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 Organiser Chris |
Sunday 1st
October 2023 Multi-Tx
DF
Location
Ravenswood Park and Braziers wood, Ipswich NGR TM 191 410 See
maps below Map
with zoom
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 10 Txs and associated triffids provide the amusement. |
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 Hmmm, subtle encouragment to stay on paths? |
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A year had passed since I hosted my first DF hunt so I felt it was my turn to give it another go. I kept my eyes open for other sites around Ipswich but I was very keen to avoid any competitors being challenged for trespassing. I thought it might help to see where “normal orienteering people” go and that encouraged me to look at the site very near to last years but this time to the north of the A14. I visited on a Sunday to see how busy the car park was – there were a few spaces every time I was there. Incidentally a friend from a local radio club informed me this car park is known as the “dogging car park “– I think this must be because most people park there while they walk their dogs. I was a little worried about competitors entering the Skylark meadow which is prohibited to protect nesting birds but a walk around the perimeter confirmed the boundary was well defined and Roy reassured me it was OK if I marked it “Out of bounds" on the map. |
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The event
map - I wonder how old the picture is, there was much more under and
over growth than it suggests. |
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Initial
worries that the plot to the east was too open and easy to navigate
were soon dispelled when I walked it- plenty of impenetrable brambles
and paths that disappear. I was pleased to discover the contrasting
geography on the west of the site with hidden paths under the tree
cover, gentle streams and even a little boggy in places.
I made another visit to the site the week before the event and decided roughly where to put the chains and the ghost and found plenty of hiding spaces but didn’t make a final decision on where to hide the transmitters. The day before the competition I met Roy in the car park and took charge of the transmitters and triffids that he had carefully programmed, charged and tested. I set off down the road hiding C and working my way back to A checking that I didn’t exceed the 200m separation and plotting the location using what3words on my phone. Just to add some extra stress I had to replace my phone the day before and was still getting used to the slightly different user interface. I chose the location of the ghost inside the trees just off the path usefully marked by a spill of concrete into the ditch and after 2 hours I went back to the car for a sip of tea and then set off to hide F and G and H. I was trying to make the green transmitters easier to find but others never see the site in exactly the same way. It was 4pm gone by the time I started deploying KLM and M ended closer to H than I originally planned – not some clever plan to confuse. |
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On
the day I turned up well before 11 to make sure all the transmitters
were working. Last year I had a moment of panic when I couldn’t hear
two of the transmitters down near the coast and had to run down the
hill to confirm they were working. This time I’d made sure none of the
transmitters were very low and that resulted in some of them being on
each side of a valley - those that thought about it realised I’d never
risk going up and down a steep slope and followed the path around for
easy access. To my relief I heard all 10 transmitters from the start
without difficulty so I went back to the car for a relaxing drink of
tea while I waited for the competitors to arrive.
I carefully followed the written instructions provided by Roy to make sure everyone got their dibber and knew their joker. We walked to the start in good time and the competition started. |
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 There
was plenty to entertain us at the start, with passing dog walkers
telling us stories and a gun emplacement that could go up and down but
we couldn't find the right button to press. Should have consulted the web.
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 Tim is almost over the hill I set off to sit
on the bench by the path on the way to F to take some photos but no-one
came past so I moved closer to F and found Tim. I wandered in the
general direction of K and kept bumping into Tim but no one else. I
started to wonder if everyone else had got fed up and decided to go
home early when a family out for a Sunday afternoon walk engaged me in
conversation saying they had already seen two competitors.
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By
now it was past 2:30pm and following Roy’s instructions I started
making my way towards the Ghost. I saw Steve and George near G.
I waited a good 40m from the Ghost so as not to give away any clues and on the dot of 3pm I made my way into the trees and was surprised to find Rosie less than 1m from the Ghost, the look on her face said “What are you doing here?” almost instantly followed by the realisation that she’d just missed the 3pm deadline. I set up the ghost Tx in the car park and spent some time answering questions from a small boy and a man who had seen the competitors while walking his dog. |
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Results
4pm arrived and it seemed like an age before all the competitors returned. Relieved that all had made it back safely we downloaded the triffids into my laptop. Following a bit of confusion and checking that we had loaded all the data, Tim was the winner but he had to leave before the results were known so runner up George got first choice of prizes. Colin F was the first to find the ghost so was awarded the chocolates.   Thanks to everyone for taking part and especially Rosie, the Colins and Steve who travelled long distances. Chris, G6PDE Times
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The concern as to whether we had missed some data during processing, mentioned by Chris, was caused by the fact that the current Hero Colin F had finished with an hour to spare, been first at the Ghost but still came very low in the results - the reason was his high handicap coupled with the fact he risked visiting his Joker (F) late, to grab C B A before heading West, sensible distance/speed wise losing the advantage of the doubling F's score and reducing the pressure on Tim hunting in the F G H chain. As you can see in Multi-DF speed isn't everything. At least he got the Ghost chocolates but at the cost of letting Tim win and grab the Hero trophy as you will see below. |
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Over to our winner
Tim:
 This was a new site with lots of interesting sections on the map, including three out of bounds areas designated for the protection of Skylark nesting habitats. We started near the car park near a carved bench and a rise and fall pill box thingy. At 1.30 the multi war started and good signals were heard from A, F and K, with my approximate bearings shown as blue dotted lines on my map below, the other lines on it show the rest of the journey : |
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 My
joker was G (red lines). There was no direct path so I opted to go over
the hill (S) with the “bird poles” ???. It just proved I was over the
hill, as with better judgement I could have chosen a flat shorter
route. I gained no advantage, as by the time I got to R, Roy was there
having chosen the westerly path from the start. I thought Roy must be
going for F or H.
On the next signal the bearing pointed through undergrowth, so I had to go back along the path and round. The signal peaked up along the next path, next to the corner of a playing field. I chose to go the opposite side of the path, and with a little bit of exploration, found G without a signal. Round the corner to P (purple) where I met Roy and on a strong signal from F we phaffed around at the top of a steep incline. I thought Roy’s joker must have been F, but he was actually going for H. The next signal took me round to F and I was wondering why Roy wasn’t close behind. Down the dip (orange) to X where I met Chris. I had overshot a path to the right to wait for the next signal with Chris, expecting him to be waiting near H.   Big
mistake !! The next signal was strong and I headed straight for a tree
through bracken. But nothing there. So I could then either retrace my
steps and follow the previously overshotten path, or go through nettles
and undergrowth in a straight line. Another error in judgement, as I
couldn’t see where I was treading and I tripped and fell a few times,
gaining multiple nettle stings. Fortunately a bit of path was spotted
and I crashed my way through to rejoin it further down the slope. A bit
of fortune then occurred. Using “dead time” to search near the path I
stumbled across H, with its 40 still intact !
With K west from the start, I decided to head that way (black) along a boardwalk to look for M, which could still have some good points going. When M came on, it was back the way I had come. The short transmission made it difficult to close in, so I Pfaffed around even more here (P+), including a trip to the boggy area near the stream. Another signal took me back up to the path where a feeling of déjà vu occurred. (Hey, word puts the accents on déjà vu for you !) This was where I had found H. So had I accidentally stumbled on M thinking it was H ? (Brain confusion now occurred). Chris reappeared on the path with a bit of a grin on his face. At last, I had a reasonable sense on a strong signal from M, which took me up the slope and in, on the other side of the path. At this point I had heard the Ghost, but it was too weak to get a bearing, so I assumed it was back near the start. With no current signal from L, I took a chance and headed along the boardwalk (turquoise), guessing 200m, and found some clumps of bamboo. Possibilities here. The next crashing signal told me I was in the right place, but I needed to go up the slope on the other side of the path. There was the triffid. Following the path towards the A14 now (dark grey) I met Chris again at a marked waypoint where I waited until the next signal took me through an open area to find K in amongst some trees and low brambles. Colin arrived just as I left. Now it was close to 2:30, so I thought I had better track down the Ghost. The signal was still too weak to do anything useful, so a decision was made to head for the start (brown), with the option to do ABC if the Ghost was still too weak. Heading along the main path the Ghost transmissions were indeed still weak, but the bearings had turned to indicate that it was somewhere Northish from the start over near the houses. I decided that the best way to cover distance was not in a straight line through a brambly area, but to get to the path in front of the houses and along and look for a gap to get back into the undergrowth. I stopped where someone had discarded some concrete in a small ditch along the edge of the undergrowth. There was a bit of a way in to the thicket here, and surprisingly a bit of a Ghost just inside too. Relief ! Just ABC now. I tuned to A. I didn’t fancy going cross country, so back to the start (dark blue) and along the unofficial small path for a few hundred yards. A came up strongly in a small clump of medium sized oak trees. There was a camouflaged article of clothing up one tree. Could this be a sign ?? There was certainly a triffid up another tree nearby. I guessed that B would be a bit further along the path, and another transmission took me to its vicinity (pale grey), but it took me two more before finding the right way in, round the corner. Using the chain rule, I decided that C must be further along the path (pink), confirmed later by a short blast straight ahead. There was a lone spruce type tree which stood out, so I stopped by it to wait. I had a look into a littered area near the road side but with no luck I returned to the path/tree. The next signal took me back, but deeper into the cover and over to the far corner. C found and 10 Transmitters. Job done ! I met Steve heading for C and Roy searching for A on my way back to G via my hidden water bottle near R. I had pleasant 30 min resting tired legs, sitting on a piece of concrete pipe listening to football commentary on my phone until the end of the contest. Thanks to Chris for a good, do-able, but challenging event. I’m sorry I had to shoot off quickly afterwards and missed the results. I’m sure you’re pleased I triggered a handicap reset ! Tim |
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Changes to the Hero League  |
Tim's win caused a rescale by 130/172, keeping the bravery of our Heroes just below suicidal. |
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Thanks to you all for coming and to Chris for all his hard, methodical work - many hours of preparation I know. Very well done Tim, back at the top of the Hero League yet again. Tim is running the last event of 2023, it appears that Nov 19th is more convenient than the week before for several people and so I have changed the details on the dates page. As usual, for the latest info about the next event keep your eye on the Noticeboard, not forgetting to refresh  in case your device stores
pages. |