Hello Folks,
Monday the 2nd is the deadline for submitting material for the next
(September) Key-Klix. You can send them directly to me at
dennismo2(a)cox.net or to keyklix(a)sbarc.org.
Tnx es 73 de Denny AD6EZ<><
Hello Folks,
Monday the 2nd is the deadline for submitting material for the next
(September) Key-Klix. You can send them directly to me at
dennismo2(a)cox.net or to keyklix(a)sbarc.org.
Tnx es 73 de Denny AD6EZ<><
From: Adam Scammell <a.scammell(a)rocketmail.com>
Hello All,
I have access to internet now. This is from our host=E1s work
email address. I may not be able to send another email for a week
or so.
Yes it's that time of year again.
This time the trip will include:
Hungarian National Championships 24th - 25th August.
Training with two Hungarians Gyuri and Csaba and the American
team, between 26th August - 1st September.
World Championships in Slovakia 2nd - 7th September
Following this we will have a leasurily train trip and stay in
the Checz Republic.
Travel: Thursday 22nd August
Borring stuff included a 22 Hr flight to Budapest via Kuala Lumpa
and Austria.
Ground Travel: Friday 23rd August
We were met at the airport by Csaba (Hungarian) and Marvin (Yank)
after a lengthy wait.
Our trip took us through the outskirts of Budapest. The roads
and buildings reminded me a lot of China. However with out all
the people.
We passed a building in progress that was likeable to a UFO.
Csaba
indicated that it was a new stadium. It was interesting to watch
the workers carrying (yes by hand) large sheets of iron above
their heads up onto the roof.
We travelled for about two hours to the HQ at Poradfurd (it's
surposed
to have a ' above the 2nd e and two dots above the u=85.. but=85
I am sure you get the idea).
Here we found a summer camp that was to become our home for the
next few days. Many competitors were staying in tents, however we
had a cabin.
Although we arrived at about 6.30pm it was still light and would
be
till 8.30pm as it's summer and daylight savings is in effect. We
ate diner straight away. Next was a equipment tryout. Gyuri
translated all the important information for us. Frequencies etc.
The equipment tryout began with initial confusion and concern.
Both Bryan's and my receivers were acting very strange. We had
low range even extremely close, and
very confusing bearings from almost anywhere. We were soon put at
rest when a wisper suggested that we had been given the wrong
frequencies.
All was now well.
2M competition: Saturday 24th August
We got up at 7am for a shower and breaky. Before leaving I mixed
up
some sports drink which Harley nicknamed the elixer of life.
Final instructions were soon to follow. The bus soon arrived and
the first group departed. I was starting later in the field and
thus had to wait for the bus to make one drop off then return. It
wasn't too long and we were also on our way. The trip only took
10 minutes. We arrived 5 minutes after the first group left.
Bruce was starting 30 minutes after the first group, Bryan 10
minutes later. I was listed as 70 minutes
after the first group, as was Harley Leach (Yank). I took plenty
of
photos at the start area. (See below)
The area like everywhere else here was very scenic. I had quite a
wait but the time flew. After preparations and warm-up I was all
set. The map for today was A4 in size and the scale 1;15000 with
a landscape orientation.
The start was central at the top with the finish in the top right
most corner. As has become standard for us I marked the start and
finish transmitter exclusions on the map, then was soon off on my
way. My initial plan was to collect any transmitters that were in
the North East corner of the map. So off down the start corridore
I went. I determined the direction of each transmitter during the
first 5 minutes, quickly deciding that my initial plan was not
necesicary.
Insead I headed south finding Tx 1 after 16 minutes. Next I
decided to grab Tx 2 as it was reasonably strong.
Howver after 1 cycle I determined it was closer to the start than
I initialy thought.
Insead I headed yet further South to find TX 5 (31 minutes
total), I droped a fair bit of time running around in circles
though. I then with reasonable confidence headed north then
latter west to find Tx 2 after 15 minutes. My next port of call
was Tx 3 however after some confusion
I headed further south and eventually found it. This was one of
the
harder transmitters as it was furthest from the start and a fair
way down the wrong side of the hill. Once found I understood why
I had only previously heard it a few times. Deyhydration started
to kick in at this stage. I am yet to fully understand exactly
where I went after this point. I eventually found myself back on
the map. I had to travel via the finish to get to Tx 4. After
running by the compass for 200M, I found the transmitter whilst
it was off. I returned to the finnish about 1Km from there.
My watch had stopped at 1Hr 16 minutes somewhere in the vacinity
of Tx 3 so I am unsure of my time into Tx 3 or Tx 4. I finished
in 128.02
this was just over double the fastest time.
I finished in 7th place with Bryan (4tx's) in 14th and Bruce
(3tx's)
after timing out in 16th.
After resting we walked back to the camp about 3Km away.
After lunch and showers we travelled to a high point nearby. This
was the location of a TV tower \ lookout and also a ski resort.
The views were a bit disappointing due to the haze that seems to
ever present here (although worse in the afternoon).
On the way back to the camp we stopped for a ride on the go-
carts.
After Dinner we chatted with some local competitors before
heading off to bed.
80M Competition: Sunday 25th August
This morning was an earlier start than yesterday. After breaky I
prepared all my gear and fluids. This time I decided to run with
a
bum-bag containing a water bottle. I was glad of this latter.
I was again on the second bus, and again listed as starting with
Harley. We used the same map and so were able to follow our
location all the way to the start. We arrived after just 10
minutes, and just before the first group left. Bryan was in the
first group, Bruce 25 minutes latter, I was 20 minutes after
that. My start again creaped up on me.
Todays start was shifted to the centre of the map to the South.
The
finish remained the same.
Csaba, Harley, Marvin and myself all discussed strategies at the
beginning and it worked well for me. I headed west only stopping
occasionly for bearings. After 9 minutes I was where I should
have been, however I didnt move quick enough and failed to find
Tx 4 on its first cycle. 5 minutes latter and I discovered it
only 50 meters away. I then made route choice error by running
above the start to Tx 1. I should have ran along the road below
the start. This cost me alot of time.
Bruce ran this leg in 14 minutes, whereas it took me 28 minutes.
Some
time after this I had equipment problems, I was unable to change
the range control. This severley limited directionality of the
receiver. It wasn't too bad though, I discovered I could hunt in
audio mode, sniffing peak until it overloaded then reverse the
antenna and hunt null.
I was lucky to be able to follow others at times also. I found Tx
5 after some initial messing around. From here I headed southwest
to Tx 3. My bearings for this transmitter crossed about 400M east
of where it was. This was surprising as the transmitter was atop
of a large hill. I then headed east to Tx 3 before sprinting for
home.
My time was better today, however still maintained midfield
status with 7th place 2 behind Bruce (5Tx's) and 6 ahead of Bryan
(5Tx's).
Food, Shower, packing, awards and departure all followed.
We are now travelling in convoy 3 car's 9 people to Pecs (again
there
shold be a ' above the e) Once there we will be training several
times each day. We are all really looking forward to it.
---
We arrived at "the lodge" at about 8.30pm. After unloading the
car we headed straight down to the home style resturunt. Dinner
included soup, chicken, pasta and salad, desert was biscuit's and
fruit. We latter found out that Lunch and dinner would be here
most days.
Everybody was nursing injuries and or general aches and pains. A
few of us decided to walk back. This helped with the stiffness.
Gyuri arrived with his wife Suzi, and son's Danny and Thomas. We
were
informed that we would have the following morning off. Lunch
would be at 1pm followed by training at 3pm. A short 2M course
would be set on a nearby map. Many maps around this area would be
used over the next week, all are within 25 minutes of here.
2M Training Monday 26th August
We used most of the morning preparing our equipment and studying
the
map's that were dropped off earlier. We were transported to the
start in two trips, as Csaba's car was being repaired. The trip
only took 10 minutes.
At the start we were informed that we had an 80 minute time
limit,
also that Tx 5 was broken and should be treated as an
orienteering control. Ie it was marked on our map, and we should
simply navigate to it.
The map for today was littered with strange sink holes that
varied
between 1 and 20 metres deep, and 3-50 metres in diamter.
Since I was still very sore I had planned to walk / jog. I was
the last starter, I chose the same tactic as Bruce, heading back
down the map to the edge and then following the road to TX 5.
This control in it's self proved to be a challenge, all of us
assumed it was on the side of a hill, however as I soon
discovered, it was actually a depression. It
had tag's on the centre and a horseshoe shaped contour nearby.
After leaving here I found a marked track that was very overgrown
with blackberries. My second and third attempts on both sides of
the track was fruitless. I headed further south and found a good
route via an open forest. I was not too far from Tx 2 when a deer
ran past. I stopped and watched it disapere into the distance.
This was a buzz for me, I have only seen one other deer in the
wild, that was on an ARDF course in Canada. After this short
distraction I headed off and found Tx 2,
then headed west on a fast road. (I latter found out that I ran
straight past Tx 4 on this road) My plan of not running kinda
fell apart here when I decided if I did walk I wouldn't find too
many.
I headed yet further east collecting Tx 1 just after Bruce and
before Harley. I then headed north, then west for several cycles
finding Tx 3 just after Bruce. I then headed for the finish,
waiting at a clearing just long enough to check Tx 4 location. It
was still quite week, and with only 6 minutes left I decided to
head for the finish. My finish time was quickest for 4 Tx,
although it was only a training exercise. I found out over diner
that Tx 4 was 20KHz off frequency. I found out also that Tx 4 was
20KHz high This explains why when passing within 100M of it I
decided it was too far away.
Gyuri gave us the run down on tomorrow: It will be a slightly
longer course on the 80M band. We would begin at 9am.
Diner was very nice, however there were some time constraints in
place so there were only 3 of us ate at the restraunt. We
collected the food for everyone else and headed back to the house
to wait for them. Gyuri collect two more americans from the train
station, Bob Frey and Dick Arnett soon to join us. Gyuri headed
off again to pick up the remaining competitors. They soon
returned here for a re-heated meal. Course discussions occured
soon after and many ideas were thrown around.
We eventually retired to bed at 11pm, Bruce was still writing his
report.
80M Training, and Fox Oring: Tuesday 27th August
We woke early this morning, and were collected at 9am, Csaba's
car was still being repaired so we again made the trip in two
groups. I was in the second group, this afforded me sometime to
nock together a receiver mount for a compass. We arrived at the
start location in about 15 minutes. Today's map was new, however
it still had the weird sinkholes.
The start was in the bottom right corner of the map, and the
finish in the top left corner.
My order was Tx 2 at 18 minutes
Tx 3 at 26 minutes
Tx 5 at 51 minutes
Tx 4 at 71 minutes
Tx 1 at 79 minutes
and the finish at 82 minutes.
Optimum order was 3,2,1,4,5 Bob Frey ran this order in 88
minutes,
Bruce finished fastest in 66 minutes with a different course.
Lunch was soon to follow, here it is the largest meal of the day
and today was no exception. We had Soup, then a platter of fried
rice, fried eggs, beef and chips, desert was chocolate covered
ginger bread.
At 3.30 we were picked up for Fox Oring training, our first. I
was on the first trip, and left as the fourth competitor. Those
that are unfamiliar may be interested in a description. Fox Oring
is very similar to Orienteering. Control locations are shown on
the map, they represent 50M diameter on the ground, somewhere in
the circle competitors will find a low (1nW EIRP) power
transmitter. Our course was about 4Km in length, included 10
Control's and was a scatter course. This means that we must
choose the order to visit the 10 controls. This was tricky as the
controls were placed in a circular shape, with the deciding
control being in the centre of the circle.
I found out very quickly that my receiver was not as sensitive as
my eyes. I saw most transmitters well before I heard them on the
receiver.
I wasn't able to receive the transmitter form any great distance,
so I for the most part treated it like an orienteering course.
Gyuri has indicated that he will extent the antenna length.
Hopefully also extending the range to perhaps 40M distance.
I chose to go to the outside, then return via the control near
the start to the centre control, then to all the outside ones.
This was to my advantage, as when I returned to the outside
circle I found Bruce and 3 other people walking around in
circles, doing the hard work of finding the transmitters. Here I
wasted 7 minutes before Bryan led us all into it. I found this
one, my fourth transmitter after 21 minutes
total, and remaining 6 in a further 20 minutes.
I finished first and in the best time, and lucky for me it was
just before the storm came. We then piled into the cars and
returned for showers and preparation for dinner.
Dinner included a real yummy fruit soup. I couldn't work out if
it was a soup or a desert.. so I had it as both...
After dinner we discussed tomorrows plans. We would be running on
todays map, a longer 2M course. After Lunch we would have an
inside discussion of orienteering navigation and tactics.
We were collected early. The start and finish were in new
locations. I had quite a few reflections in close today. I found
Tx 5, Tx3, Tx1,
Tx4, then Tx2 (behind the finish).
I had reflection problems on Tx 5, I navigated well to Tx 3 and
Tx 1.
Tx 4 was difficult for me as I didn't see it from within 10M and
spent a further 3 minutes looking, finding it just before it
turned on again.
I found Tx 2 quickly and finished with the quickest time.
We returned for another nice meal at the restaurant. After lunch
we had a discussion on tactics and ways of minimising
reflections.
Dinner was also great .. (Editors note: find a better way of
saying food here is good)
I found out today how hanging bowling works. The pins (9) are
line up
are lined up (like a 9 on a dice) on the ground. The ball is
hanging by a string from a pole 2M above the ground. You pull the
ball back and release it. The plan is to knock all balls over in
the fewest shots.
I spent most of the evening modifying the images and preparing
them for publishing.
Tomorrow we will be sightseeing in Pecs and also getting access
to internet.
***** Remember, an out of tune piano makes noise, not music!
*****
***** E-MAIL: dennis(a)rain.org .
***** http://www.rain.org/~dennis
*** Dennis Schwendtner *** WB6OBB ***
Good Morning,
I'm still in need of about 12 more operators for the Triathlon, scheduled
for Saturday, August 24, 2002.
See you at the hamfest.
Thanks,
Hubert
________________________________________________________________
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Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit:
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T-Hunt Alert!
Saturday 8/17 and Sunday 8/18 Escondido, CA
The Southwest Division ARRL Convention T-Hunts will offer something for
everybody (including prizes!).
Saturday nights hunt will start at 6:00PM. It will be a medium boundary
hunt and will be timed (over at 8:00PM). Standard clearance passenger
cars will have no problem with this hunt. There will be two
transmitters, vertically polarized. The main T will have a 30 second
duty cycle and be at least an S3 signal at the start point. The
secondary T will be low power and sniffing will be required to locate
it. Gather after
the hunt at a local eatery to share food and beverage. Prizes for first
and second place.
Sundays hunt will begin at 2:00PM. This hunt will be a mileage hunt
that will end at 7:00PM. Once again, standard clearance passenger cars
will have no problem with this hunt. This hunt will have multiple
transmitters and various polarizations. Duty cycles may vary but there
will be at least 15 seconds of signal from each T every minute. This
hunt is intended to be a challenge.
Prizes will be awarded at the completion of this hunt.
If I get enough interest/RSVPs I will host a BBQ at the final
transmitter. Please RSVP to Tom Sneden, KE6VCR at 619/843-7550 or email
ke6vcr(a)cox.net on or before Thursday 8/15 (sooner is better!).
Did I mention that there will be prizes for BOTH hunts
There will be T-Hunt video (courtesy of N6MI) running at the convention
both days. Stop by and check it out. The four main convention prizes are
4 Yaesu FT-100D mobile rigs. Convention website:
http://sd2002.hamcon.net/index.html
To be eligible to win a prize, you must be a registered attendee of the
convention. Standard T-Hunt rules of engagement apply. Private roads and
NO TRESPASSING signs must be obeyed.
The next southern California on-foot "foxhunt" will be Saturday, August
10 at
El Dorado Regional Park East in Long Beach. Practice transmitters will
go on
the air around 11:45 AM, and the main multiple-fox hunt will begin at
12:30
PM.
This two-meter direction-finding practice/demonstration is sponsored by
Associated Radio Amateurs of Long Beach. All ages are welcome. There
is no
charge for participation. A ham radio license and/or knowledge of radio
equipment is not required. Several models of domestic and imported
hand-held
RDF sets as well as commercial and home-built antennas will be available
to
view and try out. Basic equipment, such as hand-held receivers and
"scanners," can also be successfully used.
If possible, bring a handi-talkie, receiver, or scanner covering the
two-meter band for each person who will be going ARDFing. If you have
directional antennas, attenuators, or other on-foot RDF equipment, be
sure to
bring it. Make sure all batteries are fresh.
El Dorado Regional Park is bounded on the west by the San Gabriel River
and
on the east by the 605 Freeway. From the 605 Freeway, take the Spring
Street
and Cerritos Avenue exit, go west on Spring about 0.2 miles and turn
left
(south) into the park entrance on the Nature Center side. (There are
park
entrances on both the north and south sides of the road. If you goof
and
turn into the north side, you can still get there but you'll have to
drive
around the park and under the Spring Street underpass to get to the
south
side.) Vehicular entrance and parking within El Dorado Park costs $5
per
vehicle on weekends. The RDF starting area will be near the entrance to
the
Nature Center, not far from the entrance booth. Use the parking lot
just
beyond the booth. Look for signs and an orange and white orienteering
flag.
In addition to the two-meter band, international ARDF championships also
include an 80-meter band event. At least one optional 80m transmitter
(3542
KHz) will be on the air for you to try. There will also be two optional
trans
mitters on UHF (70 cm band), provided by the Supersystem.
OPTIONAL BARBECUE LUNCH: Members of the SuperSystem UHF Repeater
Network
will be having a cookout just prior to the hunt. Hamburgers, hot dogs
and
Korean barbecue ribs will be available for $3 per person. You are asked
to
bring a salad or dessert to share. Condiments and drinks will be
provided.
If you wish to take part in this picnic, make your advance reservation
by
e-mail to wa6twf(a)aol.com and arrive at the starting point by 11 AM. If
you
don't wish to attend the picnic, come to the start point at 12 noon for
the
hunt.
For more information about ARDF, plus detailed directions to the
starting
point, go to http://www.homingin.com
Joe Moell K0OV
USA ARDF Coordinator
Greeting All,
The Santa Barbara Triathlon is on Saturday, August 24th. I'm looking for additional radio operators this event. If you're interested, please let me know, ASAP.
Thanks,
Hubert
________________________________________________________________
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Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit:
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