The 2011 Kaweka Challenge on the 26th,27th February was the first time O-Lynx controls were used in an adventure race event. The Kaweka challenge is a multi-course mountain event that has been co-organised and run by the Heretaunga Tramping Club and Hawkes Bay Orienteerings clubs for the last 22 years. See the website www.kawekachallenge.org.nz for further details about the event.
Looking back to the Start / Finish area ( small clearing in the centre of the photo ) from the top of Mt Kuripapaongo. This climb was the first leg of every course.
The big difference from previous events was going to be distance. While the courses covered between 13 and 41km, the O-Lynx controls were only needed to cover the start, the first leg up to the top of Mt Kuripapaongo, a warning control and then the finish. The leg up to Mt K was measured at 3.5 km on google earth and tests had shown that line of sight distances of 3km with the larger antenna were possible. An O-Lynx radio was placed as a repeater on a knoll 2/3rds of the way up – just to be sure communication would be OK. At the top of Mt K everything checked out fine.
The O-Lynx module used as a repeater used about 2/3rds of the way up Mt Kuripapaongo
I also tested a radio at the next check point ( Lakes carpark ) down the other side. Although only 1.5km, it proved a bit more difficult as it wasn’t in line-of-sight. Using another O-Lynx radio as a repeater allowed me to get the signal back under mountain to the control point. This point didn’t end up being monitored during the event, but it was good to know it could be reached. The early warning control was not far away at about 500m but was through some thick pine trees so a repeater was used on this leg as well.
This event was also the first to use the larger battery option to ensure they would last from being put out on the Friday, through to Sunday afternoon when they were collected. An extra feature was also added to the software so the batteries could be checked remotely.
The site of the control at the top of Mt Kuripapaongo ( no sportident gear as photo taken during range test )
Event Director, Tim Anderson, getting another group of competitors ready to start.
O-Lynx Results was used by showing Control Monitor screens of the monitored controls. This gave the times and positions of the competitors as they went past. The radio on the finish control allowed Tim to announce the name, time, and placing instantly as each competitor finished.