The Wirral &
District ARC
Welsh 2m DF Challenge
April 2004
On Sunday 25th April,
2003 the W.A.D.A.R.C North Wales D.F. Challenge was again held in the
beautiful setting of the Clocaenog
Forest. west of Ruthin. Participants from as far away as Trafford, and
Telford took part and a great time was had by all. Start point for the morning
hunt was the car park of the Forge
Restaurant (formerly the Clwyd Gate Motel)
"Ready for the off"
L to R - Paul GW6ONZ,
A variety of antennae
were to be seen being waved about as the 10.00am start time approached and, just
as the first call from the fox was about to be heard,
It's
certainly a Big One!
"Eight Ball in the Top Pocket"
Foreground (L - R) Martyn GW4CQZ,
Not to be outdone, other team members attempted to "psych" out the opposition by displaying their equally impressive fox detecting kit:
Watch out for the Indians! "G6's do it Backwards!"
Rich, G8ZHA's impressive active and passive antenna systems - before Phil G6IIM demonstrating his prowess with the Reverse Polarisation he went through the car-wash!! D.F. antenna
First
of the
teams to find the morning fox, which was situated 14 miles from the
start, was Team G4EWJ consisting of
|
The Morning Winners
(L - R)
It took a while longer for six of the remaining teams to locate the fox who was enjoying the views from the bank of Llyn Brenig
Gotcha!
Bob G4NCI sneaking up on the fox, Tom G4BKF
Lunch was taken at The Sportsmans Arms, near Denbigh, and tales of daring-do and equipment malfunctions were swapped over platters of the local fayre and flagons of ale.
"Last one out pays the bill!"
L. to R. (Background) Bob G4NCI, Chris M1EEV, Ziggy M1EIV, Denis G3UVR, Frank G8REQ, Tom G4BKF and (hiding behind Tom, Rich G8ZHA)
L. to R. (Foreground) RogerG4YLQ, Peter G0BHP & Robin G3RJQ
Suitably replenished, six teams assembled for the afternoon event - two foxes this time! The starting point was outside the Sportsman's Arms and as the start time approached, the hunters flexed their antennae!
They seek him here........
Spot who also has a reverse polarized antenna?
They seek him there.....
Phil, G0JSB wondering why all the cars slow down as they go past him!
Both foxes (G4NCI & G4BKF) were heard at the start with similar signal strength. Consequently, the teams headed in different directions until one fox's signal became stronger than the other. Rich G8ZHA's active antenna system came into its own when he was the first to find a fox - G4NCI - in just under an hour. Eight minutes later, however, the other fox - G4BKF - was found, first by by Team G3UVR then, five minutes afterwards, by Team G0JSB. Although G0JSB reached his second fox only 32 minutes after leaving the first, he was pipped by G8ZHA who had arrived at his second fox five minutes earlier. At the end of the contest, five teams had discovered both foxes and one had reached one fox.
Its a hard life being a Fox
Bob G4NCI & Colin G3RLA catching some rays while waiting to be found
The Afternoon Winners
Rich G8ZHA, (First with an active antenna) Phil G0JSB and XYL Jan G6SNO (First with a passive antenna)
Times
Morning Hunt – 1 Fox located at N.G.R. SH970561
Start Time 10.05
Team Callsign | Time Taken (Hrs Mins) | Antennas |
G4EWJ | 1 10 | Passive |
G0JSB | 1 21 | Passive |
G4NCI | 1 31 | Passive |
G8ZHA | 1 34 | Active |
G3UVR | 1 47 | Passive |
G6IIM | 2 18 | Passive |
GW4CQZ |
Afternoon Hunt – 2 Foxes: |
GW4BKF at N.G.R. SJ067556 |
|
Team-Callsign |
Time to reach Fox 1 |
Time to reach Fox 2 |
Antenna | ||||
FOX | Hours | Mins | FOX | Hours | Mins | ||
G8ZHA | NCI | 0 | 50 | BKF | 1 | 31 | Active |
G0JSB | BKF | 1 | 04 | NCI | 1 | 36 | Passive |
G3UVR | BKF | 0 | 58 | NCI | 2 | 07 | Passive |
GW4CQZ | NCI | 1 | 55 | BKF | 3 | 12 | Passive |
G6IIM | NCI | 2 | 21 | BKF | 3 | 24 | Passive |
G4EWJ | BKF | 3 | 29 | Passive |
If you are interested in future events, please contact me for more details
73, Tom, G4BKF
email: secretary@wadarc.com
AX25: g4bkf@gb7oar
QTHR 1989 onwards
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