up and see how functional they all are — one was a total wreck but the others were able to be pressed back into service. The checkpoint had pretty much zero LTE coverage (4G or 5G). Even with an external antenna (a rare feature that more manufacturers should support!), the best my mobile phone could do was “emergency calls only”. But, comms into the repeater was pretty much perfect, so we set up our base and waited for activity. The rest of the checkpoint team would arrive around 07:30. And quite the operation it is… generators, tents, RFID readers, maps, flags, you name it.
Our presence there turned out to be very much a necessity on this occasion. I mentioned Starlink getting used as a means of providing an Internet connection to the checkpoints. Turns out these devices had been kept in storage, and when stored, the devices need to be provided an activation code in order to authorise them on the Starlink network. That authorisation code is sent by SMS, which couldn’t be received because the checkpoint had no mobile coverage.
Prudence would suggest this equipment should have been fired up back in Kenilworth (where there is mobile coverage) and activated before being taken on site: never assume equipment that has been stored for months is still functional and ready-to-go. A lesson for next year I guess.
Our first competitors started streaming through the checkpoint at around 09:00. At first a trickle, then a flood. Since we were not tied up scoring, there was a certain amount of cheering people on and guiding them through to the checkpoint to be signed-off. As the day wore on though, we had a few competitors who were forced to turn back or arrived at the checkpoint injured. With Starlink and 4G out, we needed to pass this back to base over the radio.
The challenge being the format of the competitor numbers: if they signed up on the day, they were given a 4-digit number, but teams had a multi-part number comprised of a 2-digit route number (18, 30 or 48), a 2-3 digit team number, then a one or two digit index number; all separated by hyphens. To provide a cross-check, we needed to also give first names with spelling. This format of message screamed packet radio to me: bashing out a text message on a laptop and blasting out over APRS would make this a doddle but repeating “three zero hyphen one two three hyphen four name juliet oscar hotel mike” got tiring quick!
In addition to withdraws, we also had to pass messages regarding the merging of teams. Kokoda Youth Foundation rules required teams to be a minimum size for safety, if a team had a member pull out, sometimes that meant there were insufficient members in the team to proceed to the next checkpoint. The remaining members though could sometimes be merged into another team. Again, something packet radio would handle well, but is cumbersome via voice.
For me personally, it was a new experience: I’ve done car rallies where you’re given the competitor number and timing information on a sheet, and you just relay that verbatim back to base. I’ve done horse endurance rides where you’re reporting the arrival times of each competitor, fun runs work the same way. And I’ve done bike rides where you’re just reporting a count periodically, only concerning yourself with individual competitors if someone has a medical or mechanical issue. Definitely there’s room for improvement on my end and getting into the habit of write down everything!
Weather-wise, whilst things definitely get chilly in those parts, the biggest challenge was the sprinkle of rain we had during the afternoon. The track turns to mud very quickly in those parts with so much foot traffic, and I found it doesn’t take much rain to upset the touchscreen on a tablet computer. Next time, we’ll probably bring the caravan to the site so we’ve got a reasonable “base” to operate the checkpoint from (or at least a more substantial shelter).
Our checkpoint finished up around 3PM that afternoon, with everyone pitching in to pack up all the equipment. Other checkpoints continued until late evening. All in all, while there are things that could have been done better, it was a well run and organised event, and we look forward to helping out next year.