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Radio Society of Great Britain
I have often thought that success can have an element of good luck, and this event could be seen as proof of that.
On the accompanying map I have highlighted the route in pink, and overlaid this with annotated blue to show where I was when various transmitters were on.
Heading out of the start I heard #1 to the north, #2 to the south, #3 and #4 again to the north and #5 to the west. When #1 came on for its second transmission, I was on the track above it, a little to the north so a quick retrace of my route, the bearing swung round so I plunged into the forest and down the hill to find it.
When I was passing the pond #4 was on and decided that it was still too far away to follow the bearing and that I would be better off getting to the north east corner of the map for when #3 next came on. When it did I again got a good swing in the bearing from the large path to give me confidence to plunge into the forest and again I soon found it.
I am unsure which indistinct tracks I was using to get back towards #4. When I reached the large path I paused and scanned the forest, then looked at the map and decided that I needed to be a little further west and I had the time before #4 came on again. When it did I was able to get to it whilst it was still transmitting.
From the bearing I had for #5 just before I got #1 I knew I needed to get to the west side of the map, near the OOB area. When I was just to its north and listening to it I decided that it was still a little way off as it was not very loud. I was most surprised when shortly after I stumbled across it.
Then it was down to the southern section of the map for #2. I had over shot it when it next came on, and had difficulty getting a good bearing on it. It also didn’t sound right. Wasn’t at all confident with the information I had gathered so it was a bit of speculative wandering. The next time it came on I again had difficulty with bearings and it still sounded strange. Suspecting that I had bumped the frequency tuning of my receiver retuned on one of the other transmitters. For the 3rd cycle whilst I was in the area I got a better bearing and managed to find the control. I didn’t see the kite until I was standing next to it, having spotted the aerial first from relatively close, but then only with some hesitation.
The run back to the finish was uneventful, having studied the options earlier.
I enjoyed the course, despite my difficulties with #2. The weather was ideal, not too warm and dry.
Michael
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