Championship ARDF News
From USA and Around the World
Along the Nemunas River, he beautiful resort village of Birstonas, Lithuania will host the 2025 ARDF World Championships
Team USA Forming for Next ARDF World Championships
Birstonas, Lithuania, August 16 - 22, 2025
Every two years (except as interrupted by the pandemic), hams from around the world have gathered to see who is best at on-foot hidden transmitter hunting. USA has been represented at every one of these ARDF World Championships since 1998, and 2025 will be no exception. Team USA is now forming for the 22nd IARU World Championships, which will take place in Birstonas, Lithuania (50 miles west of Vilnius) from August 16 through 22. There will be separate classic ARDF events on separate days for national teams on eighty meters and two meters, each with up to five transmitters scattered in a forest that might encompass 1000 acres or more. There will also be competitions in sprints and foxoring.
Birstonas is a picturesque spa town along the Nemunas River. It is renowned for its natural mineral water springs. Event headquarters will be at Sanatorium Egle (shown at right).
For the World Championships, each country may send up to three competitors for each event in each of eleven age categories, six for males and five for females, in accordance with rules of the International Amateur Radio Union. Team members are responsible for their own registration/room/board fees and for transportation expenses to and from Lithuania.
Full passport-holding citizens of the USA are eligible to be considered for ARDF Team USA. Persons with dual nationality are allowed to compete for either of the countries of which they are nationals. Other nationals living at least one year in the USA may also be considered to represent ARRL; the legitimacy of national residence shall be proven by an official document (e.g., government-issued paperwork). A competitor may represent just one country in a calendar year.
USA's Letter of Intent to Participate must be submitted by February 16, 2025 to the organizers, including the estimated number of competitors and non-competing visitors. The final team roster will be submitted during the summer. Team USA selection in competed categories (where more than three wish to attend) is being based on performances and standings in qualifying events including the 23rd USA ARDF Championships (Michigan, October 2024). The categories for males under 50 and for females sometimes have uncontested openings, so it may be possible for inexperienced radio-orienteers in these ranges to join the team. It is also possible to attend as a non-competing visitor, but all visitors must be listed as such on the national team roster and their fees must be submitted along with those of the team members.
If you are interested in traveling to the 2025 ARDF World Championships as a member of Team USA or a USA visitor, contact the ARRL Team Selection Subcommittee by e-mail (nadia.scharlau@gmail.com) as soon as possible. If you have not been on Team USA before, include your full name, call sign, mailing address, phone number, and date of birth. Do not contact the Lithuanian organizers directly at this time.
If you wish to participate as a citizen or resident of a different North or South American country, contact Ken Harker WM5R by e-mail to wm5r@wm5r.org. Canadians should also contact Joe Young VE7BFK by e-mail to jyoung@islandnet.com.
For more about the 2025 ARDF World Championships, visit the World Championships Web site of the Lithuanian Amateur Radio Society, where you can download the latest bulletins. A promotional preview video for the championships is here.
If there is sufficient interest, stateside "training camps" may be planned for Team USA members and others who wish to improve their radio-orienteering skills. More information about these sessions will be posted here when available.
Joe Moell KØOV
Event Director was Joseph Burkhead KE8MKR (at right), who has won numerous medals at USA's championships beginning in 2017. He brought home a team bronze award for his performance in the 80-meter classic event at the 2018 World ARDF Championships in Sokcho, Korea. KE8MKR was the primary course setter for the competitions, assisted by Thomas Chen and Gavin Burkhead. Also providing support were members of the Southern Michigan Orienteering Club and the Chelsea Amateur Radio Club.
Attending were over four dozen fans of on-foot hidden transmitter hunting, representing thirteen states in the USA plus Canada, Australia, Uganda, and China. Headquarters hotel was the Comfort Inn in Chelsea.
USA's ARDF Championships are open to anyone of any age who can safely navigate in the woods with hand-held radio gear for several kilometers. An Amateur Radio license is not a requirement. Medals are awarded for each event in each of the IARU age/gender categories.
On October 5 and 6, just before the championships, a training camp was put on by Charles and Nadia Scharlau, NZØI and KO4ADV, at Silver Lake in Pinckney State Recreation Area. They introduced techniques and strategies for navigating and locating transmitters in the woods, including map and compass techniques.
The training days were followed by a day for rest and tourism, including a field trip to the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and the Ford Rouge F-150 factory in Dearborn. Then October 8 and 9 were practice days at Park Lyndon, with mini-courses for all four ARDF events. Eighteen radio-orienteers of various skill levels took part in these practice sessions. On the evening of October 9 were opening ceremonies that included a presentation on the Peach Mountain Radio Astronomy Observatory by Dr. James Cutler of the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan.
October 10 was the first day of formal competition at Hudson Mills Metropark. That day's event was the sprint, which was added to championship ARDF in 2012. A sprint course has two loops. The first has five slow-keyed 80-meter transmitters on one frequency, each transmitting for 12 seconds in sequence. The second has five fast-keyed 80-meter transmitters on another frequency, sending the same sequence. Competitors run through the start corridor leading to the area with slow-keyed transmitters. After finding all of the required transmitters from the first loop in any order, they run through a spectator corridor to the area with fast keyed foxes. After finding all required transmitters from this loop in any order, they run to the finish line.
This year's sprint course included open grass, forests, bridges, a tunnel. Gheorghe Fala was fastest in M21 (males ages 21 to 39), which was the only category required to find all ten sprint foxes. He did the course in 27:09. The fastest pace on the sprint course was that of Vadim Afonkin, KB1RLI in M50, who found his required six transmitters in 19:16. Among women, the fastest pace was by Erin Hammer in W35, finding her required eight transmitters in 33:30.
The October 11 event was foxoring at Winnewana Forest in the Waterloo State Recreation Area. Foxoring is another relatively new event that closely resembles classic orienteering because there are circles on the provided map near the continuously-transmitting low-power 80-meter transmitters. Competitors use their orienteering skills to get to the circle locations, then perform direction-finding to home in on the foxes that can only be heard there.
The foxoring course was described by participants as rugged and lengthy. Gheorghe Fala was best again in M21, finding every fox in 1:02:54. He was almost 30 minutes faster than the second-place finisher in that category. Fastest pace was by Alexander Myachin in M50, finding seven foxes in 50:30.
The first classic event took place October 12 on the two-meter band in Waterloo State Recreation Area. These transmitter hunts are called classics because they were the first form of radio-orienteering, beginning over forty years ago in northern Europe and Scandinavia. Five transmitters are placed in a wooded area of 1000 acres or more. They transmit for 60 seconds each in rotating order on the same frequency. Competitors are individually timed as they travel from the starting point to the finish, finding the transmitters required for their category along the way in any order. To insure fairness, there are many additional rules for classic events, covering impounds, start procedures, course monitoring, protests and so forth.
In the five-fox M21 category, Eduard Nasybulin found them all in 1:59:35 for first place. In categories requiring four foxes, Dmitry Korolev in M50 was best at 1:06:20.&bnsp; In categories requiring three foxes, William Wright WB6CMD in M60 was best among men at 1:36:25 and Nadia Scharlau KO4ODV in W55 was best among women at 1:15:34.
In addition to sport and spectrum policing, radio direction finding can be lifesaving.nbsp; After the two-meter classic, there was a search-and-rescue exhibition and contest with two Michigan Civil Air Patrol (CAP) squadrons competing against each other and a team from California consisting of William Wright WB6CMD and Michael Hart KC6MEH. Winner was the CAP Jackson Squadron.
Sunday, October 13 was the final competition day with the 80-meter classic event at Brighton State Recreation Area. It is typical for 80-meter course times to be faster on average than for two-meter equivalent courses. Eighty-meter signals do not reflect from terrain features to cause incorrect and confusing bearings like two-meter signals often do. The nulls on 80-meter ARDF sets provide sharper bearings than the pattern peaks of two-meter yagis. In addition, 80-meter receiver-antenna sets are smaller, lighter and less awkward to carry than two-meter sets.
In this 80-meter classic, Eduard Nasybulin was winner in the five-fox M21 category, finding them all in 1:22:44. In categories requiring four foxes, Dmitry Korolev in M50 was best male competitor again at exactly 57 minutes and Adalia Schafrath-Craig in W19 found hers in 1:17:17. In categories requiring three foxes, Joseph Huberman K5JGH in M70 was best among men at 1:20:15 and Nadia Scharlau KO4ODV in W55 was best among women at 1:04:09.
Congratulations to all of the gold medal winners. They are, in alphabetical order:
The official championships Web site has complete results plus many photos of the action.
Results of these competitions will play an important part in selection of members of ARDF Team USA for the 2025 World Championships in Lithuania during September.
It's time to look forward to 2025. The ARRL ARDF Committee is seeking organizers for the 24th USA ARDF Championships. Hams in the selected city will invite radio-orienteers from all over the USA plus visitors from abroad. They will stage separate events on 2 meters and 80 meters, as well as sprints and foxoring, in accordance with IARU's rules for ARDF competitions. They will provide medals and host a dinner at which the medals will be awarded. And if they organize it well, everyone will have lots of fun.
It's desirable (but not mandatory) that the 2025 USA ARDF Championships take place during the late spring or early summer in order to help determine the members of ARDF Team USA 2025, which will travel to the 22nd IARU World ARDF Championships in Lithuania in the fall.
If you have experienced international-style foxhunting, you already know how the sport promotes technical skills, builds physical ability and fosters camaraderie. Putting on large-scale radio-orienteering events can add even more excitement.
If your local radio club or club council has ever put on a hamfest or ARRL convention, then all the necessary organizational skills and experience to stage an event of this type are probably available to you. Hams who have organized previous championships will have plenty of advice about foxtailing sites, mapping, housing, publicity, transportation, finances, and so forth. A page of tips for hosting ARDF championships is now in this Homing In site.
If you believe that the hams in your area would be seriously interested in hosting the USA ARDF Championships in 2025 or another future year, please reach out to the ARRL ARDF Committee
via e-mail now. The committee will provide information to help you approach your club/council leaders about it.
What better way to generate enthusiasm within your club, help your fellow hams, promote international goodwill, and have a great time doing it. Let's get started!
This fund was first established in year 2000 with "seed money" from the Colvin Award, the ARRL Foundation and the ARRL General Fund. In its first five years, payments from the fund were made on behalf of 18 individuals to help defray the cost of their participation in three ARDF World Championships. Grants from the fund have also been made to the organizers of two USA ARDF Championships.
No further contributions are anticipated from the original sources, so the fund has been opened to contributions from individuals and clubs. All contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law and will be acknowledged by ARRL, a registered 501(c)(3) organization. Contributions may not be designated by donors to be granted to any specific recipient, individual or group.
Grants from the fund may be requested by groups sponsoring ARDF events in the USA and by individuals who have qualified to represent the USA in ARDF competitions sanctioned by the ARRL or the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). Requests for grants should be submitted electronically at least 60 days in advance of need to the Development Office at ARRL Headquarters. They will be reviewed by a committee that includes ARRL's Chief Executive Officer, Chief Development Officer and ARDF Committee.
You can help support ARDF in the USA by sending a donation to ARDF Development Fund, c/o ARRL, 225 East Main Street, Newington, CT 06111. Checks should be made out to ARRL with "ARDF Development Fund" on the memo line.
The not-for-profit American Radio Relay League (ARRL) is the national association of Amateur Radio operators, founded in 1914. ARRL is a member society of the IARU.
Local ARDF sessions for training and practice are sometimes held in the areas listed below. If you are close to any of them, get involved! If you're not, the task of developing ARDF locally is yours. With the help of other hams in your town, it can be relatively easy and fun. This may be just the activity to shake the doldrums out of your club. Start planning now!
Go to Equipment Ideas for Radio-Orienteering -- Simple and inexpensive receiving and transmitting solutions
Go to Radio-Orienteering News for Southern California -- Results and stories of recent radio-orienteering events in southern California, plus announcements of upcoming ones.
Go to Foxhunting for Scouts -- Let's get the kids involved
Go to Extenders Aid Handicapped Foxhunters -- A novel way to include persons with disabilities
This page updated 21 December 2024
USA 2024 Championship participants at the awards ceremony. (Photo by Uncharted)
The 23rd USA Radio-Orienteering Championships
And 11th IARU Region 2 ARDF Championships
Chelsea, MI, October 9 - 13, 2024
Central Michigan was the site for the 2024 USA Radio-Orienteering Championships, combined with the biennial ARDF championships of International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 2 (North and South America). Practice and championship courses took place in well-mapped sites near Chelsea, Michigan. Chelsea is 50 miles west of downtown Detroit, 40 miles southeast of Lansing and 15 miles west of Ann Arbor.
Anastasia Afonkin W14 sprint foxor 2m 80m
Vadim Afonkin KB1RLI M50 sprint
Jack Bramham VK3WWW M70 2m
Ruth Bromer WB4QZG W75 sprint foxor 2m 80m
Maria Burrus W45 foxor 2m 80m
Gheorghe Fala M21 sprint foxor
Sandra Quinn Giovannini W35 foxor
Erin Hammer W35 sprint
James Harker M14 2m
Joseph Huberman K5JGH M70 sprint foxor 80m
Lori Huberman W35 2m 80m
Dmitry Korolev M50 2m 80m
Alex Lefgren M12 foxor
Natalia Leoni W55 sprint
Alexander Myachin M50 foxor
Eduard Nasybulin M21 2m 80m
Adalia Schafrath-Craig W19 sprint foxor 2m 80m
Nadia Scharlau KO4ADV W55 foxor 2m 80m
Dax Welborn M19 2m 80m
William Wright WB6CMD M60 sprint foxor 2m 80m
The sprint event took place in Hudson Mills Metropark. (Photo by Uncharted)
USA ARDF Championships 2025
Let's Start Planning Now 
Since the turn of the century, stateside hams have been treated to 23 outstanding national championship events. From preteens to septuagenarians, they have found radio foxes in the woods and have taken home medals. More Amateur Radio operators in the USA are aware of and have participated in international rules transmitter hunts than ever before.
Same Sport, New-ish Name
This Homing In site has used the terms "ARDF" and "Radio-Orienteering" interchangeably with respect to on-foot transmitter hunting under international rules. Both terms are recognized in most countries where the sport is performed (see example at right from Czech Republic). However, ARDF is often confused with in-vehicle transmitter hunting (which I prefer to call "T-hunting"). Now the ARRL ARDF Committee has decided to emphasize the term "Radio-Orienteering" to help minimize confusion. The Committee sent this message on June 20, 2022:
Listing of Upcoming Championship ARDF Events Worldwide
7th IARU World Youth ARDF Championships, July 2 - 7, 2025 in Marianske lazne, Czech Republic.
22nd World ARDF Championships, September 2025 in Birstonas, Lithuania.
ARRL ARDF Development Fund Seeks Donations
The ARRL Fund for the Development of Amateur Radio Direction Finding is now accepting monetary donations to support deserving groups and individuals as they expand international-rules ARDF activities in the USA.
Results and Photos of Other Stateside ARDF Events in Recent Years
Current SoCal sessions -- Southern California practice/demonstration events of 2024. SoCal 2023 -- Southern California (and Arizona) practice/demonstration events of 2023, including Hillcrest Park and Balboa Park. SoCal 2022 -- Southern California (and Arizona) practice/demonstration events of 2022, including Yuma Hamfest, Hillcrest Park and Felicita Park. SoCal 2021 -- Southern California practice/demonstration events of 2021, including Lake Los Carneros, Hillcrest Park and Bonelli Regional Park. (There were no events in 2020 due to COVID.)
SoCal 2019 -- Southern California practice/demonstration events of 2019, including Bonelli Regional Park, Mt. Pinos, Guajome Regional Park, Hillcrest Park, Mission Viejo Community Park, Yuma Hamfest and Lake Los Carneros. SoCal 2018 -- Southern California practice/demonstration events of 2018, including Hillcrest Park, Lake Los Carneros (2), Mt. Pinos, Santa Fe Dam, Mission Bay Park and Bonelli Regional Park. April 19 - 23, 2023 -- 22nd USA ARDF Championships near Sulphur Springs, TX. April 7 - 10, 2022 -- 21st USA ARDF Championships in Triangle, VA. October 14 - 17, 2021 -- Twentieth USA ARDF Championships in North Carolina. July 28 - August 4, 2019 -- Nineteenth USA and Tenth IARU Region 2 ARDF Championships near Raleigh, NC. June 13 - 17, 2018 -- Eighteenth USA ARDF Championships near Truckee, CA.
Additional ARDF Resources In This Site
Go to International-Style Foxhunting Comes To The Americas -- An introduction to the sport with the history of its development in the Western Hemisphere
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