I would like to thank all of you for coming to the Radio Orienteering event.
It was a bit of an experiment to see whether people would be interested in trying Radio-O at a multi-day orienteering event.
With hindsight it seems that the competing attractions on Rest Day, and the fact that some people actually wanted to take a much needed rest,
meant that it attracted fewer people than I had hoped for. As it was, there were times when our resources were a bit stretched.
For those of you who have not tried Radio Orienteering before it is a steep learning curve to use the equipment and to find out what the competition
actually entails.
I was rather optimistic in thinking that more people would have read some of the information on the S6D web-site about Radio Orienteering
and would arrive fully briefed! On the day there was a lot to tell you, and some signs to read, and it appears some of it might have been missed.
I apologise if this spoiled your enjoyment.
The Practice Course seemed to work well as it gave people a chance to find a control without too much difficulty - not something everybody achieves
at their first event!
The Main competition was based on the classic Radio Orienteering format using 5 transmitters on a 5 minute cycle which is much more challenging.
A Beacon control is often used as a safety feature so that everyone can find the finish and is normally made a compulsory last control to
ensure that competitors approach the finish from the same direction. For this event I thought it would also be useful to have a Beacon to help
with training but to simplify things I decided to make it an optional control for the competition.
This meant that 3 different frequencies were in use.
The tuning knob on the Chinese receivers is rather coarse and it is not easy to ensure that they are tuned to the correct frequency.
To the inexperienced ear the radio signals on each frequency can all sound very similar. The intention was that the Practice transmitters would be programmed to have
a different sound compared to the others, to aid their indentification, but when I got them a week before the event I found out that this had not been implemented.
I now think that it would have simplified things to have omitted the Beacon altogether and relied on the Practice transmitters to enable people to find the finish if lost.
At a typical event the time limit for the main courses would be 120 or 150 minutes so I knew a 60 minute limit would be really challenging.
The 60 minute time limit was there because I wanted to have the option to use each receiver at least twice if demand warrented this.
I was impressed that the winner of the longest course managed to find all 5 controls in the allotted time.
I hoped that everyone would clear their SI cards, punch the Start and Finish and download for the Practice and Main event.
It seems some of these steps were missed so the results are somewhat incomplete but I think that at least 25 to 30 people gave it a try.
I have learnt a lot from this event but I would really appreciate some feedback, good or bad, which could help to improve the development of the sport.
email: johnmarriott at gmail dot com substituting @ for ' at ' and . for ' dot '
Click this link for
UK Radio Orienteering - Information, results and forthcoming fixtures
A Radio Orienteering event usually takes place in SE England or the Midlands each month. It appears that the fixtures list has not been finalised for the rest of 2013 so check back soon if you are interested.
Newcomers are always welcome
but it is a good idea to contact the organiser to ensure that receivers are available to borrow.
John Marriott: Organiser and Planner
3.9km, 6 controls, limit 1 hour
Pos | Name | Club | Age Class | Score | Time | Points | Bonus/Penalty | Manual Adj | Controls, in order visited |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | Stephen Middleton | SLOW | M35 | 50 | 59:40 | 50 | 204, 201, 203, 202, 205 | ||
2nd | Marnoch Hamilton-Jones | GRAMP | M21 | 5 | 66:10 | 40 | -35 | 201, 203, 211 | |
3rd | Gareth Yardley | GRAMP | M45 | 5 | 72:37 | 70 | -65 | 202, 203, 201, 204, 205, 211 | |
4th | 2006650 ESOC | 0 | 46:48 | 0 | |||||
5th | Alastair Moir | SOC | M55 | -15 | 66:25 | 20 | -35 | 202, 203 | |
6th | Mark Thomson | FVO | M45 | -30 | 73:25 | 40 | -70 | 205, 204, 211 | |
dnf | Jackie Chapman | LOC | W55 | 0 | 0 | ||||
dns | Fred Ross | AIRE | M65 | -3370 | 733:27 | 0 | -3370 |
3.2km, 5 controls, limit 1 hour
Pos | Name | Club | Age Class | Score | Time | Points | Bonus/Penalty | Manual Adj | Controls, in order visited |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | Rod Mansel | SUFFOC | 30 | 58:45 | 30 | 205, 204, 203 | |||
2nd | John Kewley | MDOC | M50 | 20 | 58:56 | 20 | 205, 204 | ||
3rd | 1002768 | 20 | 59:22 | 20 | 211 | ||||
4th | Kristin Astebol | NTNUI | W21 | 20 | 59:40 | 20 | 205, 204 | ||
5th | Pete Owens | DEE | M50 | 10 | 57:05 | 10 | 205 | ||
6th | Sarah Mansel | SUFFOC | W45 | 0 | 63:12 | 20 | -20 | 202, 203 |
2.9km, 4 controls, limit 1 hour
Pos | Name | Club | Age Class | Score | Time | Points | Bonus/Penalty | Manual Adj | Controls, in order visited |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | Jocelyn Brett | CHIG | W14 | -15 | 72:36 | 50 | -65 | 202, 203, 204, 211 | |
2nd | Ian Hamilton | GRAMP | M50 | -35 | 74:37 | 40 | -75 | 202, 203, 211 | |
dnf | Ian Sparkes | LEI | M65 | 30 | 30 | 202, 203, 204 |
3 controls, limit 15minutes
Pos | Name | Club | Age Class | Score | Time | Points | Bonus/Penalty | Manual Adj | Controls, in order visited |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st | Alastair Moir | SOC | M55 | 40 | 7:13 | 40 | 206, 207, 211 | ||
2nd | Kristen Astebol | NTNUI | W21 | 40 | 10:08 | 40 | 206, 207, 211 | ||
3rd | Peter Huzan | SLOW | M45 | 40 | 12:03 | 40 | 206, 207, 211 | ||
4th | Sheila Carey | OD | W65 | 40 | 13:08 | 40 | 206, 211, 207 | ||
5th | John Kewley | MDOC | M50 | 20 | 5:25 | 20 | 207, 206 | ||
6th | 361554 TINTO | 20 | 6:14 | 20 | 207, 206 | ||||
7th | Sarah Mansel | SUFFOC | W45 | 20 | 7:59 | 20 | 207, 206 | ||
8th | Roderick Mansel | SUFFOC | 20 | 9:25 | 20 | 207, 206 | |||
9th | 2006650 ESOC | 20 | 13:43 | 20 | 207, 206 | ||||
10th | Chris Bosley | LEI | M65 | 0 | 27:28 | 40 | -40 | 206, 207, 211 | |
11th | Fred Ross | AIRE | M65 | 0 | 30:25 | 40 | -40 | 211, 207, 206 | |
12th | Peter Carey | OD | M65 | -20 | 15:28 | 20 | -40 | 206, 207 | |
13th | Mark Thomson | FVO | M45 | -20 | 16:01 | 20 | -40 | 207, 206 | |
dnf | Jackie Chapman | LOC | W55 | 10 | 10 | 206 | |||
dns | Jocelyn Brett | CHIG | W14 | -20 | 652:53 | 20 | -40 | 207, 206 | |
dns | Dick Whitworth | BL | M70 | -20 | 784:48 | 20 | -40 | 206, 207 |