Training Log Archive: cedarcreekIn the 7 days ending May 25, 2007:
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Sunday May 20, 2007 #
Course set-check-pick 15:00 [2]
This is an unusual log entry.
I was photographing a radio-direction-finding event for blind people. I wasn't at all involved in the actual set-up of this event, but I was involved in some discussions about it 12-18 months ago.
Imagine a big field, perhaps in a park or a golf course, with 3 to 5 transmitters, each with a 3m radius circle (marked in flour or something), and a start triangle.
There are people at each transmitter. A competitor who is blind or wearing opaque goggles stands in the triangle with a sighted official. At the start, transmitter 1 is turned on, and the blind competitor finds it with the directional receiver. "Finding it" means getting into the 3m radius circle. When it's found, the official says, "Stop", and the operators turn transmitter 1 off, and transmitter 2 on. (This happens really fast, like in a second or so.) The competitor proceeds to transmitter 2, and so on. If the competitor is in danger of hitting something, the official says something specific (I can't remember the exact words), and guides the competitor around the hazard.
This one was maybe 250m long with 3 transmitters. I think a better one would be 600+ meters with 5 or more transmitters.
18 months ago, I saw a Croatian video of an event like this, and I read the rules. I thought it was a neat idea, but I just didn't think it would be terribly interesting.
Having photographed an event (with two blind competitors and one offical competitor wearing opaque goggles), and having tried it myself (about 6 or 7 of us tried it unofficially), my thinking has changed. I think this would be a really fun game to include at a blind ham get-together or maybe a blind school.
The equipment for this is a real burden. It's not expensive, but it's not easily available. At least one good directional receiver is needed. We used one that costs about $200 and is made in Ukraine. We used 3 homebuilt transmitters (fairly easy to build) and 3 of our ARDF antennas (a little more complicated to build, but not too difficult). Once you have the gear, setting this up requires literally minutes---say 15 to 30.
The set-up we used requires at least 3 sighted volunteers, although "fully staffed" would be 1 official, 1 timer, and 1 operator for each transmitter. Hopefully some clever changes to the format can reduce or even remove the need for sighted volunteers.
One of the most interesting things about this was that the shape of the terrain and some nearby powerlines were bending the radio waves such that the competitors would run (or walk) a large arc as they approached some of the transmitters. When I did it, it almost felt like I was going in circles. It was pretty disorienting.
It seems to me that ham radio appeals to blind people in a practical way that sighted people don't need. I'm sure the internet is a bigger draw than ham radio, but having some ability to communicate from whereever you might find yourself is a powerful draw.
The one big change I'd recommend for any event where people are travelling would be to have a format that requires several opportunities to get out on a course. It's hard to ask someone to travel for a 3-5 minute event, and with the small number of competitors we saw, it's not too much to ask of the volunteers to spend 4 or 6 or 8 hours to make this worthwhile to the competitors.
We used one "order" for the official competitors, but since the unofficial competitors had all seen the course, we turned on the transmitters in different orders to throw them curve balls. There is a saying among transmitter hunters---"All is fair in love, war, and transmitter hunting", so everyone took the curve balls well. (And I just want to state it clearly---the official competitors all had the same order. When we put on the goggles ourselves and tried it for fun, we "experimented".)
To my knowledge, this is one of the very first times a blind RDF event has been held in the US. I hope some more people try it.
I'm calling it 15 minutes because of all the walking plus some of the sprints I did to get to the next transmitter so I could turn it on promptly. I was really sore Monday.
I was photographing a radio-direction-finding event for blind people. I wasn't at all involved in the actual set-up of this event, but I was involved in some discussions about it 12-18 months ago.
Imagine a big field, perhaps in a park or a golf course, with 3 to 5 transmitters, each with a 3m radius circle (marked in flour or something), and a start triangle.
There are people at each transmitter. A competitor who is blind or wearing opaque goggles stands in the triangle with a sighted official. At the start, transmitter 1 is turned on, and the blind competitor finds it with the directional receiver. "Finding it" means getting into the 3m radius circle. When it's found, the official says, "Stop", and the operators turn transmitter 1 off, and transmitter 2 on. (This happens really fast, like in a second or so.) The competitor proceeds to transmitter 2, and so on. If the competitor is in danger of hitting something, the official says something specific (I can't remember the exact words), and guides the competitor around the hazard.
This one was maybe 250m long with 3 transmitters. I think a better one would be 600+ meters with 5 or more transmitters.
18 months ago, I saw a Croatian video of an event like this, and I read the rules. I thought it was a neat idea, but I just didn't think it would be terribly interesting.
Having photographed an event (with two blind competitors and one offical competitor wearing opaque goggles), and having tried it myself (about 6 or 7 of us tried it unofficially), my thinking has changed. I think this would be a really fun game to include at a blind ham get-together or maybe a blind school.
The equipment for this is a real burden. It's not expensive, but it's not easily available. At least one good directional receiver is needed. We used one that costs about $200 and is made in Ukraine. We used 3 homebuilt transmitters (fairly easy to build) and 3 of our ARDF antennas (a little more complicated to build, but not too difficult). Once you have the gear, setting this up requires literally minutes---say 15 to 30.
The set-up we used requires at least 3 sighted volunteers, although "fully staffed" would be 1 official, 1 timer, and 1 operator for each transmitter. Hopefully some clever changes to the format can reduce or even remove the need for sighted volunteers.
One of the most interesting things about this was that the shape of the terrain and some nearby powerlines were bending the radio waves such that the competitors would run (or walk) a large arc as they approached some of the transmitters. When I did it, it almost felt like I was going in circles. It was pretty disorienting.
It seems to me that ham radio appeals to blind people in a practical way that sighted people don't need. I'm sure the internet is a bigger draw than ham radio, but having some ability to communicate from whereever you might find yourself is a powerful draw.
The one big change I'd recommend for any event where people are travelling would be to have a format that requires several opportunities to get out on a course. It's hard to ask someone to travel for a 3-5 minute event, and with the small number of competitors we saw, it's not too much to ask of the volunteers to spend 4 or 6 or 8 hours to make this worthwhile to the competitors.
We used one "order" for the official competitors, but since the unofficial competitors had all seen the course, we turned on the transmitters in different orders to throw them curve balls. There is a saying among transmitter hunters---"All is fair in love, war, and transmitter hunting", so everyone took the curve balls well. (And I just want to state it clearly---the official competitors all had the same order. When we put on the goggles ourselves and tried it for fun, we "experimented".)
To my knowledge, this is one of the very first times a blind RDF event has been held in the US. I hope some more people try it.
I'm calling it 15 minutes because of all the walking plus some of the sprints I did to get to the next transmitter so I could turn it on promptly. I was really sore Monday.
Saturday May 19, 2007 #
Event: Billygoat