[ARDF] Cincinnati 2m Event at Stanbery Park, October 1st.

[Matthew Robbins]

Saturday, October 1st, we had a 2m ARDF at Stanbery Park, in
Cincinnati.  Brian DeYoung was the course setter.  We had "issues"
with two of our transmitters, and we decided to make it a 3
transmitter course.  Bob Frey left first, then Emily, then Dick
Arnett, and then me.  The last few courses at Stanbery, I did the
route clockwise, and it seemed to be the way to go, but I decided a
day or two ahead of time to go sort of counter-clockwise, primarily
because Clockwise gives you high ground for the transmitters on that
side, and if you come the other way (CCW), there are mega-reflections.
 So my decision to go CCW was more of a I-need-the-practice decision
that should have hurt me (at least for the T's Clockwise from the
start).
    After I started, my plan was to run straight down the middle spur
(which technically isn't CW or CCW, but---whatever).  I delayed a bit
to make sure I had a good initial bearing for every T (2, 4, and 5). 
When 5 came on, I was really close to it, and I got it on-cycle.  So
at the end of the first cycle, I had one T.  I stuck with my CCW
route, and went to 4 next.  About 2 minutes later, I ran into Bob, and
when 4 came on, we ran toward it, and then followed the bearing after
it went off.  I was in front, and snaking around past fight and
obstacles, but trying to keep pretty much on the bearing.  Bob was
going much straighter.  I had gone off to the right, and then
recentered, and then off to the left, and recentered, and Bob said he
noticed I did pretty well recentering on the bearing after the
excursions.
    I crossed a stream in a roundabout way, then checked my compass
for the bearing, looked up, and there it was.  It hadn't come on yet,
so my total time at 4 was better than 13 minutes.
    My initial bearing for 2 showed it was at the far south side of
the map, and I had two choices.  I could save climb, and go up a long
reentrant trail, or I could go back over a spur and hope for a LOS
bearing from up high.  In the past, coming up that trail has been a
real problem reflection-wise, so I did the climb.  I was pushing
really hard, because I wanted to get over the crest of the spur before
2 came on, and that's what I did.  It was minute 16 at this point. 
The bearing was no surprise, and I kept heading south.  Five minutes
later, I was thinking I had gone too far, but I resisted stopping---If
I had to run back, it was downhill.  When it came on at 21 minutes, I
ran a little bit farther, and had a bearing 90 degrees to the trail. 
I've had a lot of trouble with bearings in a reentrant when the signal
is crossways to the stream, and that's where I was.  I checked
forward/backward several times from several different positions (close
the stream, away from the stream), and I decided it was on the other
side.  I got a final bearing just as it went off (a little too
hurried, for sure), and I took a good minute crossing the earthwalls
on either side of the stream.  After I climbed out, I checked my
compass, and looked along the bearing, but I didn't see anything.  I
started climbing, and moved left and right a little, and there it was,
again off-cycle.
    To get to the finish, I stayed on the side where I was, and
contoured along, looking for a good crossing point.  I saw one, failed
on my first attempt to get out of the stream, and made it the second
time.  I ran and walked uphill to the finish.  When I got to the
finish---there was no one there.  I stopped my watch, 29:23, and
looked around.  Since I was the last starter, I figured it was a good
sign that no one was there.  Brian said he was going to check on the 2
failed Ts, so I figured he did that.  A minute or two later, Bob got
there.  Emily and Dick filtered in a little later.

    Times were:

    29:23 me (5-4-2)
    44:02 Dick (2-4-5)
    44:51 Bob (2-4-5)
    47:37 Emily (2-4-5)

    I got lucky.  That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.  For this
course, clockwise was the wrong answer.

Matthew
AA9YH
Cincinnati, Ohio