Snfc Marlborough Verdict

[Guest Gareth Rankin]

East wind is a problem?? So, what do we do - only lib when the wind suits the east coast ie 80% plus of the time? You will know how the west coast birds have to work when the winds west or SW....

 

The 4th June was a disaster and there's no way 50% of the convoy made it back. This was nothing to do with the wind but with solar activity - the whole of the UK got hammered, but please don't insult the intelligence with 50% returns quotes

 

The SNFC team did a good job in the main, birds that homed were disorintated and well flown, but in good condition. The K factor needs to be heeded. LOL at J Murphy hijacking the subject "trying to educate the back garden fancier".... thanks oh great one, we all idiots (not)

 

Good luck with your National flying in the coming weeks all.

 

Baz

 

Baz think you have Joes article wrong, 80% of the fanciers dont know anything or are igornant to the K-Index, dont see anything wrong with bringing this subject to the forefront of the fancy press which Joe has done. It is very rarely written about in fact it could be classified as being a taboo subject which is only disgust amongst fanciers in straight jackets.

 

The more education/discussion on this matter then the more benefit for all the fanciers.

[Ian Gill]

Well Gareth Ive slipped out of my straight jacket long enough to write a reply

 

IB ..What is your problem with this or more to the point why are you trying to knock it ?? You mention races where the k factor was 4 and nothing happened ?? Well its 1 to 4 is classed as "normal" and anything above 4 is trouble..If as you say it had nothing to do with the Marlborough Race then what caused the disasster ???? Better still when your at it explain to me and the rest why EVERY Organisation in the UK had a bad race that day ??? Whether it was a short race or long that day every one had erratic returns??

 

The first time I heard of this was back in 1989 or 90 ,cant remember exactly which but I was watching the news one Monday evening when an article about Solar activity came on and the reports on the BBC said that the Royal Navys navigational systems where out by as much as 25 miles !!! Now these were multi million pound computers and they where up the left !! I thought to myself if this Solar activity can affect these computers then what chance has a pigeon??

 

I told all my fancier friends that week not to send to Bude as it was going to be a disaster and like you IB they dismissed it and told me I was mad ..well Bude that week was a disaster with most of the convoy missing!!

 

The Sun and the Moon affect everything on this planet and Solar weather is no different to the everyday kind in that there are patterns ...put it like this ..every year we have "bad" races at the same time of year,so what causes this??

 

Your quick to knock IB but like the rest you have yet to put up a credible reason as to why the Marlborough disaster happened and explain to us why every Organisation had a bad race that weekend??? I look forward to you theory

[Ian Gill]

Baz think you have Joes article wrong, 80% of the fanciers dont know anything or are igornant to the K-Index, dont see anything wrong with bringing this subject to the forefront of the fancy press which Joe has done. It is very rarely written about in fact it could be classified as being a taboo subject which is only disgust amongst fanciers in straight jackets.

 

The more education/discussion on this matter then the more benefit for all the fanciers.

 

Here is a Blog that Bilco has started Gareth and you can reply and ask questions to anything Bill writes about ..you can also subscribe to the Blog and get an email everytime he updates it

 

http://www.pigeonportal.com/blps/blog.cfm?weblog=36

[Guest IB]

Well Gareth Ive slipped out of my straight jacket long enough to write a reply

 

IB ..What is your problem with this or more to the point why are you trying to knock it ?? You mention races where the k factor was 4 and nothing happened ?? Well its 1 to 4 is classed as "normal" and anything above 4 is trouble..If as you say it had nothing to do with the Marlborough Race then what caused the disasster ???? Better still when your at it explain to me and the rest why EVERY Organisation in the UK had a bad race that day ??? Whether it was a short race or long that day every one had erratic returns??

 

The first time I heard of this was back in 1989 or 90 ,cant remember exactly which but I was watching the news one Monday evening when an article about Solar activity came on and the reports on the BBC said that the Royal Navys navigational systems where out by as much as 25 miles !!! Now these were multi million pound computers and they where up the left !! I thought to myself if this Solar activity can affect these computers then what chance has a pigeon??

 

I told all my fancier friends that week not to send to Bude as it was going to be a disaster and like you IB they dismissed it and told me I was mad ..well Bude that week was a disaster with most of the convoy missing!!

 

The Sun and the Moon affect everything on this planet and Solar weather is no different to the everyday kind in that there are patterns ...put it like this ..every year we have "bad" races at the same time of year,so what causes this??

 

Your quick to knock IB but like the rest you have yet to put up a credible reason as to why the Marlborough disaster happened and explain to us why every Organisation had a bad race that weekend??? I look forward to you theory

 

I have neither a theory to answer the events of June 4th., nor am I am out to knock anyone or anything. I want positive steps taken to find out exactly what is happening to our pigeons out there. I think it highly unlikely that there is a single cause for these losses so view the 'single cause' K Index as a cop-out on our Duty of Care responsibility towards our pigeons which diverts attention from the need to mount a thorough investigation.

 

The material I produced was based on what Stanford & Bilco said about unsafe levels:-

 

What levels of geomagnetic activity are dangerous for pigeons?

 

Any current reading of local figures over 150 nT in the A index of geomagnetic activity, or 4 or higher in 'K' index, is considered unsafe for training or racing pigeons.

 

You appear unable to grasp that the Royal Navys navigational systems problem was not with the computers on the ground, but with the Satellite equipment downloading data to them, and the highly charged ionised particle atmosphere through which those download signals had to pass. These are located in Space. Space Weather affects equipment in Space, that is and always will be the main purpose of Space Weather Warnings - information for everyone having equipment in Orbit 150+ miles above the ground as it will almost certainly be affected by it. That's where the geomagnetic storms take place, not down here on the ground, what we have down here is a much filtered residue, which may affect physical systems, e.g causing accelerated corrosion on oil & gas pipelines through induction.

[Ian Gill]

Dont patronise me IB,I know exactly how the RN navigational systems work !!!But you do seem a little unsure about what your saying !!!! In a previous post you claimed the earths atmosphere protected us from this solar activity but now you have changed your mind and say we get the "residue"..so which is it ??

 

All anyone is saying on this matter is that it is something that should be factored into the decision making regarding liberations.Something that would take little or no time to check.

 

Your like a lot of others ..plenty to say when knocking someone who has a theory but say very little when asked for one of your own.

 

Now this is the last I will post on this,unless that is, you come up with a credible alternative as to why this disaster happened ??

[andy]

Dont patronise me IB,I know exactly how the RN navigational systems work !!!But you do seem a little unsure about what your saying !!!! In a previous post you claimed the earths atmosphere protected us from this solar activity but now you have changed your mind and say we get the "residue"..so which is it ??

 

All anyone is saying on this matter is that it is something that should be factored into the decision making regarding liberations.Something that would take little or no time to check.

 

Your like a lot of others ..plenty to say when knocking someone who has a theory but say very little when asked for one of your own.

 

Now this is the last I will post on this,unless that is, you come up with a credible alternative as to why this disaster happened ??

Marlborough wisnae a disaster, its f****in Messac thats the disaster. Any Theories Ian?

[Henrik]

Marlborough wisnae a disaster, its f****in Messac thats the disaster. Any Theories Ian?

Canny remember a worse race than this Andy,even worse than when John Bosworth won Rennes. Ive none away but still feeling gutted. Whats the K index reading for yesterday n more to the point if this is one of the reasons for the bad returns what is the reading for next Sat likely to be?

[Guest IB]

Canny remember a worse race than this Andy,even worse than when John Bosworth won Rennes. Ive none away but still feeling gutted. Whats the K index reading for yesterday n more to the point if this is one of the reasons for the bad returns what is the reading for next Sat likely to be?

 

Haven't checked next week but Friday's K Indices were:-

 

Hartland 0600-1500 =2, 1500-1800 =3, 1800-2100 =4, 2100-midnight =3

Eskdalemuir 0600-1200 =2, 1200-1800 =3, 1800-2100 =4, 2100-midnight=3

Lerwick 0600-1200 =1, 1200-1800 =3, 1800-2100 =4, 2100-midnight=3

 

Make of it what you will.

[REDROCKET]

i havnt read all of the above but my thoughts lie along the lines of the 98% rule the best birds made it home all the rest were'nt ready for the race

and its the same with every race we sent 8 birds to this race and 6 to this weeks big race and like most other pigeon men we thought the birds were ready

lol, the quality is'nt there and when one fancier's timing in at 7pm on race night we should all be in before 11pm. thats my opinion.

[Guest Gareth Rankin]

Well Gareth Ive slipped out of my straight jacket long enough to write a reply

 

IB ..What is your problem with this or more to the point why are you trying to knock it ?? You mention races where the k factor was 4 and nothing happened ?? Well its 1 to 4 is classed as "normal" and anything above 4 is trouble..If as you say it had nothing to do with the Marlborough Race then what caused the disasster ???? Better still when your at it explain to me and the rest why EVERY Organisation in the UK had a bad race that day ??? Whether it was a short race or long that day every one had erratic returns??

 

The first time I heard of this was back in 1989 or 90 ,cant remember exactly which but I was watching the news one Monday evening when an article about Solar activity came on and the reports on the BBC said that the Royal Navys navigational systems where out by as much as 25 miles !!! Now these were multi million pound computers and they where up the left !! I thought to myself if this Solar activity can affect these computers then what chance has a pigeon??

 

I told all my fancier friends that week not to send to Bude as it was going to be a disaster and like you IB they dismissed it and told me I was mad ..well Bude that week was a disaster with most of the convoy missing!!

 

The Sun and the Moon affect everything on this planet and Solar weather is no different to the everyday kind in that there are patterns ...put it like this ..every year we have "bad" races at the same time of year,so what causes this??

 

Your quick to knock IB but like the rest you have yet to put up a credible reason as to why the Marlborough disaster happened and explain to us why every Organisation had a bad race that weekend??? I look forward to you theory

 

After the racing the feds and the SNFC has experienced so far this season perhaps every fancier should be put in a straight jacket,

Would quite gladly volunteer myself to get the first one but fear that they will not have one to fit me.

[Rooster J. Cogburn]

i havnt read all of the above but my thoughts lie along the lines of the 98% rule the best birds made it home all the rest were'nt ready for the race

and its the same with every race we sent 8 birds to this race and 6 to this weeks big race and like most other pigeon men we thought the birds were ready

lol, the quality is'nt there and when one fancier's timing in at 7pm on race night we should all be in before 11pm. thats my opinion.

 

Would say this could be partly true for Marlborough as a lot of people view it as a "toss" implying the doos arnae fully fit.Flying 300+ miles in a North Wind is a big ask for a pigeon not fully fit.Going on my own feds racing it was easy up until then with many very quick races so some of the doos maybe wernae ready for what they were to experience that day??

 

As for Messac I'd say this cannae be true.I didnae time in and I thought what I sent were up for-this obviously doesnae count for much but when you see the fanciers who have been timing in at this level year after year I think they'd know if there pigeons were right to go or not??And I'm sure there'll be very many doos yet to return that have numerous prizes at this level before

[JADE]

i havnt read all of the above but my thoughts lie along the lines of the 98% rule the best birds made it home all the rest were'nt ready for the race

and its the same with every race we sent 8 birds to this race and 6 to this weeks big race and like most other pigeon men we thought the birds were ready

lol, the quality is'nt there and when one fancier's timing in at 7pm on race night we should all be in before 11pm. thats my opinion.

 

absolute claptrap. there is 2% of the entry home in race time north of the tay. to say the rest are not good enough is an insult to the pigeons and the fanciers who have waited in vain for their bird to come home. i hope you are man enough to apologise

[dal2]

Just got my pooler frae Marlborough, Sunday 26th June 6.05pm, Got his reubber and ETS ring on wee bit thin wae two big green beans stuck tae a wee wound on his breast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!