 |
On a bright sunny morning, we headed along the old railway line at Cold Norton to set up the aerial for the evening's direction finding contest.
|
|
On a bright sunny morning, we headed along the old railway line at Cold Norton to set up the aerial for the evening's direction finding contest. |
|
I found a cozy little hidey hole, half way down the embankment in thick vegetation. |
|
A convenient piece of reasonably level ground underneath a blackthorn bush would be a good place to hide. |
|
We threaded the aerial for about 200 feet through the trees at the bottom of the embankment and down to an earth stake at the base of a tree by a culvert underneath the embankment. |
It was raining when I left home that evening with the transmitter, but thankfully it had stopped by the time I got to site. The ground was wet though, so I spread out a groundsheet to lay on and has a tarpaulin ready if it did rain. The skys cleared and it turned out a clear crisp evening, although the temperature dropped as I lay in the hidey hole watching the lights on the aircraft flying overhead. |
|
All was quiet until I saw a torch shining on the bushes at 8.17, and then I heard Phil in the distance. Soon after I heard Roy being entertained by the earth stake and culvert. I could see torches in the distance, and on the 8.45 transmission Roy picked up the main signal, and after investigating the surrounding bushes, arrived at 8.47. |
|
The continuous transmission at 8.50 then produced a flurry of activity as competitors widened their search away from the culvert. Arriving at 8.59 was Phil, followed closely by Peter, the Ian just after 9.00. I think they were glad to see me! |
|
The following day we returned, again a lovely crisp autumnal morning, to take the aerial down and to retrieve the earth stake. |
|
This is what the bridleway above the hidey hole and the culvert looked like in the daylight. |
|
The railway line. |
|
The Site. |
And the results:
|
The important thing is that the competitors enjoyed the event. Here are some of their comments: ... really good event, best evening on the year I think and great way to end the season. There is just something about old railways lines that mixes so well with DF – a culvert, a starry night a tricky site - even the pub seemed a most friendly choice! ... Thanks for pic. sent showing the earth spike. The signal certainly kept bringing me back to that point. Spent lots of time investigating that area, also at the top of the culvert portal and bushes above it, as well as the other end of culvert and adjacent areas there also. It all looks quite open during the day, but not so in the dark. |
What’s Happening? • Site Map • Back to top • |
