From: No Roses on Jan 2, 8:51 am


Ham radio operators to skip Rose Parade

Pasadena Star News

By Gene Maddaus , Staff Writer

PASADENA -- A pair of ham radio operators were lugging equipment onto the
grounds of Tournament House in preparation for last year's parade when they
were stopped by a "senior Tournament official.'

Why is this posting in this newsgroup AGAIN?

It's been in here before. Same wannabe kinda story.


The radio group has also tracked floats with global positioning devices and
installed a dozen video cameras up and down the parade route.

Why?!? The "Rose Parade" (Tournament of Roses) is, for over
90 percent of its route a STRAIGHT LINE along Colorado Blvd.
in Pasadena. Good grief, any deviation from the assigned route
could be telephoned in from public call boxes all along
Colorado! :-) Total route length is no more than 5 miles.

The floats aren't high-speed vehicles. They can be tracked
on foot by anyone able to walk. Some of the "white suiters"
(parade officials) use little motor scooters along the route.

At least FOUR major network/cable TV camera setups (multiple,
each one) covered this year's event, rain-soaked though it
was. Good grief, even Home and Garden Television cable
channel covered the 2006 parade!

Pasadena PD was out in force again...as well as paramedic
ambulances of the Pasadena FD. Both have fine two-way radios
that they use around the clock, a system in-use for decades
in Pasadena. In addition to that, the float builders have
their own HTs they use in moving to the parade start point
and for the ending assembly area.


The negotiations finally broke down Sunday, when the radio amateurs' board
voted to back out of the Jan. 1, 2005, parade.

Okay, so, from that sentence, this Pasadena newspaper story
is from 2004, not last year.

My wife and I watched an HDTV recording of both the 2004 and 2005
Tournament of Roses Parade on Sunday, shot by local independent
TV station KTLA. There was no sign that anyone of - or near -
the "white suiters" were using any HTs.


The Tournament will get along without the radio operators this time, Flinn
said, and consider having them back for the 2006 parade. Hubbard said his
wife is looking forward to taking him out for a New Year's Eve party for
the first time in 15 years.

My wife and I watched the rain-sodden Tournament of Roses parade
this Monday morning. [it is already 2006...the parade is never
held on a Sunday] No sign that anyone of - or near - the "white
suiters" were using any HTs.

Of course, with all the raincoats (transparent and opaque) that
most were wearing, it might be hard to tell. :-)

It's easy to hide a little Tuna Tin 2 HF CW transmitter... :-)


"It's going to be a real interesting New Year's.'

Nothing at all "interesting." Just rain and wind. Many floats
looked woebegone at the start from the applied decorations
struck off by rain. Rain hasn't hit the "Rose Parade" since the
1960s.

The Pasadena Tournament of Roses parade has been going on for
116 years. The 2006 event is the 117th. Radio is only 110
years old and truly portable radios have only been around since
after WW2. The parade organizers and planners can, and have,
done this successful parade along the straight line of Colorado
Boulevard for many years without amateur radio "help."

It's just another BS posting by a parade wannabe. :-(