Fifteen teams started this event which according to advance warning was to be very WET.

Only station A on 1897 kHz was audible at the start so an approximate bearing and distance was given for the B station on 1847 kHz.

Most teams opted to go for the unheard B site which was situated at the edge of the Daventry Reservoir. Eventually, all teams who attempted this site managed to find the Tx hidden down a sluice gate culvert with the aerial cleverly hidden through the culvert and up and across the bushes and ditches surrounding the lake.

Meanwhile the few other teams searched the area around the village of Roade which was only 5.5 km from the start at Salcey Forest. This site also provided a problem as the aerial was erected south of the site under the road and up through a drainage culvert under the main line railway.

To many reading this report it appears exciting and I appreciate the vast efforts of Eric and the Northampton teams who had spent some time erecting this complex of aerial. However, lessons must be learned from this event regarding safety and the legal right to enter land surrounded by barbed wire with no public access nearby. It saddens me that many of our team mates were hurt during this event which could have been prevented if the stations had visual and public access. I stress that we should all learn from this last Sunday's DF event and hopefully benefit from it and not lose any competitors as a result of it.

My thoughts are with Andy Collett with his fracture and to the teams who had cuts to their heads during the A station assault.

Brian Bristow
BTDFA Contest Manager