Yer what?!

[Becks]

Just received in my inbox from my OUOC Training Officer address:

Becky..hello

Can you help?

I live in Gillingham Kent and I'm looking for 1 to 1 tuition in reading
maps and the use of GPS etc.

Can you help.

regards

Graham


What on earth?!

[gg]

well its not from me....

[distracted]

strange. very strange. best ignored, methinks...

[CHS]

There is a guy at the local running club who keeps saying how good GPS watches are for oreinteering no matter how often I tell hime they'd be useless- its back to the image thing

[bendover]

graham watson? graham mcintyre?

[Mrs H.]

I wonder if it's got anything to do with this - from compassSport news today:

"Whatever next?
I’m sure someone will swiftly prove me wrong (keep me right?) on this but is this the first orienteering by GPS event? It is due to take place at Buckinghamshire Scouts County Orienteering Championships at Wendover Woods. Competitors are asked to email Roger Williams (rogerwilliams@lineone.net who will send the co-ordinates for each control point the day before. On the day you must register for a start time at which point you will receive a blank map, the co-ordinate list for the controls to be visited and a control card, on which you punch the controls visited (so, hight tech in one way but it’s back to the good old pin punches!) We look forward to hearing how you get on!"

[PorkyFatBoy]

Am I missing something here, but even with GPS you still have to navigate and execute decent route choice, etc. Maybe we should turn up without GPS and show them how it's done?

[gross2006]

Using GPS is against the rules anyway

[Ed]

ah, don't you just love the scouts (rather inaccurate) ideas of what orienteering is...

Many years ago on a scout thing (can't remember quite what it was, but it involved being in Great Tower, yes that Great Tower) we were to be doing an orienteering exercise. Now, I thought that we might be provided with something useful like a map. Oh no, the orienteering we were doing was basically a compass and pacing exercise (four or five controls, bearing and distance to each one from the previous one, so if you couldn't find the first control you were pretty much stuffed). Not surprisingly, everyone thought it was jobby, and since quite a few of the others knew I was an orienteer asked why on earth I did this thing, so I had to explain that yes what we had just done was jobby, but only bore a slight resemblance to orienteering. Strangely though, I don't think any of them would do any proper orienteering.

Ah well, at least they've heard of orienteering?.

On a slightly different note - did anyone else see the bit in O-Sport that if the rules for O were made today then compasses would probably also be verboten since modern maps are so good you don't really need one...?

[distracted]

ah, don't you just love the scouts (rather inaccurate) ideas of what orienteering is...

Ah well, at least they've heard of orienteering?.

I'm going to have to stand up for them here - don't make a judgement before you know the full facts. My first orienteering experiences were through this competition, which was organised for a number of years by Bill Piers of TVOC, and now SMOC have taken over. It has always been well organised, and well planned - as the competition is open to everyone the orienteering doesn't go much above light green standard for the older age-groups so as many people as possible can take part. It may be behind the times with master maps and pin-punching but at least it introduces youngsters to the sport, who wouldn't be exposed otherwise. If it weren't for this competition, I wouldn't be orienteering today.

The GPS event is merely an addition this year, to perhaps grab some of the techie-type leaders etc. To quote from the actual details, the rest is the same as Mrs H posted. I think the emphasis is on "leaders" and "trial".

With the increasing use of satellites to navigate with it is intended to provided a course for leaders in the first instant to trial using just hand held GPS Systems in anger. This will be with some drawbacks, as signals are not very strong below the tree canopy.

So it is proper orienteering, and its encouraging people in from the navigational side of things, a transition which I regard as easier than from the cross-country side. any sort of event which encourages new people to try out 'O' should be supported.

/Rant over

[ian]

Something i stumbeled across recently while surfing the web was "Geocaching" roughly discribed as acros between Rambling and GPS navigation.

[Benjamin G]

http://www.gagb.org.uk/. It's always advertised as a GPS thing, but I think you can do it with an OS map. Think its ultimately a bit like letterboxing, but with a (limited) navigational element - and not nearly as good fun!