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Sunday Nov 6th 2022 Multi-Tx DF Location Raydon Great Wood NGR TM 060 405 52 01 26 N 01 00 04 E Map with zoom Streetmap.co.uk - Map of 606030,240432 |
 G0NXH |
Map
showing Tx locations, as you might expect the Ghost 1 appeared grey! Ed - So that's where
they were!
How did I end up
going 300m South from A to my Joker G to validate, nearly adding some spice?
Fortunate, I needed some extra 'high speed' exercise. Rx (and brain) temporarily in plastic bag! |
Philip says: Originally planned for back in 2019, there are now lots more tracks than there used to be and the southern side more public. Roy had stood in for me when I couldn't make it at the last minute, finding his layout on the website, I took some pains to take a different approach. I originally walked the whole route and it seemed fine, but failed to appreciate the distance needed from the car park to the centre, which was both a drag at the start and the long walk home. I took to the bike to allow me to get around when I put the kit out on what turned out to be a wet Saturday morning. Even when surveyed a couple of weeks ago there was more cover than I then found for the TXs. In the end whilst KLM ended up further away than I thought, ABC and FGH were closer. I got lost in the rain laying out ABC and changed the layout on the Saturday to bring them closer together. I did say that I made the Triffids easy to find in order to compensate for the distances – in truth it just made them easier to put out in the wet! We nearly cancelled the event due to the difficulties in predicting the timing of heavy bands of rain which were the left-overs from Hurricane Martin. But Friday morning it looked like there would be a gap in the afternoon, also most competitors seemed willing to take on the event regardless. Fortunately it remained mild, though whilst sitting in the car waiting for the event to end, listening to it hammering down, I did wonder if people would regret such bravado. |
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My main worry in waiting for the 12.00
midday test transmissions to come up was the effect of overnight winds
on the aerials, some of which had not wanted to stay up in the first
place. By the second loop of transmissions it became clear KLM could
not be heard in the car park and I set off as prepared on my bike. By
the time I arrived at Hunters Bridge I could still only faintly hear K,
though L & M were coming in much stronger, so I carried on only
to find the aerial intact and the TX working fine. So I hurried back to
the car park, confusing the dog walkers who were about, and getting
wet, front and back due to not having mud guards! At least
everything else, by some miracle and good design on Roy’s part, was
working and I had led the way in braving the wet.
There was an anxious wait for Tim to arrive (clearly having to make up for Gary in the ‘cutting it fine’ stakes), but all were present in time for an early off to make the start at the Bridge. |
 The start at Hunter's Bridge! The rain has stopped at last!! This was an important junction as one of the few ways to get into the side woods, unfortunately the rain had made the side paths difficult to climb, but up top was the best place it seems for taking start bearings, apart from those whose jokers were KL or M who had to get down again. |
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Having
got over the start I retired to my favourite bench on the run up to K
to stop and have lunch. Steve was following, but then Tim appeared not
far behind. I had hoped to get round and take snaps of everyone, but
kept bumping into Steve more than most.
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 Steve near M |
 Tim leaving L with his secret weapon visible. Check rules, possible penalty? |
 Roy returning from Ghost & K, L, M. With heavy backpack containing rule book. |
 Chris between B & C. |
 Rosie by the pond, thinks she has spotted the ghost but only B. |
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Well done to Rosie for spotting the map on the website did not extend
far enough to the west, but she still found the footpath that took a more direct route to L from C. |
 The event had lasted 150
minutes and we were very lucky that the 'MultiTx Rain God' saved the final downpour until the last 15.
After a good soaking the sun came out for the Tx and Triffid collection, Colin F has F in the bag, unfortunately it should have been H. BUT with sun shining and a rainbow, who cares! |
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Collecting the ghost at 2.30
and retiring to the car park – I then
missed the worst of the weather, with enough rain to wash the bike down
and a nice rainbow to end the afternoon off. I then watched the wet and
bedraggled return, but in better spirits than you would have imagined,
perhaps just keen to get dry and to the
pub.
Philip GONXH |
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Results
Colin F validated at the wrong joker! Hence lost all his points from his 9 other finds. A new brand of Multi-Spice to keep him warm this winter! |
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Times
Red times mean Tx and Triffid found but points didn't count because not 'banked' back at his Joker. A shame will all 10 found!
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 Number 1 |
 The bridesmaid |
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Report on “How it was done” by Tim
Firstly I made sure I was fully prepared. I arrived late at 1245 with no specs, no GPS, and no change of clothes. Despite the potential for mud and puddles, a trustworthy pair of astro-trainers dating back 20 years had been selected for speed and grip. I was surprised to get “Green” joker K but not worth questioning it. Man who carried heavy rule book throughout says: For the start signals, I chose to ascend the steep bank from the railway cutting up onto higher ground, particularly as we had been told K was weak. (Oh joy !) This would give easy access across Hunters’ Bridge if necessary. Tx A came on strongly and was angled over the bridge over the cutting; F also strong and on the opposite side of the cutting to A. K was too weak to get a bearing but I could hear it using my sense aerial. It made sense that K would be along the railway to the West, and with Steve already heading that way, I chose a parallel route along the top of the cutting, hoping that it would descend gently to meet the railway trackbed. No such luck after a couple of hundred yards, so the steep side was descended using small trees as speedbreaks. |
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little bit of jogging brought me to a gap in the undergrowth on the N
side of the track after a few hundred yards. With no signal, but
evidence of a boot which had slipped going up the slight slope, I spent
signal-off time to have a quick look. No luck this time but I found
later that I was within 5m of the Ghost. K was getting a little stronger but I did start to think that it was located more towards the end of the line. Hope was restored when Philip was spotted having time out on a bench after biking ahead, but when I got to him, the next signal was still a bit weak, and yet further down the track. After about another 200m, the track was crossed by another footpath, and here the next signal was full strength and to the right hand side of the path. I could see a camo-bag attached to the top of an old signpost. This distraction turned out to be a geocache which I bagged on my return to joker K. Wishing to avoid a fight with wet Blackthorn branches, I navigated into the likely area via the field edge at the back edge of the bushes. I spotted the transmitter but triffid-blindness came on suddenly and it was a few more minutes before a dib indicated that I had thankfully got there first. Back onto the main path, where Steve could be seen coming up the footpath to the south of the track. |
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The
small copse behind him had to be the place for L. The signal came on
and pointed to the left corner of the wood. I skipped (no, it was
plodded really) along its nearest flank, and just round the corner L
was found very close by on the next transmission. From here, I also had
time to pin M down to the main track somewhere near where I had first
seen Philip. So, back on the track, with Steve and Philip in
attendance, a welcome rest break for a minute or two was entertained. M
was down a steep embankment, with the triffid tucked behind a fallen
branch, but not too difficult for find. Here, Christmas spirit wafted
in and I offered to dib for Steve as he was still the wrong side of the
fallen branches and further up the slope.
The Ghost was transmitting fairly frequently now, and appeared to be back towards Hunters Bridge. Off we go ! For some unknown reason, I took a reverse sense and retraced my steps back towards M, only for the subsequent transmission to provide correction. I ended up back where I had previously looked on the way down the track, and I could see Steve on the field side of the bushes just as I arrived and the signal went off. The only thing to do was to search in likely places as quickly as possible, and luckily I found the triiffid just before Steve. KLM Ghost. Back to the bridge !! At the bridge A had just finished transmitting so I decided to go to F. Only trouble was there was a big wood in direct line, which I managed to navigate the long way round. Even so I must have missed the “obvious” path and ended up with a considerable run through the trees. With no signal I overshot and had to retrace my steps before finding F. With tired legs I took a straight line approach towards G through the wood, avoiding a swamp, and out onto a path, and luckily G was not far over on the other side. H was further along the path near where I bumped into Philip again, but it took a few short transmissions before I found its not too difficult hide. There were lots of other more difficult places I had searched where H could have been hidden. |
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I
knew that ABC were back over the bridge and to the left, so my brain
headed that way in haste followed later by a weary body. On the other
side the path led to a wide track with the outline of a DFer in the
distance. (Note to brain : remember this for later). A very strong
signal from A came from just in front of me and to the left in a wooded
area. Colin F was spotted already in there so I knew this must be the
place. I don’t know how but I got to A before him, and then I shot off
down the track towards the other person. Turned out to be Chris. When B
came on, it took me along a windy grass track with another swamp on the
left. My set turned in just past it but then the signal stopped. With
the intention of tracking in a straight line, but obstacles in the way,
I found another track around and resumed the straight line search for
just a little while before B was spotted. With Colin close by as well,
a stealthy dib was needed. I made sure that he spotted me doing a
fake-dib in the wrong place to distract him, before I set off hopefully
with a time advantage towards C. C stopped transmitting when I was
fairly close. With time to spare, I looked into the nearest potential
hide. C found !!
All complete, now back to joker K. All I had to do was find the railway track again. Now A to B to C had been a winding route, and at C I had to guess the way back to the bridge. Having tuned back to 1960, A was very strong and to my left. I should have retraced to A and found the right path from there, but (with 45 min left), urgency befuddled my homing instinct and I shot off in completely the wrong direction. I found a concrete path and some lorries, but these were no aid. Feeling completely lost, I decided that without a GPS device, and not being bothered to use Google maps on my phone, heading for F on the other side of the track was the only option. On following F’s signals, I ended up back at C !! However it paid off in the end, helped by a set of bicycle tracks in a muddy bit of the path. I was back at the bridge. Down the slope and plenty of time to walk to K. Getting lost after C had unsettled me, and I had to seek reassurance from my receiver that I was indeed going the right way along the track. I had 25min to wait at K in the pouring rain. Rosie came and joined me and spotted the nearby geocache, which she prioritised over finding the triffid, before departing for L. With no pen, I had to sign the geocache log in brown with an obliging wet twig. |  Tim's Joker Triffid K |
| At 15:30 all that was left was to collect in the transmitter and
triffid. A combination of small digits on the padlock, poor eyesight,
rain, and partial darkness (my torch just produced reflective glare)
meant that this was a far from easy task. Finally, just a soggy tramp a long way back to the car to look forward to, checking with Steve that M had been collected on the way. The sole of one trainer had had enough for the day and quickly departed from its lodgings, and I was soaked through with no dry clothes. At least a rainbow had appeared to welcome us all at the car park. A quick trip home restored warmth and dryness and pub-acceptability. Fortunately for me there was a crock of golden points awaiting when the results were announced. (Liverpool were 2-0 up against Spurs too !!) A pleasant meal was had at the Hare and Hounds, but as last week, the gammon was too much for one of my neighbours. Thanks to Philip for putting on a challenging event in poor conditions, and his kind help in leaving boot and tyre prints in convenient places. Have a wonderful festive break and a good rest. Until next season ….. Tim |
| The
Hero League
Tim takes the Hero Trophy for the winter By exceeding 150 Hero points he caused a rescale by 130/151  A full list of people in the Hero League is here More detail about Hero/Handicap system can be found here |
Hero point changes for competitors
attending this event.
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| So that was 2022 Does anyone know who found the most of the 70 Txs and Triffids that have been left scattered around for use to find? Was it you? I hope, as a result, you ended the season fitter than you began it? Thank you for your support and I am looking forward to seeing you all 'stuffed' with large quantities of Christmas Pud' in 2023. Keep your eye on the Noticeboard for the dates, they should be there around Christmas time. Cheers!!! Roy |
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