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Radio Society of Great Britain
Double IARU DF on 7 March
Summary
The event is being run on a Sunday and incorporated into an Orienteering event promoted by the Harlequins Orienteering Club. A 'one class' competition will be held using both the 144 MHz band and the 3.5MHz band.
Location
The Million - an attractive woodland just west of Stourbridge which, in turn, is west of Birmingham. Grid Reference SO/838874. From the junction of the A449 and the A458 at Stourton (west of Stourbridge) take the A458 westbound towards Bridgnorth. In 2.5km (1.5 miles) fork right as indicated by signs to 'Airport'. Drive through the wooded area for just under a mile and take the first turn right and park as directed. The route to the event will be signed with the diagonal red/white orienteering 'logo'.
Format of Event
The event will conform to the general principles of IARU events, but will be less formal than a Championship. For the 144MHz event there will be five transmitters and a MO beacon at the finish. It will be a 'one class' competition and all competitors will hunt all five 'foxes' with a two hour time limit. The 3.5 MHz competition will be a 'demonstration' event with just two transmitters and a one hour time limit.
Map
Scale is 1:10,000. Size - the same width as A4 but 18mm shorter than an A4 sheet. Printed in four colours.
Frequency Bands to be used
In the morning an event will be held using the 144-146 MHz band and in the afternoon there will be one using the 3.5-3.6 MHz band.
Timetable
1000 Registration opens. Data sheets and control cards issued to ALL entrants.
1055 Map issue to the first starter in the 144 MHz competition
1100-1230 144 MHz Starts
1400-1500 3.5MHz Starts
1600 Courses close
Entries
Entry fee is £4.50 per entrant payable on the day. This fee is paid to the Harlequins O Club (after the event by the organisers) in its entirety to cover the cost of land access (£1.50 per head), map, loo hire, St John Ambulance etc etc.
There is no extra fee to pay to enter the second competition unless you wish to purchase a second copy of the map for use on 3.5MHz. The cost of this is not yet certain but budget for £1.
The results will be posted on this web site as soon as possible after the event.
Procedures
Registration, Start and Finish for the ARDF event will be co-located. Please note that these will NOT be the same, nor as prominent, as those for the Orienteering. Please look out for the "ARDF" signs once you have parked your car and entered the forest.
In accordance with the informality of the event the organisers will not require you to deposit your receiver in a pound before the transmitters start sending. They do expect you to respect the spirit of this concession by refraining from using your receiver until reporting to officials in the start area and then only under their supervision.
The 'parallel' orienteering event is using electronic punching with SI dibbers. The ARDF event will use needle punches and conventional control cards.
Safety
Competitors are responsible for their own safety and take part at their own risk. No smoking in the forest. Whistles MUST be carried (the emergency signal is 6 blasts repeated at 1 minute intervals).
3.5MHz Receivers
There will be a small number of 80m receivers available on loan (£3 loan charge, £50 deposit [cheque with cheque card preferred]). Ring 01455 552648 to book one in advance.
Receiver kits are available for £33 + £2 p&p. Ring the above number to order.
Enquiries
Telephone Robert Vickers (G3ORI) on 01384 377008 (before 9.30 pm).
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