Championship Radio Foxhunting News
From USA and Around the World
Competitors at the start point of the 80-meter event. Click to download screen saver versions of this photo.
Competitors at the start point of the 80-meter event. Click to download screen saver versions of this photo.
The Tenth USA ARDF Championships took place near Cincinnati, Ohio on the weekend of May 21-23, 2010. As in recent years, there was a practice and equipment testing day on Friday, followed the next day by the two-meter competition in Hueston Woods and an evening banquet. On Sunday, the 80-meter competition and medal award ceremony took place in the Miami University Natural Area.
For the second year, there was no entry fee for first-time participants and for participants coming from outside North America. An excellent pre-championship ARDF "training camp" on May 19 and 20 was also staged by the organizers. There were morning and afternoon practice sessions on both two meters and 80 meters in four local venues. It was an opportunity to train one-on-one with ARDF experts.
Organizers of these championships are members of OH-KY-IN Amateur Radio Club, Orienteering Cincinnati (OCIN), and the Butler County VHF Association. These are the same folks who put on the very successful 2003 USA and IARU Region 2 Championships, but the 2010 competitions took place in different forests.
Many thanks to the leaders of the organizers, Bob Frey WA6EZV and Dick Arnett WB4SUV. Bob and Brian DeYoung K4BRI set the 2-meter course in Hueston Woods. Dick and Matthew Robbins AA9YH set the 80-meter course in the Miami University Natural Area. Everyone agreed that the courses were difficult but fair.
USA's ARDF Championships are open to all, regardless of radio-orienteering skill level or ham radio licensing status. Category winners may earn positions on ARDF Team USA, which will travel to Croatia for the Fifteenth ARDF World Championships in September, 2010 (see story below).
For files with listings of the electronically scored times and splits (times to each transmitter) for each competitor, visit the championships site (www.usardf2010.com) and click on RESULTS.
Click for five pages of photos in this Homing In site, plus links to other competitors' photos.
Feature articles on the championships are now being prepared for major ham radio magazines.
Joe Moell KØOV
ARRL ARDF Coordinator
Photos and text Copyright © 2010 Joseph D. Moell. All rights reserved.
Team USA Forming for 2010 ARDF World Championships
Opatija, Croatia, September 13 - 18
Every two years, hams from around the world gather 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 2010 will be no exception. Team USA is now forming for the 15th World Championships, which take place September 13 through 18. The headquarters site will be a hotel in the resort city of Opatija on the Adriatic Sea coast.
As always, there will be separate events for each competitor on eighty meters and two meters, each with up to five transmitters scattered in a forest that might encompass 1000 acres or more. Medals await the top three individual competitors in each category, as well as the top three nations' teams. Team scores are based on aggregation of individual performances. Team members may not assist one another on the courses.
If being a part of the World ARDF Championships appeals to you, now is the time to plan and train. Each country may send up to three competitors 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 event registration fees (estimated at 320 Euros including room and board), as well as transportation expenses to and from Croatia.
I have already submitted USA's Letter of Intent to Participate to the event organizers with an estimated "head count." Team USA 2010 selection in the contested categories is based primarily on performances and standings in the Ninth USA ARDF Championships (Boston, June 2009) and the Tenth USA ARDF Championships (Ohio, May 2010, see story above). The categories for males under 20, for males over 70, and for all females have some uncontested openings, so it is 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 registered and listed as such on the national team roster.
If you are interested in traveling to the 2010 ARDF World Championships as a member of Team USA or a USA visitor, please let me know by e-mail to k0ov@homingin.com. Do not contact the Croatian organizers directly. If you have not been on Team USA before, include your full name, call sign, mailing address, home phone number, and date of birth.
If you wish to participate as a citizen or resident of another North or South American country (non-USA), contact Dale Hunt WB6BYU by e-mail to wb6byu@arrl.net. Canadians should also contact Joe Young VE7BFK by e-mail to jyoung@islandnet.com.
For a more information about the 2010 World Championships, including transportation, housing, meals, special events station and tours, visit the Croatian Amateur Radio Association's World Championships Web site.
Many more photos of these championships are coming to this site soon. Keep checking back.
Joe Moell KØOV
USA ARDF Coordinator
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.
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 Mary Hobart K1MMH at ARRL Headquarters (mhobart@arrl.org). They will be reviewed by a committee that includes ARRL's Chief Executive Officer, Chief Development Officer and ARDF Coordinator.
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.
Joe Moell KØOV
ARRL ARDF Coordinator
11th IARU Region 1 Youth Championships, June 17 - 20, 2010 in Bojnice, Slovakia.
15th IARU ARDF World Championships, September 13 - 18, 2010 in the islands near Opatija, Croatia.
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!
All 2010 -- This year's events in southern California.
All 2009 -- Southern California practice/demonstration events of 2009, including Bonelli Regional Park, Topanga State Park, Tri-City Park, Schabarum Regional Park, Craig Regional Park, Santa Fe Dam and Lake Los Carneros.
June 5 - 7, 2009 -- Ninth USA ARDF Championships near Boston, Massachusetts.
All 2008 -- Southern California practice/demonstration events of 2008, including Hillcrest Park, Schabarum Regional Park, Tri-City Park, Heartwell Park, Fairway Village, Mt. Pinos (2), Irvine Park, Lake Los Carneros (2), Topanga State Park, Huntington Central Park, Balboa Park and Bonelli Regional Park.
May 8 - 10, 2008 -- Eighth USA ARDF Championships near Bastrop, Texas.
All 2007 -- Southern California practice/demonstration events of 2007, including Hillcrest Park, Travel Town, Tri-City Park, Heartwell Park, Craig Regional Park, Lake Los Carneros (2), Topanga State Park, Angel's Gate Park and Bonelli Regional Park.
September 14 - 16, 2007 -- Seventh USA ARDF Championships near South Lake Tahoe, California.
All 2006 -- Southern California practice/demonstration events of 2006, including O'Neill Regional Park, Topanga State Park, Lake Los Carneros, Tri-City Park, Heartwell Park, Bonelli Regional Park and Huntington Central Park.
April 7 - 9, 2006 -- Sixth USA ARDF Championships near Raleigh, North Carolina.
Go to International-Style Foxhunting Comes To The Americas -- How we're getting the ball rolling
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
Back to the Homing In home page
This page updated 9 June 2010