[ARDF] Photos from 2006 USA ARDF Championships

[Jay Hennigan]

Kenneth E. Harker wrote:
>      The photos I took (please let me know if I made any errors):
> 
> http://www.wm5r.org/photos/2006_usa_ardf/
> 
> Some of my comments, in no particular order:
> 
> * I had a great time at the event.  The state park was very nice, even
> with all the deadfall that made getting through some portions of the forest
> difficult.  The lack of significant undergrowth in most of the park was a 
> refreshing change from what I'm used to in Texas.  The hills were not as 
> bad as I remember in Georgia, New Mexico, or even in Ohio.

I think that part of my trouble was a reluctance to go off-trail based
on experience at other orienteering events.  Much of the terrain was far
more runnable than that shown as white on the maps I'm used to seeing.

> * In the two meter event, I did think it was odd that the map included 
> many private home sites that were not marked out of bounds.  I would kind of
> feel wierd running through someone's back yard during an event like this.

I didn't see that on the two-meter event, but did on 80.  In fact I
ran through some of that in the northeast quadrant going from #2 to
#3.  I wound up exiting the forest through a back yard and along the
road, cut back in just south of the power line behind a business.

> * I thought the downed trees markings on the map were not all that useful.
> I certainly never felt like I could rely upon them for determining where
> I was, or for deciding upon my route choice.  Maybe they were more accurate 
> or useful in 1997.

They were useful in determining the speed that you could traverse some
of the terrain but I agree that they weren't of much value in locating
yourself.

> * I am now interested in trying out other receivers for 2M keyed AM courses.
> The VK3YNG receiver worked best for me in tone mode, but even then, it was
> hard to get good bearings on distant transmitters.  There was a certain 
> "ramp-up" in audio frequency with the beginning of each code element that was 
> really distracting because you had to mentally factor it out as you compared
> the relative audio frequency between code elements as you moved the antenna.
> This was less of an issue with stronger signals or when you moved the 
> antenna more slowly.

I think it's more of a matter of practice than a problem with the
receiver.  Keyed carrier is the gotcha in my opinion, I don't think
that it would make much of a difference whether AM or FM.

> * On Sunday morning I had a serious issue with my Altai 3,5 receiver right 
> out of the start.  It was so cold that morning that the conductors in the 
> Soviet headphone jack and plug I think shrunk just enough that they were no 
> longer making good contact.  The result was really scratchy audio.  In fact, 
> the headphone plug was so loose in the jack that it was falling out on its
> own just from the normal walking motion.  Luckily, I had a spare rubber band 
> with me that together with a really small twig, I used to hold the headphone
> plug firmly in place.  After that, I had no real issues with the headphone 
> audio unless I happened to physically bump the plug.  From now on, I'm always 
> carrying an extra rubber band or two with me.

The split-banana plugs on most of those headsets can be gently spread
apart with a knife blade that will help here.

> * Most of the 100-milers in the park on Saturday ignored me.  One made some
> crack about me hunting for the mother ship, and another joked about "I'm not 
> speeding officer, I swear!"  I think having a competition number on my chest
> probably helped keep people from bothering me too much.

You didn't tell them, "We're trying to track the mountain lions from
that tragic incident with the jogger yesterday!"??

-- 
Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Administration - jay at west.net
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