Manchester DF Qualifier
Hosted by South Manchester Radio Club on 16 June 2002

Event Details:
Map: OS Landranger 118 (Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield)
Start Location and Tea: Chris Plummer's Farm, Biddulph Park nr. Congleton, NGR 906605
First Transmission: 13:20, Shutdown: 16:30
A Transmitter: G3FVA/P, 1910 KHZ, operated by Dave Chippendale, next to Swettenham Brook, NGR 801675
B Transmitter: G3UHF/P, 1843 KHZ, operated by John Jocys, on top of The Cloud, NGR 904637

Report:
'A' Station Report, by operator Dave Chippendale:
One evening I received a phone call from Chris Plummer asking if I could take part in a DF qualifier on the 16th June he was running, sorry I says, I’m with the good lady caravanning at Middlewich down in Cheshire with the club. That’s good says he, the DF’s on that map! So you will have the Saturday to find somewhere to hide, before the Qualifier Sunday. But don’t tell me where your going to hide, because I’m taking part.

So there’s me and wife on a Saturday afternoon feeding wire through the tree on site, which looked like it had been some sort of water feature in an earlier life with little ponds, pipes and walls with of course plenty of mud for the unwary. Undergrowth consisted of rodies in which to hide, with brambles and nettles for those that came in to the hide from the wrong side.

After about 1 hour I could hear some searching of the woods but I remained unfound until 14:35, when Roy’s bush beater saw me but it was another 2 mins before Roy could pass me the key without making a sound because George Whenham’s team were on the hill behind me, yes they came in through the brambles and nettles to find me by 14:45, but feeling sorry for them, I could not let them go back the same way, so I told them that the footpath’s only 50 feet the other way.

Chris Plummer found me by 15:18 with Geoff Foster close behind at 15:25, while more rustlings were heard from behind, someone else was struggling down the path that George’s team had made, Dave Peacock spotted me by 15:39 with his thighs stung by the nettles. Chris Heys found me by 15:57 closely following by a cursing Andy Collett who brought his father back to have a look at the site while I was busy pulling the wire from the trees.

Unfortunately my wife and I were unable to join the teams’ barbeque because the caravan had to be returned to the storage site before it closed!

Results:

TX Directions from Start, 906605:

A Transmitter, 801675:

B Transmitter, 904637:

Photo Gallery, click a photo to enlarge: