This group photo of competitors and some volunteers was taken just before the start of the two-meter event on Saturday, September 17. Results of the competitions are in the event Web site. More photos are now in this Homing In site.
The Eleventh USA ARDF Championships
and Sixth IARU Region 2 ARDF ChampionshipsAlbuquerque, New Mexico, September 16 - 18, 2011
Albuquerque, New Mexico was the site of last year's ARDF Championships for the USA and for IARU Region 2 (North and South America). Albuquerque Amateur Radio Club (AARC) and New Mexico Orienteers (NMO) jointly hosted these championships from September 16 through 18, 2011. Co-chairs of the organizers were Jerry Boyd WB8WFK and Mike Pendley K5ATM, assisted by Scott Stevenson KC5VVB and many other volunteers.
The activities got under way on Wednesday, September 14 with a two-day optional "training camp" where beginners and experts could hone their radio-orienteering skills. Marvin Johnston KE6HTS and Jerry Boyd WB8WFK were organizers for this training. Official activities started Friday with a half-day "model event" equipment testing session and an all-hands meeting about procedures and safety. That was followed by a weekend of competitions, Saturday on two meters and Sunday on 80 meters. Medals were awarded after each event. The traditional awards banquet took place at the event hotel on Saturday evening with presentation of medals for the two-meter event. Medals for the 80-meter event were presented immediately after the competition at the site.
AARC hosted USA's ARDF championships in 2001 and 2005. The mountains around Albuquerque have a large number of suitable forested regions, so these championships took place in well-mapped locations that had not been used in the past for championship radio-orienteering.
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. Participants are divided into eleven age/gender categories as defined by IARU. An Amateur Radio license is not required to participate.
The organizers received generous donations from individuals, clubs, and the ARRL ARDF Development Fund in support of these championships. Additional donations and sponsorships are welcome.
Click for five pages of photos in this Homing In site. Complete results are in the official event Web site of these championships.
Read more about these championships in my ARDF Update feature "New Mexico Hosts Successful Foxhunting Championships" on the ARRL Web site and in my Homing In column for the Fall 2011 issue of CQ-VHF Magazine.
Joe Moell KØOV
USA ARDF Coordinator
The Tenth Friendship Radiosport Games
Khabarovsk, Russia, August 13 - 16, 2011
The Tenth Friendship Radiosport Games (FRG) took place in Khabarovsk, Russia from August 13-16, 2011. The games included competitions in on-air
DX contesting on CW (Morse code) and voice, CW sending, CW receiving, and ARDF. There also were opening and closing ceremonies as well as other social events.
FRG began as an exchange between the Sister Cities of Portland, Oregon and Khabarovsk, Russia, with the later addition of Sister Cities Victoria, Canada and Niigata, Japan. In 2011, a team from Harbin, China joined in.
Past participants all agree that the best part of these games is the lasting international friendships that are made. The FRG events held in Portland in 1991 and 1999 were instrumental in introducing and developing ARDF as a sport in the USA.
Of the five countries represented, USA took second place in the ARDF event with two individual silver medals and one bronze medal. In the HF on-air contest, USA took gold, thanks to Larry "Tree" Tyree N6TR running pileups of weak Europeans from RG20CF on CW. Team USA also captured bronze in the CW sending contest.
This was not an IARU-sponsored or sanctioned competition, but most of the standard IARU rules were followed for the ARDF event, which was on the two-meter band only. ARDF receiving equipment was available, or participants could bring their own. DX contesting was done from the homes and hamshacks of the local hosts, so participants did not need to bring any gear except their favorite keyers, etc.
More information and results of FRG-2011 will be posted in this site when available. Meanwhile, you can view this video from Russian television about the ARDF event, which includes USA Co-Captains Dale and Kuon Hunt (WB6BYU and KB7WRG). You will also see other radio-orienteers who have competed in the USA, such as Yoshiko Yamagami JQ1LCW and Yevgeny Stavitsky UAØCA.
Twelfth USA ARDF Championships, June 1 - 3, 2012 near San Diego, California. Watch this Homing In site for the formal announcement and registration information. Visitors from any country are welcome.
Eighth British ARDF Championships, May 12 - 13, 2012 north of Birmingham, England. Visitors from any country are welcome.
Thirteenth IARU Region 1 Youth ARDF Championships, July 11 - 14, 2012 in Siauliai, Lithuania.
Sixteenth IARU ARDF World Championships, September 10-15, 2012 in Serbia. For national teams only.
IARU Region 1 ARDF Championships, September 2013 in Lower Silesia, Poland.
Seventeenth IARU ARDF World Championships, September 2014 in the mountains of Kazakhstan.
The first formal international-rules ARDF event in North America took place during the Second Friendship Radiosports Games in Portland back in 1991. Two years later, hams in Victoria, Canada hosted the Third Friendship Games, including that country's first radio-orienteering event. Those hams formed the nucleus of a group that continues to grow and promote ARDF throughout all of Canada. Joe Young VE7BFK, a participant in those 1993 games, is now the ARDF Coordinator for Radio Amateurs of Canada, the country's national Amateur Radio organization.
In 2010, Canada sent a team to the ARDF World Championships for the first time. Team Canada is now forming to travel to the Sixth IARU Region 2 ARDF Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico (see article above).
A new Web site (www.ardf.ca) has just gone online to coordinate and announce ARDF events all over the country and to provide all Canadian hams with information about the sport and about ARDF Team Canada. There is also another a Web site with a blog and announcements of ARDF events in British Columbia.
In the photo at right above: Three ARDF Team Canada members examine a miniature transmitter at the ARDF World Championships in Croatia. They are Les Tocko VA7OM, Joe Young VE7BFK and John MacConnachie VE7GED. (Photo by Ken Harker WM5R)
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
Team USA Wins Medals in 2010 ARDF World Championships
Opatija, Croatia, September 13 - 18
This report has been expanded and moved here.
This report has been expanded and moved here.
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 2011 -- Last year's events in southern California.
All 2010 -- Southern California practice/demonstration events of 2010, including Santa Fe Dam, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Schabarum Regional Park, Griffith Park, Mt. Laguna, Mt. Pinos (2) and Tri-City Park.
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 19 January 2012