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

Splits

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

Splits

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

Splits

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

Splits

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