"Million-aires"
Our second attempt at IARU DF and we felt confident that having experienced
hunting for transmitters in the Million last June, we would be much better
prepared this time.
I have to admit that our rather hasty preparation was borne more out of the sudden
realisation that the event was only a couple of weeks away, rather than a planned final assault.
All those modifications we promised we would carry out on our hunting gear
were suddenly brought back to mind, and so a fortnight of frantic construction followed.
The Million:
The weather must have been specially ordered by Bob Titterington and his gang,
as it was the most beautiful spring day with clear blue skies. The sun was filtering through the trees, highlighting the misty atmosphere and creating pools of light amongst the dried bracken ground cover. Just perfect!
We parked on the grass verge and were surprised to see so many competitors milling around, it soon became clear that our hunt was sharing the venue with a much larger 'Orienteering' event.
As we walked in through the entrance we were met by the sight of what could almost be described as a small encampment!
Tents, Porta-loos, orange squash distribution point and a registration area buzzing with Orienteers
af all age groups.
We were met by Robert Vickers who directed us to the ARDF registration area and start point
where we duly checked in.
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Registration completed, we tucked into a couple of chocolate bars and had a drink of squash.
Our start times were 11:20 and 11:25.
We stood around and chatted to the other competitors and 'had a go' with some of the spare equipment that the organisers had provided.
We were very impressed with the performance of the AM recievers and as you will see later we would resolve to build similar hunting equipment.
10:30 and I decided to calibrate my 'close in' field strength meter against the 'homing beacon' MO.
I had quickly switched it on when we first arrived, and at maximum sensitivity it was 'end-stopping' 40 metres from the transmitter.
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The idea was to set the x1 gain so that the audio tone was just at maximum, within one metre of the antenna.
However the RF 'sniffer' seemed completely dead!
Fortunately I had a few tools along with me and so decided to delve inside to see if I could spot a problem.
I couldn't see any broken wires, and I knew the battery was OK as the 'sniffer' was emitting its low frequency 'purr' meaning there was no signal.
NO SIGNAL?
At this point I thought to ask if the homing beacon had died, I was told it had been turned off whilst Bob listened for the 'fox' transmitters coming on air!
Well that caused some amusement amongst my fellow hunters. Never mind still plenty of time to reassemble and re-calibrate!
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11:20 John sets off to find his first transmitter.
I am next to go and step up the the start line to be issued with my map.
Seems we are starting from half way down the western side of the forest, (last time we started from the Northernmost tip).
Having hunted in this wood before I already had a 'feel' for the place, and my plan was to get to a set of tracks that encircled the wood and follow these.
Whether I walked clockwise or anti-clockwise would be governed by which transmitter seemed strongest from the start.
11:25 and I'm off!
As I walked down the start 'corridor' I got a fix on transmitters 1, 2 and 3, I then waited at the junction with the circular path to listen for transmitters 4 and 5.
Transmitter 4 was really strong and the other bearings seemed consistent with a clockwise approach so off I went.
"The Start Corridor"
11:59 First blood. Transmitter 4 is hidden quite a way from the main path and I have had to scramble through a thicket of brambles and dead bracken to get to it.
Was going to take a photograph of it for this report but there is another competitor 'lurking' nearby and I don't want to give away the location.
I find a more direct path away from the transmitter and adopt a bewildered attitude to throw him off the 'scent'
It worked, and he wandered off, (but maybe he was trying the same subtefuge on me?)
My next set of bearings confirm I was correct in my choice of a 'clockwise' rotation. Transmitters 1, 2 and 5 are clearly audible ahead of me, so I set off thinking I would have at least one more (maybe even two) in the bag by 'half time'.
Walking SE now, transmitters 1 and 3 seem of medium strength, transmitter 5 getting stronger.
Because of the sequential nature of the way the transmitters come on air I am finding that I seem to be moving away from 3 and yet transmitter 1 doesn't seem to be changing strength.
I make the decision to go for transmitter 5 as it continues to get stronger, I will then backtrack and pick up 1 and 3 as I now have a good idea which section they are in!
Big mistake! I would never get back there.....
It's now 13:35 and I am at the edge of a clearing, having had a long steady climb up a woodland bridleway. 'Puffing' a bit, I stop and get my bearings whilst having a big drink and a bite to eat.
Transmitter Five is now really strong and ahead of me, and as I start to climb a steep bank the transmission finishes.
Several transmissions pass and I am no closer to finding the transmitter, my socks are full of prickles, I'm boiling hot and I must be virtually on top of it.
But where??
I am searching around the bottom of a cliff face and the reflections are being made much worse by the hard surface. More in desperation than anything I traverse the face and eventually see the orange and white marker in amongst some Leylandii type conifers.
"Should have known it would have been in there", it's the only bit of camoflage in the area!
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Twentyfive minutes left, I have to get back to the 'check in' as well as find my other transmitters,
the awful truth dawns that I 'aint gonna make it!
Something is going to have to give and it will have to be transmitters 1 and 3.
I know transmitter 2 is near the finish, as I have been keeping an eye on the bearings all round my circular route. With luck, I will be able to 'pick up' this third quarry on my way back.
I follow the bearing for the next two transmissions and realise that I will 'time out' if I don't make a dash for the finish. I am by the road by now and so follow the footpath back to the main entrance.
Time's fast running out, "I don't remember the driveway being this long"!
Then the sight of the start comes into view. Two and a half minutes to spare, that's what I call cutting it fine.
Results
| Place | Class | Name | Time (h.m.s) | Found |
| 1 | M40 | Dave Burleigh G4WIZ | 1.56.45 | 4 TXs |
| 2 | M40 | David Williams HOC | 1.57.05 | 4 TXs |
| 3 | M50 | Taff Hopkins G3XNI | 1.59.40 | 3 TXs |
| 4 | M50 | Dave Bullock G6UWO | 1.57.36 | 2 TXs |
| 5 | M60 | Peter Davies G0KQA | 1.44.00 | 1 TX |
| 6 | M60 | John Wood G0PSI | 1.45.10 | 1 TX |
| 7 | M40 | Richard Higgs NGOC | 2.00.00 | 1 TX |
| 8 | M50 | David Deane G3ZOI | 2.44.34 | 5 TXs |
| 9 | M50 | Steve Stone | 2.12.55 | 3 TXs |
| 10 | M40 | Richard Morrall G8ZHA | 2.21.12 | 2 TXs |
| 11 | M40 | Ian Ashford G8PWE | 2.26.12 | 2 TXs |
Reflections
I hoped I would do a better job than last year and yet only found two transmitters.
I was more prepared this time too, and then into the trap of wasting too much time on one of the trickier transmitters.
Having got my breath back I joined John in the 'Start Corridor'. He was having a go with some of the AM hunting equipment brought along by the organisers. The way the recievers seemed to be nicely 'matched' to the antenna, and the smooth 'S' meter operation was impressive.
The way the audio amplitude increased as the beam was aligned with the transmitter also gave an extra dimension to the information coming in.
In fact one could hunt just listening to the loudness of the transmitter and watching where you were putting your feet, rather than being 'glued' to an 'S' meter.
Our FM equipment with 'limiter' circuits has to be constantly attenuated to keep the signal really noisy (to get a similar amplitude effect). This ties up resources, (hands and eyes), and distracts one from the main task of navigation.
Overall View.
We really enjoyed our day, and were impressed with the organisation of the event.
The team had put in a great deal of effort and deserve a big round of thanks.
I think we have learned a lot and have vowed to build some AM hunting gear for the next event.
The increased response to this event shows that IARU DF hunting is slowly gaining ground.
I hope that reading this commentary it will encourage you all to come along and be........... 'Million-aires!'.
Dave Bullock G6UWO.
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