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Radio Society of Great Britain
Lots of nice clear bearings from the start.
#1 southwest, #2 southwest, #3 southwest, #4 southw no hang on there is
Steve crossing my path has he got #1 already?... no here comes #4 and it
is northwest. So I think 80m is meant to be reliable, and if the bearing
to #4 is correct then it is within 5 minute running from here, but #1 is
much louder but no way can I get close in 1 minute so off up the path to
#4. Turns out it was the right choice as I now get a cross bearing on #1
and it now east of south so going toward #4 got me closer to #4 and more
information on #1. hang on here is #5 and now that is southwest... ho
hum.
#4 comes up again as I am passing south of the ‘olive settlement’. I run to
the path and stay on it as the undergrowth looks a little nasty as I
charge down the path the bearing swings round quickly, and there is Steve
waving this antenna about. Only 10 seconds or so left so I bash off into
the forest, finding #4 on the ‘last bearing’.
Hare off toward #1 a get a confirmatory bearing it looks like it either
in the re-entrant by the ruined wall or further on past the fields "in the
grot".
I run down the re-entrant, see nothing and decide to ‘hang out’ nearest to
where my three bearings cross. Yes #1 is back up the hill but as I get
closer I can’t get a null it is all around me. Continue on the ‘last
good bearing’ and there, to the left of this is Ken crossing my path.
Extrapolating Ken’s bearing the where it crosses my bearing reveals the
location of the fox.
#2 starts to sound I get a bearing and follow cross country it looks
like it is close to the road. I come across a path junction I have no
clue at all where I am and the forest on the bearing looks a bit thick
so I keep down on about the right path until I see the road. Crossing this I
wait for #2 to sound. Very very loud now, but the forest is tricky
underfoot, I fall just as the fox goes silent, there are lots of little
thickets and earth walls so stupidly I start to search (cos it was loud and
these look like likely hiding spots) and then lose track of my bearing – in
hindsight this was a mistake. I come to the end of the earthwalls and then
have to wait for the transmitter to sound again. Up it comes and I run it
down.
I am now convinced that #3 is down in the dug up bit and #5 over to the
west. I am getting tired, I don’t know where I am and I am lazy following
the bearing to #3 and staying on the paths means I end up east of the
bearing. I cut across aiming to be in the ‘pits’ when it sounds. I check
out a couple of them but they contain controls for the next days O-event. #3
starts to sound due north and I run out into a patch of open forest as it
goes silent I think might Bob have stuck it in those pits 20m up the hill?
No follow the bearing! this takes me into some lower visibility forest
how far should I go - #3 was not that loud I stop and decide to wait and
as I turn round there it is 50m back.
Now for #5 where to run? I have several minutes before it sounds again
and I don’t really want to be a) in a valley or b) right up against a steep
hillside. I decide the best thing to do is to run down to where the valleys
meet as a bearing from here should tell me: North Hill, Valley West of
North Hill or South Hill. I start up the south hill but not too far just
in case. Then I see Mike D running down toward me so I commit. #5 lights
up when I am just below the crest of the hill not a problem on 80m (would
be on 2m). I try to follow the bearing but in retrospect realise I must
have wandered off to the left. When I hit the edge of the OOB its time to
start hunting. I find 5 just before it starts sounding. Dib and run away
on the back bearing making a big-pantomime-of-it as Mr Heale is in the
area.
The rest was just pain.
Learning points: Bob is placing controls much more fairly now, on 80m
really, really stick to ‘the last bearing you took’, if I am really close
then my receiver struggles to provide a consistent null (Ken explained why
so I have started to use the sense button and swing the receiver like a
searchlight) and I have found a trick that works if a) you are really really
close to a silent fox and b) all the other foxes are a long way away. I
have also developed a specific technique to use while the fox is sounding,
G3ZOI is going to make me an 80m Tx when he has a moment spare and I am
going to test it out before going public.
David
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