Nice going on four out of eight legs of the course.
Out of #1 I have the wrong direction and loose 2-3minutes probably.
#5 (3 on the map) is a horrible mess where I drift down the correct hill not really knowing where I am - worst split by far 🙁
Month: September 2014
Itärastit, Paloheinä
A great big loop around #2 that cost at least +3 minutes 🙁
Then I ran past #5, just didn't look in the right direction at the right moment. Maybe +1 minutes here.
Out of #8, should have avoided the green dashed slow area by rounding it clearly north or south - very slow going until I reached the road. Another minute lost there probably.
Overall an easy course with emphasis on running - as long as clear and good route choices could be made...
TEC-Drive v2
Sadly TEC-Drive v1 died an untimely death when it overheated due to being powered from +/-15 V instead of the designed +/-5 V.
TEC-Drive v2 is a simplified design using TO-220 packaged LM317/LM337 adjustable regulators and the OPA569 high-current op-amp.
Constant-current drive is achieved using the OPA569 (U2) I_monitor output. I_monitor sources/sinks a fraction I_out/475 of the actual output current. By using another op-amp (U1) in a transimpedance configuration we get a feedback-voltage proportional to the output current.
PCB layout on a 100 mm x 160 mm eurocard:
Built and assembled as a plug-in card for a 3U rack. Note big heatsinks on the +/-2.5 V regulators.
The DC-response is I_out = 105 mA/V * V_in, with an offset at zero-input of -4 mA.
With no low-pass capacitors (C1 at the input, and C11 over the transimpedance-resistor) added and a purely resistive load the frequency response extends beyond 1 MHz with some ringing.
Iltarastit, Luukki
Good going on the four first controls, after which I was 6th overall (at best I was 3rd at #3). Quite an uneven performance after that.
A slow north rounding of the hill to #4 - south via the road might have been better.
The short and innocent looking leg to #6 proved fatal. I've run probably within 10-20m of the correct stone but failed to find the control. Worst split and ten placings lost here 🙁
A good long leg to #10 is then followed by overconfidence and a U-loop to #12.
#13-#14-F at the end were fairly straightforward.
Itärastit, Salmenkallio
Worst split (45th) and at least +1min of error right at the start on #1. The first control always deserves a bit of respect - steady and safe is better on #1 than too much speed&risk and a mistake.
#2 OK. Some kind of U-bend on #3 but not too much time lost. Towards #4 I slow down midway for some reason, maybe a bit north and around the blue swamp would have been better.
I almost run past #5 but stop and look around for the flag at the last possible moment.
#6 is the best split (5th) although it did not feel that special. Safely along the path first and then via the bigger cliff that indicates a direction into the control circle. #7 again OK.
#8 and #9 were clearly in the toughest part of the map and I had decided to take them extra carefully.
#8 went well first on the bigger path, then up towards the control on a smaller path, and the last bit through the blue swamp.
#9 did not go well. I take a straight and direct route but that means climbing and descending a lot of cliffs and hills. Over 3 minutes lost to the best runner. It would probably have been much better to go directly northeast out of #8 to the path (yellow arrows), follow the path as far as possible, and then find the control from above (yellow arrow).
#10-#11-F are all along the big path running parallel to the road. When I arrive at the path before #10 I'm unsure if I am left or right of the control? Probably +1min lost reading the map and looking around.
#11 and F require no orienteering, just trail-running.
Länsirastit, Haukkalampi
#1 directly via #7 and the path behind it might have been faster.
3-4-5 generally very good
#6 OKish route but about 1min of wondering at the map around a house just north of Mustalampi..
#7 OK. #7->Finish quite slow through the green thick area - better to go round these..
Espoorastit, Suna
+1min very close to #3 just on the wrong hill before the control.
Not sure why #8 is such a bad split, there must have been a faster direction to approach than the one I took through fallen trees etc. from the path.
+4:30min on #10, more than 6min lost to the best runner, and the worst split by far 🙁 Ran past the northward path and ended up on the big hill close to #11 instead. Not good.
+1min on the last control (#13) where the map wasn't very clear because of a construction site just north of the big road.
Overall about +6:30min of estimated error - mostly OK running otherwise.
KU-rastit, Linnanpelto
En route to #2 about half-way there was an open cut-down area not marked on the map (??) and then just before the control I turned a bit much to the east.
#3 and #4 went well, and #5 OK but slower. Towards #6 I ran along the grey cliff and after the road failed to directly find the smaller path towards the control.
#7 was surprisingly high up on top of a hill, while the quite long legs to #8 and #9 I managed to complete fairly straight along the control-line. To #9 a route along the road north would have been worth considering.
A route more westward out of #9 to avoid the slow area close to the backyard and lake would probably have been better towards #10.
Itärastit, Spjutsund
Mostly OK but three mistakes, highlighted in red in the splits and marked with yellow on the map, are worth mentioning:
- Towards #2 the flag at #13 is visible from far away and lures me in the wrong direction. The wrong control-code is a bit of a surprise but I notice I've arrived at #13 quickly. Worst split and 1:30 or so lost.
- Towards #5 I drift too much east when a direct line north through the thick vegetation would have been better. Slow walking along the edge of the open (yellow) swamp before climbing the slope to the control.
- #14 is hard work directly through the open swamp/cut-down yellow area where I stay on course OK. But when crossing the cliff before the control I turn almost 90-degrees left (why??) towards the finish instead of directly over the hill to #14.
Iltarastit, Paloheinä
The last Monday orienteering event for this year - as autumn arrives it now gets quite dark after 20:00 or so - and 'Iltarastit' moves to Sundays for five more weeks.
Straightforward orienteering and fast running as usual in paloheinä.
#1 and #2 OK. Then to #3 a J-bend (maybe +30 s) instead of using the line between the white and light-green forest as a guide directly to the control.
Reasonable going towards #4 but quite tentative and lots of looking at the map close to the control. #5-#6-#7 OK.
The biggest mistake came on #8 which should have been easy. Slightly the wrong direction south through a bit of forest and towards the bend in the big road. However I arrive at the wrong bend and there's also someone else there who makes the same mistake. +2 minutes probably.
#9 OK along the road, and #10 also OK. On the way to #11 I read the map along the wrong bend in the small river and the big road comes as a surprise, +30 s at least for stopping and map reading here.
To #12 and the Finish I take a direct route, but avoiding some of the climbing would probably have been faster.
Overall 14./52 which is OK.