Colchester Multi-Tx DF 22/05/11
| Start Fordham Heath
13:00 Operator Tim M0BGE Location St.Osyth Maxi, 5 Minis and 4 Micros |
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 View
down the creek. Bradwell PS in the distance...... ..and you can just
about make out....."The Jolly Triffid" (Roys yacht)
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Adders have seen what ? Triffids
??? Hope their adding is better than their literacy !|
The Day of the Triffids • Some good cover to the East near a nature reserve • Not one but two parts to the country park • Plenty of open space for meaningless random running about • Adders • The possibility of putting the Maxi Tx round the other side of the creek so to involve a car transfer between sites (swimming / running optional) • It was in Roy’s “backyard” Arrived on site at 9am for 1 pm start and realized that packing the minis in separate bags before setting them was a bad idea. All set for delays starting at 920 but I realized my watch was slow so the start would be late. After setting minis L and I and micro Z I realized at X that I couldn’t remember which wire was the earth; so a phone call to Roy. Drat and Doh ! I had set the aerials for LZI the wrong way round. Decided that I no longer had the time to get round the creek and fix these Txs so I would make full use of the available Country Park. The rest of the Txs set up but the maxi wouldn’t null. Really had problems getting the aerial up and staying up in the strong breeze. Sorry about the tangled fishing line Roy. But I had to go back and remedy LZI and switch on micros X and Z. No adders seen yet ! Phew. Aerials sorted; micros on; back to car and listen for minis and maxi (micros checked in situ. Its such a relief at 1.00 pm first to hear A then the minis in turn. No phone call from Fordham Heath so I assumed the signal had got to the start. |
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 Sets
waving at the start
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 Triffids
are waiting
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All to do now was to wait at the car armed with camera and see who would arrive first. Roy; at about 1.40 and only Roy. Went off in search of competitors on the St.Osyth footpath and found Larby, Richard and Gary by their cars with Phil “already gone”. Was nice too see Larby and Richard run straight past X, but I then left everyone to it and took pictures at random round the sites. Must have walked miles !! |
 Philip
diplays his building credentials.
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 OK, OK ....he has DF
credentials too. |
 There's
the Tx in the bag but where's the....f f f f.. t t t.
triffid?
If only I had been born with an eye in my right foot. |
 Richard
just beats the machine gun.
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Congrats to Phil who once again showed everyone how it should be done; I was a little worried that apart from A all the Txs were in a straight line and the event would be too easy with not much in the way of cover around to prevent linear running. Congrats also to Gary for avoiding the adder and the quicksand. |
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So how
did Philip do it? Can't understand it - I didn't see a single mushroom. Some say multi TX is a pile of old rubbish, expounded by a bunch of amateurs full of gas – and they are right! May 22nd, Eight Ash Green, a sunny Sunday lunch time and a dilemma – whether to spend a quite peaceful afternoon watching Cricket or dice with death by going after the local snake in the grass, alias the evil mastermind ‘Timbo’. Who would have thought, across the other side of the map, a mind immeasurably superior to ours, regarded our radio sets with envious eyes and slowly, but surely drew his plans against us. The second challenge was whether to play a short or long leg. Those who went short found them selves dragging a long line through the middle of Colchester, those who went long, round the bypass, found themselves worried they were on the wrong side of the river. On and on we went looking for a cross, until eventually the minis started piling onto the airwaves as we passed Thorrington. Arrived at the footpath by St Osyth Deer Park around 1.40 pm as confused and bewildered as Peter who hesitated, leaving me to tackled the first wild, rabid dog left to defend Timbo’s eastern flank. Recoiling quickly from this, it was time to hit the first micro. |
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Bleep, bleep, bleep went the automated call on 1901, of the small but deadly sentinel (X) hidden amongst the young thorns specially planted for the occasion. Further down the path another Micro (Z), then Mini L – what a joke, then back to Mini (I) with help from Richard to surround and kill this particular alien, using the dense bracken as cover. Fearless of the howling winds and storms, it was then out across the open hillside. This was once a restricted, secret land, with huge pits, opened up but now long filled in by the steel machines still looming ominously over the grassland watching out to sea across Flagg Creek. Next silenced was Y, then with help this time from Peter, we surrounded another Mini (J) by the boundary fence before crossing paths with Roy, running like a coward from the second killer dog laying in wait under a hedge. This could have been the wiser strategy as it jumped up and tried its hardest to bite me, saved only by my trusty set. Then off to the west with the dog in hot pursuit. Micro W then Mini I felt quickly, so having tracked down eight of the aliens, and managing to avoid the methane gas traps carefully laid out across the whole site, only two remained. There was then a rare brief encounter with the Mastermind Timbo, trying to hide by his car – he knew it was all over, though gave nothing away, knowing perhaps that after mini-me ‘H’ I still had the hardest challenge ‘A’ yet to face. |
| He was right ‘A’ had been innocently coupled into a long fence and sent out alert calls all round the site, giving no sense of direction on its position. It was also guarded by two rusting but dangerous looking, evil metal machines, but no match for a brave Df’er. With his Masters wise words echoing in his ears – ‘if your set deceives you, reach our with your mind’. So it was – strength more important than null once surrounded by wire. The young ‘Padawan’ had beaten not only the evil Timbo, but also found forty points at the main station, being the first to dare take this on. Three O’clock ten stations taken apart in under an hour and a half, so plenty of time to tally up the points before the final insertion. Five top scores – including the Joker. Once they knew the main station had been taken the rest of our wounded heroes then slowly drifted in. Roy first, looking tired, lost and a little dazed unable at first to put his foot on the triffid, so using his set to mark the spot. Peter and Gary dragged in lost and disheartened, having ended up on the wrong side of the pit fences. Gary also a bit traumatised by witnessing first hand Mr Adder, the other well known snake. Richard sneaked in just before the final burst of fire. What was left of the ten deadly stations was then taken down and handed over as part of a formal exchange of prisoners at the Robin Hood public house.The final tally, 388 runs off ten wickets during and hour and half at the crease, not far off a maximum score of 440. |  |
 Life can be so cruel for those afflicted by triffid blindness |
Larby writes: Thanks
for the day out Tim and well done Phil. I was not convinced
about the site as the bearings nearby changed by 100 degrees. Seeing
you helped
convince me. I
was unaware that Essex County Council had covered the old
landfill pit with 2ft of soil (sub-soil)! There were methane escape
shafts to
add to the ambiance of the day. They then added some wild creatures and
a few
young thorn trees. This idyllic setting became my home for the next 2
hours. I
crawled under such trees looking for venomous objects whilst avoiding
the
snakes. Some of the objects were so well camouflaged that Regrettably
some of the triffids were nervous so ran and hid on
hearing my footsteps. It was with relief to check in at 3:20 at station
A which
overlooked the rusting remains of the once busy gravel works.
Roaming a Cornish beach next week just won’t come close
(thankfully). |
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