Multi-DF   Sunday Sept 11th 2016
Organiser - Colin G4CDM with 10 Txs to amuse us.

Location -  Kent  -  TQ 470517  “Toys Hill” nearest M25 Junction is J5.

As an experiment  competitors were held at the start until a cycle of transmissions had occurred.

The idea was to make it fairer to those whose Joker was near the end of the schedule but would it cause people to bunch up?		  
Newcomer Tim tries to take it all in - Colin M is tutor for the afternoon.

Taking bearings and making plans during the first transmission cycle.
Dave  CA (right) returning for his third attempt at Multi-DF

One found ....
 .... now where's the next.

Depth of hide,   ooooh m'back!
Pick your own triffid
Results
Position Competitor Handicap Joker A B F G I J R S Y Z Total Percent
1 Rosie M 13 R 40 26 23 20 0 20 46 26 0 0 188 100
2 Steve S 92 F 13 13 80 40 0 15 26 32 32 26 185 98
3 Adrian 0 * 20 20 15 11 26 64 0 0 0 0 156 82
4 Colin F 140 Y 15 17 13 13 23 23 40 40 80 32 156 82
5 Richard S 3 B 32 64 20 23 0 13 0 0 0 0 149 79
6 Dave C 0 F 17 15 64 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 128 68
7 Tim P 96 Z 11 11 0 0 0 17 32 23 26 80 104 55
8 Bob S 0 G 9 0 0 34 32 26 0 0 0 0 101 53
9 Roy E 104 I 23 23 17 15 80 40 0 0 0 0 94 50
10 Gary P 138 A 52 40 26 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 3

The Star
 How did Rosie do it?
I was very surprised at the results, particularly as I was using a set for the first time.  At the start I got some reasonable bearings on A, I and Y and my joker, R, was very weak. I decided not to go there first. Good progress was made to A, making use of the footpaths. I knew that I was very close to A but then decided to attempt B first. I overshot about 30 feet and was beaten by Gary and Richard. I headed quickly back to A. This time I was luckier, beating Gary and Richard. I knew that F and G were to the south-east but could not find a suitable footpath as I kept coming across private areas. I had not twigged that they were the opposite side of the road until I reached a crossing point. On reaching the 5 way footpath junction I waited for a signal. G was close by. I chose a footpath and heard some crashing in the undergrowth. Managed to find a small unmarked footpath and followed it down to find Gary, just leaving. I failed to spot the obvious triffid and Richard, who was behind me clocked it first. Then set off towards F. went down the footpath until the signal turned 90 degrees before ploughing into the undergrowth. Richard had turned off the footpath somewhat earlier spent 5 minutes crashing through the undergrowth before catching up with me. Gary appeared, then left. I found the transmitter and eventually got the triffid, which was covered in mud and moss so that the flower was not visible.
Time now to go for Joker R. After what seemed like an age I spotted Steve’s red T-shirt in the bushes. I caught him up and we waited for a transmission. This turned out to be one of the easier ones as there were not many trees tall enough to accommodate a transmitter. Off to S. After about 200m spotted someone crawling about in the undergrowth. It was Tim and he said that he had been there ages and this was only his 3rd Tx. (my 6th at this stage). Sadly Steve and I both beat him to the tickets. Now back to post tickets. Found my way out to the road and made good progress. After posting had 30 minutes left so off in pursuit of I and J. After about 10 minutes going downhill I spotted Richard beating up the undergrowth. I soon spotted the TX but Tim and Steve had both arrived before I got the triffid. Time to cut and run. I calculated that it would take me 15 mins to get back up the hill to A, if I didn’t take any wrong turns, leaving only 5 minutes to spare. The others decided to have a look for I. They all arrived at A looking a bit hot and bothered about 5 minutes later than me and I was pleased that I had made the right decision. The results were very tight at the end as I only beat Steve by 3 points, any more handicap and it would have been a different story.
 
I particularly enjoyed the event because I met up with lots of other competitors. Sometimes it feels that you are out there alone!!!  
Ahhhh bless - well done Rosie, you can help me find a triffid anytime!
The Hero League

Smiles in the foreground, smiles in the background  (Tim didn't know they would close the Dartford Tunnel so he wouldn't get home until 01:10 Monday!).		 Current Hero Colin F proved why he is the Hero with a storming performance, being the only person to find all ten stations and with an unfamiliar set!  Nearest challenger Gary suffered with an unstable receiver which which put him out of the 'running'.  Just another 4 points and Steve would have grabbed the win and both trophies - nail biting stuff at the top!

Thanks to Colin M for an excellent, challenging event.  If we have the new E-Triffids next year then it is likely that we will not finish at A but at our 'allocated' station, speeding up the collection process.  In this case we will not want people finishing early having to hang about waiting until 4 pm.  The timings and difficult triffid hides on this event achieved this, everyone found it hard and at times frustrating but we were all fully occupied and until that final run for A not unduly knackered. Remember this event when we discuss the format for next year considering  timings, depth of hide, number of stations, length of event; there are many ways we can change the game ... much more fun to come from Multi-DF.

Next event is in Pod's Wood near Tiptree on Oct 2nd - details here.
Multi-Noticeboard is here.