Gray Owl Orienteering & Radio-O Weekend Nov 15, 16, 17, 2024
Ruth and I would like to welcome you to our house adjacent to the Birkhead Wilderness Area in the Uwharrie National Forest for a weekend of Radio Orienteering and Classic Orienteering. Below is a registration button and details of the weekend plans.
- When:
- Friday Noon – 4pm Nov 15, 2024
- Saturday 9am – 4pm Nov 16, 2024
- Sunday 9am – 2pm Nov 17, 2024
- Control Pickup Sunday 2-4pm
- Any help is greatly appreciated. The orienteering controls are needed for the following week’s Raven Rock event.
- Where:
- Asheboro, NC
- 1725 Gray Owl Road
- 35.6346680703153, -79.88024674672587
- Directions: There is a control on our mailbox at the intersection of Hopewell Friends and Gray Owl Road. Drive 1/4 mile on Gray Owl Rd and take the first left turn onto our driveway. Drive 1/4 mile to the turnaround, and then turn around and park only on the right side (east side) of the driveway as you are heading back out. Do not drive on the grass at all! Do not park in the turnaround!
- What:
- Classic Orienteering White – Blue
- The Courses are the same all three days
- Radio Orienteering
- Radio-O shares controls with orienteering so you should plan to do your Radio-O courses before doing the Orienteering courses.
- Sprint (Friday, Saturday, & Sunday)
- Fox-O (Friday, Saturday, & Sunday)
- 2m Classic (Saturday)
- 80m Classic (Saturday & Sunday)
- Classic Orienteering White – Blue
- It is Hunting Season wear Orange
- I have posted a map wiith the area we are using at the closest trail head.
- Hunting is very unlikely in our area because no trails in our map area connect to any trail head.
- Accomodations:
- RV & Tent Camping – Zooland (6min from Gray Owl) https://zoolandfc.com/
- Primitive Camping at Gray Owl
- Hotels & AirB&B in Asheboro, NC
- Pizza Dinner Saturday at ~4:30
- Event Directors: Joseph and Ruth
Resources for Beginners
Check out these videos. The first one is our 15 minute class. Then there are two short ones, one introducing an orienteering map, and the other how to use a Thumb Compass – which we can loan you to try out on your course.
- An Orienteering Class (Video 14:24)
- An Orienteering Map Explained (Video 3:52)
- An Orienteering Thumb Compass Explained (Video 1:26)
Event Notes
Map Notes
There are lots of controls out there considering everything is on one map, so be sure to check the code on the control to be sure it is on your course.
Non Standard Symbols
Controls in the woods:
You are likely to see controls out there that aren’t yours. Here is what is out there
- 80m foxes have regular controls hanging with an ORANGE ribbon 181-185 3.560 MHz
- 2m foxes have regular controls hanging with a PINK ribbon 121-125 144.50 MHz
- The radio controls are also used on Orienteering courses
- Orienteering controls may hang with colored ribbons or just a string. It doesn’t matter.
- Sprint controls are striped poles with an SI-box on top. No flag.
- FoxO controls are a black pole with an SI-box on top. No flag.
Courses:
The long walks to the start get the green and red to more complex section of the map that isn’t used as much and mostly away from the beginner controls. Starting closer would require the extra climb on your course and would limit the time in the more complex areas.
I would like to thank Dave Waller for being my Course Consulant. While I have had 46 years (yikes) designing courses Dave spotted issues that I overlooked. No matter how experianced you are it is helpful for new eyes to take a look to catch ways to make the courses even better.
Orienteering Courses
Course | Hours: Fri 12-4, Sat 9-4Sun 9-4 | Distance m | # of Controls | Walk to Start / from Finish |
White | Fri / Sat / Sun | 1640 | 12 | 100 / 10 |
Yellow | Fri / Sat / Sun | 1970 | 14 | 100 / 10 |
Orange | Fri / Sat / Sun | 3270 | 11 | 100 / 10 |
Brown | Fri / Sat / Sun | 3860 | 9 | 100 / 890 |
Green | Fri / Sat / Sun | 5550 | 13 | 1500 / 10 |
Red | Fri / Sat / Sun | 7030 | 17 | 1500 / 10 |
Blue | Fri / Sat / Sun | 11070 | 21 | 100 / 10 |
Radio-O Courses
Since Radio-O isn’t much fun if you know where the foxes are, you should do any radio-O courses before any Orienteering courses.
Event | Foxes | Frequencies | Hours: Fri 12-4, Sat 9-4 Sun 9-2 | Controls | Length k Foxes 5/4/3 Effective L 5/4/3 |
Sprint | Slow | 3.560 MHz | Fri 12-4, Sat 9-4, Sun 9-2 | Label: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 SI-boxes: 144, 145, 146, 147, 148 | 1 k |
Beacon | 3.600 MHz | Fri 12-4, Sat 9-4, Sun 9-2 | B / 180 | ||
FoxOring | 126-129 | 3.54 MHz | Fri 12-4, Sat 9-4, Sun 9-2 | 126, 127, 128, 129 3, 4, 3f, 4f | 2.8 k 3.9 EL |
186-189 | 3.58 MHz | Fri 12-4, Sat 9-4, Sun 9-2 | 186, 187, 188, 189 5, 6, 5f, 6f | ||
Beacon | 3.600 MHz | Fri 12-4, Sat 9-4, Sun 9-2 | B / 180 | ||
80m LiveLox Code 5XVAW3 | Foxes | 3.520 MHz | Sat 9-4 Sun 9-2 | 181-185 | 5.8/4.4/3.6 k 7.6/5.8/5.1 EL |
Beacon | 3.600 MHz | Sat 9-4 Sun 9-2 | B / 180 | ||
2m | Foxes | 144.50 MHz | Sat 9-4 | 121-125 | 5.3 / 4.5 / 3.4 k 6.9/ 5.9/4.5 EL |
Beacon | 145.55 MHz | Sat 9-4 | B / 180 |
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