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Winter 2005 Issue |
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Homing In
Radio Direction Finding
for By Joe Moell,* KØOV |
 Matthew Robbins, AA9YH, nears the finish line of the 2004 ARDF World Championships in the Czech Republic with his 2-meter gear and tattered map. (Photo by Richard Thompson, WA6NOL) |
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“I love ARDF! It’s so interesting!” Those aren’t my words, but they could have been. Matthew Robbins, AA9YH, wrote them upon his return from the 2004 World Championships of Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF) last September. ARDF is an all-on-foot form of hidden transmitter hunting that is done around the world. It is also called foxtailing and radio-orienteering. This was Matthew’s first ARDF World Championships (photo 1). In fact, his journey to the Czech Republic was his first-ever trip outside the USA. He earned his position on ARDF Team USA at the 2003 USA ARDF Championships near Cincinnati.1 AA9YH and the other competitors on our team didn’t do as well as they had hoped, but their performances were remarkable when you consider that they were up against the planet’s best radio foxhunters on probably the most difficult ARDF courses ever. The championships attracted 327 competitors from 28 countries to Brno, a town about 110 miles southeast of Prague. They were divided into five age categories for males and four age categories for females, in accordance with rules of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). Each country was permitted to have up to three persons per category on its team. Medals were awarded to best individuals and best national teams in each age/gender division and on each band. Men under age 40 and women under 35 competed on 80 meters Thursday, September 9 while the rest did their 2-meter hunt. The reverse occurred on the following Saturday. The 2-meter course facing 2004 World Championship contestants encompassed about 4800 acres of forest, with occasional thickets, slopes, and cliffs. The gold-medal winner in the 2-meter prime age category for men, a Czech, found all five “fox” transmitters and finished in less than 78 minutes (home court advantage?). By comparison, nearly 9 percent of the starting competitors didn’t get back within the 21/2-hour time limit or found no foxes at all. Two Team USA members had top-ten individual finishes in their categories. Nadia Scharlau of Cary, North Carolina placed sixth out of 22 on 2 meters. Bob Cooley, KF6VSE, age 62, of Pleasanton, California placed ninth out of 34 on his 2-meter run.
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