Amateur radio direction finding (ARDF)

Hightown Dunes 29 Jan 2011

3.5 MHz 5 Foxes. 18 starters.
Place	Name	Call	Time	Class	Foxes
1.	Andrew Soltysik	G4KWQ	0.26.53	M40	5
2.	David Williams	M3WDD	0.32.02	M40	5
3.	Bob Titterington	G3ORY	0.49.26	M60	5
4.	John Martin	G8JGM	0.54.40	M50?	5
5.	Dave Page	M0BKH	1.07.35	M21	5
6.	Tom Mitchell	GM0JHF	1.15.06	M60	5
7.	Ben Peacock & James Birch	M6BGP	2.08.50	M12	5
8.	Phil Ellis	M0GIE	1.21.50	M60	4
9.	Andrew & Cath Maguire	2E0ZMO	2.00.45	?	4
10.	Mathew Ireland	MW3YMY	1.27.38	M19	2
11.	Peter Black	M1TNT	1.33.30	M21	2
12.	Martin & Sam Barfield	G7MRV	1.36.07	M12	2
13.	Les Fuller, Ben Humphries, Nathan Wall	M0PDU, M6BJH, M3YXT	2.00.00	M50/M12	2

Notes:
1. Congratulations and thanks to the Southport Club for organising this event. It is so good to have more than one event a year in the north west.
2. Congratulations to Andrew who scorched round to bag all five transmitters in a tad under 27 minutes, leaving the organisers shaking their heads in amazement.
3. Ben Peacock M6BGP and James Birch (callsign?) also impressed everyone by going out on their first proper competition, using unfamiliar equipment and coming home with all five TXs in the bag.
4. The next event in the North West is near Oldham on Sunday 8th May.

Frith Hill 11 Dec 2010

144 MHz 7 Foxes. 8 starters. 150 min time limit
Place	Name	Call	Time	Class	Foxes	Sequence	Min Dist
1.	David Williams	M3WDD	54.31	M40	7	3,1,2,7,5,4,6	4.62
*	Vlad Boev	2E0VLB	71.21	M50	7	4,6,3,1,2,7,5	3.90
2.	Andy Soltysik	G4KWQ	77.24	M40	7	3,6,1,2,4,7,5	4.44
3.	Bob Titterington	G3ORY	78.29	M60	7	3,1,6,4,2,7,5	4.26
4.	Robert Vickers	G3ORI	104.37	M60	7	6,3,1,2,7,5,4	4.16
5.	Steve Stone	RS193217	107.51	M50	7	3,1,6,2,7,5,4	4.39
6.	David Heale	G6HGE	114.33	M40	7	3,1,6,2,7,4,5	4.55
7.	Jillian Ullersperger	M0JIN	120.15	W35	7	3,1,6,4,2,7,5	4.26

* Vlad Boev missed the walk to the start and set out from the finish. This enabled him to take a shorter 'out and back' route than was available to the other starters.

144 MHz 5 Foxes (miss 3 and 7). 6 starters. 150 min time limit
Place	Name	Call	Time	Class	Foxes	Sequence	Min Dist
1.	Ken Jones	M0AET	72.58	M60	5	6,1,2,4,5	2.99
2	Dave Page	M0BKH	114.54	M21	5	6,1,2,4,5	2.99
3.	Graham Dennes	?	124.33	M21	5	6,4,2,1,5	3.63
4.	Martin Whittaker	M0NXP	129.33	M21	5	6,4,2,1,5	3.63
5.	Rod Mansel	G6AWO	150.00	M50	5	6,1,4,2,7,5	3.73
6.	David Deane	G3ZOI	120.00	M60	4	6,1,2,5	2.80

Notes:
1. Frith Hill was at its best for this event. The woods were highly runnable giving a multitude of route choices.
2. Congratulations to the winners - David Williams on the long course in under the hour but with the longest route. Ken Jones, well ahead of the field on the short course. Interestingly of the eight starters on the long course there were seven different sequences in which the transmitters were visited. Robert Vickers found the sequence with the shortest distance which was not one that the organiser had considered.
3. It was good to see Dave Page M0BKH and Martin Whittaker M0NXP plus friend Graham out again. Dave managed second place on the short course in spite of having wasted a lot of time when he pulled up short of TX 1.
4. The competitors are very grateful to M6MDD for setting excellent courses and giving us such an enjoyable day of radio sport.

Postensplain 14 Nov 2010

144 MHz 5 Foxes. 7 starters. 120 min time limit
Place	Name	Call	Time	Class	Foxes
1.	Michael Dunbar	M6MDD	65.32	M40	5
2.	Phil Smith	GW1XBG	86.14	M40	5
3.	Vlad Boev	2E0VLB	92.16	M50	5
4.	David Williams	M3WDD	97.10	M40	5
5.	Jillian Ullersperger	M6JIL	116.49	W35	5
6.	John Marriott	RS205838	127.05 OT	M60	5
7.	Tony Green	GW4JGU	122.38 OT	M60	3

144 MHz 4 Foxes. 3 starters. 120 min time limit
Place	Name	Call	Time	Class	Foxes
1.	Ken Jones	M0AET	107.39	M60	4
2.	David Deane	G3ZOI	136.52 OT	M60	4
3.	Tom Mitchell	GM0JHF	130.59 OT	M60	2

Notes:
1. The complex valleys and re-entrants of Postensplain posed a serious challege when it came to multi-path propagation. The competitors brought back tales of bearings that changed dramatically as they progressed and wildly erroneous estimations of the locations of the transmitters.
2. Michael Dunbar again showed how good he can be but Phil Smith, returning after a bit of a break, was a worthy second. Jillian M6JIL had an excellent day to come home inside the time with all five transmitters 'in the bag'. This was a bit of a wake up call to the 'boys'. Vlad 2E0VLB broke the M40 whitewash at the top when he eased into a well deserved third place.
3. Please click here for the long course split times. Please click here for the short course split times. Competitors will recall that the SI box for transmitter 3 had been placed with transmitter 1 and vice versa. The identities of the transmitters have been corrected in the split times.

3.5 MHz 3 Foxes. 11 starters. 75 min time limit
Place	Name	Call	Time	Class	Foxes
1.	Phil Smith	GW1XBG	30.16	M40	3
2.	David Williams	M3WDD	33.12	M40	3
3.	Bob Titterington	G3ORY	36.57	M60	3
4.	Michael Dunbar	M6MDD	40.43	M40	3
5.	Vlad Boev	2E0VLB	44.40	M50	3
6.	Stuart Tyler	G1ZAR	45.59	M40	3
7.	Jillian Ullersperger	M6JIL	48.13	W35	3
8.	Tony Green	GW4JGU	55.03	M60	3
9.	Rodney Archard	M0JLA	77.55 OT	M60	1
10.	Tom Mitchell	GM0JHF	OT	M60	?
11.	John Marriott	RS205838	69.44	M60	0

Notes:
1. Phil Smith and Tony Green both had good runs to make the trip up from Swansea worthwhile. Jillian also had another solid reliable performance to her credit to make her long drive from Reading worthwhile. Elsewhere in the table, the 'usual suspects' shuffled the placings about a bit.
2. Please click here for the split times.
3. We are very grateful to the Harlequins Orienteering Club for their support and assistance to us in running this event. Finally, all the competitors are grateful to Robert Vickers for organising and planning an interesting and challenging event is some superb terrain.

Irchester 24 Oct 2010

144 MHz 5 Foxes. 5 starters. 60 min time limit
Place	Name	Call	Time	Class	Foxes	Penalty
1.	Michael Dunbar	M6MDD	35.25	M40	6	0
2.	Andrew Soltysik	G4KWQ	45.46	M40	6	0
3.	David Williams	M3WDD	50.49	M40	6	0
4.	Vlad Boev	2E0VLB	56.51	M50	6	0
5.	David Heale	G6HGE	56.05	M40	4	0

144 MHz 5 Foxes. 9 starters. 90 min time limit
Place	Name	Call	Time	Class	Foxes	Penalty
1.	Jim Smith	G4DZL	67.33	M60	6	0
2.	Steve Lawrence*	G4EOF	73.44	M50	6	0
3.	Robert Vickers	G3ORI	77.43	M60	6	0
4.	Chris Bosley*	LEI	82.48	M60	6	0
5.	David Deane	G3ZOI	84.57	M60	6	0
6.	Simon Fairbourn*	M0TTE	87.14	M40	6	0
7.	Chris Hartshorn*	2E0RGE	94.02	W35	6	1
8.	Ken Jones	M0AET	95.00	M60	6	1
9.	John Little	M1SHE	83.19	M60	4	0

Notes:
1. * denotes newcomer allowed to take bearings from the start area before starting.
2. Michael Dunbar reminded us of how good he is at his best, when he scorched round over ten minutes faster than anyone else.
3. It was good to welcome newcomers Chris Hartshorn, Simon Fairbourn, Chris Bosley and Steve Lawrence. We hope you all had an enjoyable day.
4. Please click here for the split times. Note that the finish clock was running about 30 seconds behind the clock at the beacon giving many competitors a negative split for this 10m leg!

3.5 MHz 5 Foxes. 15 starters.
Place	Name	Call	Time	Class	Foxes
1.	Michael Dunbar	M6MDD	32.46..	M40..	6
2.	Andrew Soltysik	G4KWQ	35.39	M40	6
3.	Robert Vickers	G3ORI	36.41	M60	6
4.	Vlad Boev	2E0VLB	37.41	M50	6
5.	Bob Titterington	G3ORY	40.27	M60	6
6.	David Williams	M3WDD	41.15	M40	6
7.	David Deane	G3ZOI	47.17	M60	6
8.	David Heale	G6HGE	52.36	M40	6
9.	Jim Smith	G4DZL	53.03	M60	6
10.	Simon Fairbourn	M0TTE	70.21	M40	6
11.	Ken Jones	M0AET	77.59	M60	6
12.	Chris Hartshorn	2E0RGE..	88.00	W35	3
13.	Chris Bosley	LEI	88.16	M60	3
14.	'Henry' Ehm + XYL	M0ZAE	90.52	M60	3

Notes:
1. Fast and furious over the earth banks of Irchester, but it was the 'usual suspects' who took the top places.
2. Please click here for the split times. Note that the finish clock was running about 30 seconds behind the clock at the beacon giving many competitors a negative split for this 10m leg!
3. The thanks of all the competitors go to John Marriott who was organising his first event.

Brogborough 11 Jul 2010

144 MHz 5 Foxes. 3.5 MHz 15 'cubs' 11 starters. Age grouped
Place	Name	Call	Time	Class	Foxes	Cubs
1.	David Williams	M3WDD	117.58	M40	4	11
2.	Michael Dunbar	M6MDD	118.25	M40	2	10
3.	Steve Stone	RS193217	117.32	M50*	5	5
4.	Evan Duffield	2E0TJU	67.30	M21*	3	0
5.	Jillian Ullersperger	M6JIL	124.44^	W35*	5	0
1.	Rod Mansell	G6AWO	119.30	M50	4	1
2.	Vlad Boev	2E0VLB	147.58^	M50	5	10
1.	John Marriott	RS205838	145.56	M60	5	7
2.	Robert Vickers	G3ORI	147.50	M60	5	5
3.	David Deane	G3ZOI	162.20^	M60	5	2
4.	Ken Jones	M0AET	175.36^	M60	5	5

Notes:
1. * denotes running out of class. ^ denotes over time
2. John Little used the limited area brilliantly to set a challenge for competitors of all abilities. The different time limits for each class allowed him to vary the difficulty according to age.
3. No one was able to find all the Foxes plus all the Cubs inside their allowed time.
4. Click here for a map showing the location of all the transmitters.

Chawton Park 20 Jun 2010

144 MHz long course 7.3km 7 TXs 9 starters.
Place	Name	Call	Time	Class	TXs	Sequence
1.	David Williams	M3WDD	1.25.49	M40	7/7	S-3-6-1-7-5-2-4-F
2.	Andrew Soltysik	G4KWQ	1.43.52	M40	7/7	S-3-6-1-4-2-5-7-F
3=.	Bob Titterington	G3ORY	2.04.43	M60	7/7	S-3-6-1-5-7-2-4-F
3=.	Rod Mansel	G6AWO	2.04.44	M50	7/7	S-3-6-1-5-7-2-4-F
5.	Steve Stone	RS193217	2.09.17	M50	7/7	S-3-6-1-5-7-2-4-F
6.	John Marriott	RS205838	2.18.29	M60	7/7	S-3-6-1-7-5-2-4-F
7.	Robert Vickers	G3ORI	1.33.48	M60	4/7	S-3-1-2-4-F
8.	David Heale	G6HGE	2.26.13	M40	4/7	S-3-6-1-7-F
9.	Stuart Tyler	G1ZAR	2.39.35	M40	6/7 OT	S-3-6-1-5-7-4-F

144 MHz short course 4.1km 5 TXs 4 starters.
Place	Name	Call	Time	Class	TXs	Sequence
1.	Ken Jones	M0AET	2.08.14	M60	5/5	S-6-3-1-2-4-F
2.	Jillian Ullersperger	M6JIL	2.19.37	W35	4/5	S-6-3-1-2-F
3.	Marcus+Louise White	?	2.06.07	M/W?	3/5	S-3-1-6-F

Notes:
1. Another excellent competition organised by Dave G3ZOI. A challenging course in superb weather gave the RSGB team for Croatia some ideal preparation.
2. Deciding the sequence is always going to be harder with 7 transmitters. In this case the two bearings of weak stations pointed at the second area of woodland, 2 and 4 were pretty much the same and to the east while 3, 6 and 1 were arranged in a nice arc to the west and north. Not so hard after all!
3. Click here for all the split times. Well worth a detailed study. Take a look at the times from Tx 1 to the field crossing on the long course. Also interesting are the times from the first punching of the field crossing control to the punching on the way back. Take a look at David's time from Tx2 to Tx4. Compare your efforts to those of your peers.
4. The grateful thanks of all the competitors go to Dave for organising the event.
.

Tandle Hill Country Park 13 Jun 2010

144 MHz course 2.2km 5 TXs 8 starters.
Place	Name	Call	Time	Class	TXs
1=.	David Williams	M3WDD	35	M40	5/5
1=.	Michael Dunbar	M6WDD	35	M40	5/5
3.	Bob Titterington	M6MDD	44	M60	5/5
4.	Stuart Tyler	G1ZAR	45	M40	5/5
5.	John Martin	G8JGM	54	M50	5/5
6.	John Marriott	RS205838	55	M60	5/5
7.	Robert Vickers	G3ORI	56	M56	5/5
8.	Tom Mitchell	GM0JHF	101	M60	5/5

3.5 MHz course 2.2km 5 TXs 7 starters.
Place	Name	Call	Time	Class	TXs
1.	David Williams	M3WDD	40	M40	5/5
2.	Robert Vickers	G3ORI	48	M60	5/5
3.	Michael Dunbar	M6MDD	51	M40	5/5
4.	Bob Titterington	G3ORY	52	M60	5/5
5=.	John Marriott	RS205838	68	M60	5/5
5=.	John Martin	G8JGM	68	M50	5/5
7.	Tom Mitchell	GM0JHF	91	M60	3/5

Notes:
1. What a superb area. It might be small but that beech wood is to die for.
2. All the competitors are extremely grateful to all the members of the Oldham Club who turned out to make this event possible. Phil Ellis has to have a special mention for his role in organising the day.
3. The short distances involved helped the slower competitors to higher placings than they would have expected. It was more about quick thinking than fast running.
4. Click here for Robert Vicker's 2m route. This demonstrates the Quickroute capability.
.

BC 2010 Day 1 Sprint FoxO 21 May

10 transmitters A - J
Place	Name	Call	Time	Class	Foxes
1.	Anke Ebert	DL9OCA	30.36	W35	10/10
2.	Sylke Hofner	DG4AAN	31.47	W35	10/10
3.	Jillian Ullersperger	M6JIL	48.50	W35	10/10
:
1.	Brigitte Roethe	.	50.28	W50	9/10
:
1.	Alexander Hergert	.	20.30	M21	10/10
2.	Norbert Linke	.	23.56	M21	10/10
:
1.	Wolf-Dietrich Barth	DK7TD	20.55	M40	10/10
2.	David Williams	M3WDD	22.14	M40	10/10
3.	David Heale	G6HGE	29.24	M40	10/10
4.	Andrew Soltysik	G4KWQ	33.43	M40	10/10
:
1.	Bernd Hofner	DL1AQ	21.49	M50	10/10
2.	Nick Roethe	DF1FO	25.07	M50	10/10
3.	Lucien Vidal	F4DKA	26.09	M50	10/10
4.	Peter Dekany	.	29.53	M50	10/10
5.	Steve Stone	RS193217	36.09	M50	10/10
6.	Rod Mansel	G6AWO	57.16	M50	4/10
:
1.	Bob Titterington	G3ORY	26.31	M60	10/10
2.	Robert Vickers	G3ORI	28.30	M60	10/10
3.	Ken Jones	M0AET	44.28	M60	10/10
4.	Tom Mitchell	GM0JHF	45.21	M60	10/10
5.	John Little	M1SHE	39.06	M60	8/10

Notes:
1. A 'different' version of Fox O which was great fun on a sunny evening to start the weekend of ARDF.
2. Congratulations to Alexander Hergert who recorded the fastest time of 20.30 but just look at how close Wolf-Dietrich Barth (M40) and Bernd Hofner (M50) ran him.
3. David Williams was the fastest Brit home in 22.14

Day 2 - 144 MHz

Results and splits

Notes:
1. Optimum routes were:
All courses 35214. If you were not required to find any of these TXs, the optimum sequence is the same with missing TXs removed.
In M40 only Stuart Tyler got the sequence exactly right. In M50 and W35 only winners, Bernd Hofner and Jillian Ullersperger respectively, made the right call, while in M60 everybody got it right (but then it is a lot easier with just 3 TXs).
2. Planning:
The long thin nature of the course was unusual and resulted in the longer courses being a bit shorter than is normally expected. The aim of the planner was to trap competitors into taking the transmitters in the wrong order. TX 2 was well sited and aimed at drawing competitors past TXs 3 and 5, causing them to have to retrace their steps later. The sequence of TXs 1 and 4 was more subtle with less climb being required for a 1-4 sequence. Finally TX 5 was placed in an area where clumps of dense vegetation might give problems.
3. Day 2 was the best day for the home based competitors. Michael Dunbar in M40 was the fastest of any class around the 5 TX course. It was very good to see Jillian Ullersperger scoring a clear win in W35 and also John Marriott in M60. Both these competitors have worked steadily at their ARDF and it is good that it is all coming together for them.
4. Winner of the 2m Plate was John Marriott RS205838
5. Click here for Michael Dunbar's route which shows the location at which each and every transmission was being received.
6. Click here for Michael Dunbar's blog.

Day 3 - 3.5 MHz

Results and splits

Notes:
1. Optimum routes were:
M21/M40 was 54312 and 7.0km; M50 was 4312 and 6.7km; M60 was 532 and 5.4km; W35 was 5432 and 5.6km and W50 was 432 and 4.9km. No one got it wrong which contrasted sharply with Day 2.
2. Our visitors from the Continent came into their own, posting wins in all classes bar M60 where all the runners were UK based. Alexander Hergert posted a brilliant 47.43 on the 5 transmitter course; a time that no one else came even close to matching.
3. Winner of the RSGB 80m ARDF Trophy was Robert Vickers G3ORI

Leith Hill 24 Apr 2010

Long Marathon 5 TXs on 2m and 5 TXs on 80m 11 starters.
Place	Name	Call	Time	Class	2m TXs	80m TXs	2m time	2m place
1.	David Williams	M3WDD	109.42	M40	54231	42135	55.46	1
2.	Michael Dunbar	M6MDD	117.08	M40	51423	42135	57.07	2
3.	Andrew Soltysik	G4KWQ	138.25	M40	34215	53124	73.38	3
4.	Bob Titterington	G3ORY	153.17	M60	52413	42135	83.57	7
5.	Stuart Tyler	G1ZAR	155.20	M40	13425	53124	77.35	4
6.	Steve Stone	RS193217	159.57	M50	52413	42135	79.20	6
7.	David Heale	G6HGE	165.39	M40	15423	53124	78.46	5
8.	Gavin Andrews	M0ETA	175.06	M40	42513	53	97.14	8
9.	John Marriott	RS205838	165.17	M60	51432	14	131.05	10
10.	Jillian Ullersperger	M6JIL	178.44	W35	52431	53	128.39	9
11.	Tim Raven	G4ARI	175.29	M50	513	42	85.18	11

Medium Marathon 4 TXs on 2m and 4 TXs on 80m 2 starters.
Place	Name	Call	Time	Class	2m TXs	80m TXs	2m time	2m place
1.	David Deane	G3ZOI	178.22	M60	5431	421	78.46	1
2.	Ken Jones	M0AET	172.16	M40	143	425	84.39	2

Notes:
1. It was great to get out onto such superb terrain on such a glorious spring day. Organiser Vlad 2E0VLB came up with an unusual format which tested the competitors, not least physically.
2. The use of SI electronic timing equipment makes all the split times available for post race analysis. On the long course the number of different 144MHz sequences was astounding. There was no consensus but 20/20 hindsight suggests that 52431 was the best 'call'. The only person to do this was Jillian M6JIL.
On 3.5 MHz it was a totally different story with the top 7 competitors all choosing the same sequence (either clockwise or anticlockwise).
3. All the split times, in a single table, can be seen be seen here
4. The thanks of all the competitors go to Katia and Vlad for organising such an excellent competition. Our thanks also go to the London Orienteering Club who could not have been more helpful to us in obtaining permission to use the area and providing the maps. Finally to the Evelyn Wotton Trust for their kind permission to use the area.

Sutton Park 13 Mar 2010

144 MHz long course 7 TXs 7 starters.
Place	Name	Call	Time	Class	TXs
1.	Michael Dunbar	M6MDD	92.11	M40	7/7
2.	Andrew Soltysik	G4KWQ	106.15	M40	7/7
3.	Robert Vickers	G3ORI	141.32	M60	7/7
4.	John Marriott	LEI	167.24	M60	7/7
5.	Vlad Boev	2E0VLB	170.25	M50	7/7
6.	Jillian Ullersperger	M6JIL	171.05	W35	5/7
7.	Rod Mansel	G6AWO	162.03	M50	0/7

144 MHz short course 5 TXs. 8 starters.
Place	Name	Call	Time	Class	TXs
1.	Bob Titterington	G3ORY	88.38	M60	5/5
2.	David Deane	G3ZOI	144.58	M60	5/5
3.	Dave Page	M0BKH	149.05	M21	5/7
4.	Tom Mitchell	GM0JHF	156.16	M60	5/5
5.	Ken Jones	M0AET	172.22	M60	6/5
6.	Adrian Bailey	HOC	136.15	M40?	3/5
7.	Steve Burrows + Ben	G6MMD	148.55	M40?	3/5

Notes:
1. It was great to get out onto some superb terrain and organiser David Williams made good use of the area with his longer than usual 144 MHz format. Competitors were never able to use the area boundaries to aid them in locating the transmitters, as is so often the case in small areas.
2. Bob apologises to newer competitors for not making it clearer at registration that short course competitors have to find the five transmitters specified on the information sheet and not five chosen by the competitor.
3. The locations of the seven transmitters can be seen here

3.5 MHz super sprint, Time limit 30 min, 5 TXs. 15 starters.
Place	Name	Call	Time	Class	TXs
1.	Andrew Soltysik	G4KWQ	15.09	M40	5/5
2.	Bob Titterington	G3ORY	16.57	M60	5/5
3.	Vlad Boev	2E0VLB	19.10	M50	5/5
4.	Michael Dunbar	M6MDD	20.11	M40	5/5
5.	Robert Vickers	G3ORI	29.55	M60	5/5
6.	Tom Mitchell	GM0JHF	28.07	M60	3/5
7.	Jillian Ullersperger	M6JIL	28.03	W35	2/5
8.	David Deane	G3ZOI	31.49	M60	5/5
9.	Ken Jones	M0AET	31.55	M60	5/5
10.	Dave Page	M0BKH	36.16	M21	5/5
11.	John Marriott	LEI	36.41	M60	5/5
12.	Adrian Bailey	HOC	52.53	M40?	5/5
13.	Steve Burrows + Ben	G6MMD	66.46	M40?	2/5
14.	Rod Mansel	G6AWO	DNF	M50	1/5

Notes:
1. This was an innovative competition designed as a foil to the exertions of the morning. As such, it became clear that there were aspects that could be improved although it was very popular with the experienced competitors.
2. The newer competitors found it very hard to decide the alignment of the null, execute the sense sequence and decide the direction of the transmitter in the 24 seconds for which each transmitter was on the air. That said, if a five minute cycle (60 second transmissions) had been used, it would not live up to the billing as a 'super sprint'.
3. The time limit was set too short. Many good competitors were finding all the transmitters in the 30 - 40 minute time period.
4. Split times (listed in time taken order and not in the result order above) can be found here.
5. The thanks of all the competitors go to David Williams for providing an interesting, challenging and innovative day of radio sport.

Nettlebed 14 Feb 2010

3.5MHz long course 5 TXs + 6 micros. 8 starters.
Place	Name	Call	Time	Class	TXs	Micros
1.	Michael Dunbar	M6MDD	80.49	M40	5/5	6/6
2.	Vlad Boev	2E0VLB	123.47	M50	5/5	6/6
3.	David Heale	G6HGE	131.40	M40	5/5	6/6
4.	Rod Mansel	G6AWO	142.42	M50	3/5	6/6
5.	Robert Vickers	G3ORI	95.36	M60	3/5	4/6
6.	Andrew Soltysik	G4KWQ	99.18	M40	1/5	6/6
7.	Jillian Ullersperger	M6JIL	145.15	W35	1/5	5/6
8.	John Marriott	LEI	189.20	M60	5/5	6/6 OT

3.5MHz short course 4 TXs + 5 micros. 3 starters.
Place	Name	Call	Time	Class	TXs	Micros
1.	Bob Titterington	G3ORY	76.37	M60	4/4	5/5
2.	David Deane	G3ZOI	127.41	M60	4/4	5/5
3.	Ken Jones	M0AET	122.37	M60	4/4	2/5

Notes:
1. The first event of 2010 used some superb terrain in the Chilterns but did not enjoy the best of the weather. The winter break meant that some important lessons had to be re-learnt; such as always but always carry a spare battery and a spare earpiece.
2. The format of a number of normal power transmitters plus some micro powered FoxOring transmitters, gave long course competitors a total of 11 TXs to locate. Short course entrants had a total of 9 to find.
3. The split start/finish also added a challenge as at least one high profile competitor ran past Micro TX A soon after leaving the start. Later in the day he had to face up to the trek back to get it and reckons it cost him 20 minutes.
4. Organiser's comments

Thank you all for coming to Nettlebed, shame about the weather. My sympathies to Jillian, Robert, and Andrew who all suffered from equipment problems.
I started thinking about this event last Autumn with the intention of doing a single band event only but trying something different. Discussions with Dave Deane indicated that what I wanted to do was feasible, so I went ahead. Essentially I wanted a lot of controls to make it an interesting event. This meant adding micros and therefore introducing periods of silence to allow them to be heard easily.
I originally intended to use the South start and keep all the controls west of the road, however the orienteering planner and controller were concerned about the large number of fields and open areas that must be avoided, so I was forced to re plan. Unfortunately this resulted in long first legs for both courses. For this reason I added another micro (A) to provide some interest early on. The nature of the area meant that there was never going to be much of a route choice, with the only real decision was whether to get TX5 before or after micro E.
I was pleasantly surprised that 8 of the 11 competitors opted for the long course, I was expecting only 3 or 4 to go for this. Maybe this is a side effect of only having one competition on the day.
As regards the micros they do seem to be to powerful. There are pros and cons to this as I see it.
Being able to hear multiple micros at once probably doesn't bother the experienced radio orienteer who can navigate correctly to the circle, because by then the required micro would be dominant. However the less experienced navigator who may be lost may well be confused. This is especially a problem if the micros that can be heard are 1km away. Vlad stated that he could here all the micros all over the area. Comments from PJ80 users would be welcome.
Thanks to Dave Deane for the loan of the equipment, which worked impeccably as usual. Special thanks also to Ken and Dave who built the micros in the last week or so. Also thanks to all those who collected kit in at the end. By then I was was really cold and didn't fancy another two hours out in the woods.
Any feedback on the event format welcome.

Regards
Steve

5. Our thanks to Steve Stone and TVOC for another excellent competition. Interestingly, the controller of the Orienteering event was Mike Pemberton G4DDL.