ARRLWeb: USA ARDF Championships "A Top-Notch Event"

This year, the USA Amateur Radio Direction Finding Championships were combined with the Second IARU Region 2 ARDF Championships.

"Thank you for showing us that this hobby was fun, is fun and always will be fun," said ARRL Ohio Section Manager Joe Phillips, K8QOE, at the closing banquet. From Phillips' comments, it was clear there was little doubt that everyone involved had a great time finding hidden transmitters in the forests of the Buckeye State. Also representing ARRL at the ARDF event was Great Lakes Division Director Jim Weaver, K8JE.

This year, the USA Championships were combined with the Second IARU Region 2 ARDF Championships. The championships were open to anyone--at any ARDF skill level--from any country with an IARU Amateur Radio society.

Tally-Ho!

Jen Harker, W5JEN, with her two gold medals. [Ken Harker, WM5R, Photo]

The competitors and organizers of the IARU Region II ARDF Championships all stayed in Havighurst Hall at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Icom was a major sponsor. Special event station K8EH operated from the basement of Havighurst Hall, available for any competitor to use. [Ken Harker, WM5R, Photo]

ARRL ARDF Coordinator Joe Moell, K0OV (left), and Marvin Johnston, KE6HTS. Johnston won bronze on 2 meters in the M50 category. KE6HTS was on ARDF Team USA for the World Championships of 1998, 2000, and 2002. [Matt Robbins, AA9YH, Photo]

Up to four competitors, each in separate age/gender categories, were started at five-minute intervals. Front to back, this group was Daniel Nagy, Karla Leach, KC7BLA, Ken Harker, WM5R, and Dale Hunt, WB6BYU. Just over a year after receiving a kidney transplant, Hunt went on to earn silver medals on both 2 meters and 80 meters in the M50 class. [Joe Moell, K0OV, Photo]

A true cross-section of ham radio, the competitors ranged in age from 11 to 70 and came from 14 states plus Hungary. Some had participated in the ARDF World Championships more than once, while a few had never been on a full-size radio-orienteering course before. All were stalwart contesters in every sense of the word.

Separate events were held on consecutive days on the 2-meter and 80-meter bands with five hidden transmitters each day, in accordance with standard IARU rules. Foxes transmitted for 60 seconds each in rotating sequence, sending an easy-to-recognize identification. The goal is to find the most fox transmitters and navigate to the finish line in the shortest time. Besides maps, contestants had a fox transmitter at the finish line on a separate frequency to home in on. The participants were divided into five age categories for males and four for females.

The best overall performance was by 44-year-old Gyuri Nagy, HA3PA/KF6YKN, on 80 meters. He found his required four transmitters in just 1:08:43, despite having had knee surgery last year. Nagy had put on a week-long training camp for members of Team USA and Team Australia in his home city of Pecs during the week before the 2002 World Championships in Slovakia. Participating in the training camp was his teenaged son Daniel, who had never been in a formal ARDF competition. Dad's training paid off, because Daniel Nagy captured Overall Division gold on both bands in the M-19 category. His time on 80 meters was within 10 minutes of his father's.

Best all-required-fox performance by a female was the 1:12:59 time of Nadia Mayeva on 80 meters. Last year in Slovakia, as a member of ARDF Team USA, she placed fourth among D-35 category competitors from all countries on 80 meters. Mayeva brought her 13-year-old son Emil for his first ARDF event. Home training paid off for him too: He earned a gold medal on 2 meters and a silver on 80 meters in the IARU Region 2 Division, M-19 category.

Youthful Competitors

This year's youngest competitor was 11-year-old Emily DeYoung, daughter of organizing committee member Brian DeYoung, K4BRI. She found two transmitters in 1:24:57 to earn a gold medal in D-19 category. Another youthful winner was Jay Thompson, W6JAY--recipient of the 2003 Newsline Young Ham of the Year Award. In IARU Region 2 Division, M-19 category, Thompson captured gold on 80 meters and silver on 2 meters. Other gold medalists were Martha Carr, KG4WVM, D-50, both bands; Bob Cooley, KF6VSE, M-60, both bands; Jennifer Harker, W5JEN, D-21, 80 meters; Jay Hennigan, WB6RDV, M-50, both bands; Charles Scharlau, NZ0I, M-21, 80 meters, and Sam Smith, N4MAP, M-21, 2 meters.

California was the most well represented state at the championships with nine hunters. They took home 18 medals, almost a quarter of the total medals awarded. Four radio-orienteers from Georgia were second among the states, taking 10 medals back to the Peach State.

Committee co-chairs were Bob Frey, WA6EZV, of Cincinnati, and Dick Arnett, WB4SUV, of Erlanger, Kentucky. Besides overseeing all the planning, they set the ARDF courses and even test-ran them. OH-KY-IN Amateur Radio Society enlisted support from Orienteering Cincinnati plus several local sponsors and benefactors.

Other officials on the planning committee were Joe Haltermon, KD4PYS (medals and artwork); Carol Hugentober, WA8YL (registration/lodging); Rick Haltermon, KD4PYR (start/finish) and Brian DeYoung, K4BRI (transportation). Additional helping hams at the start and finish lines were Judd Sexton, N8RVR; Ken Croll, N8ASV; Lynn Ernst, WD8JAW, and Phil Smith KG8AP. First-aid was provided by April Moell, WA6OPS.

Additional photographs and complete results for all competitors are at the official Web site of the 2003 ARDF Championships. Photos, general ARDF information and news of upcoming events are at my "Homing In" Web site.

A three-ring circus of foxhunting fun is coming to Long Beach, California, the weekend of September 5-7. HamCon 2003, the ARRL Southwestern Division Convention, includes a mobile T-hunt, an on-foot radio-orienteering event, and four forums and workshops. The Fullerton Radio Club members will sponsor these events.

On her way to a gold medal but having a great time in mid-course on 2 meters is Emily DeYoung, the youngest competitor at age 11. [Joe Moell, K0OV, Photo]	Fighting his way to a bronze medal in M60 class on 2 meters is Vernon Hammersley, WA9FFZ, of Indiana. [Joe Moell, K0OV, Photo]
Great Lakes Division Director Jim Weaver, K8JE, addresses the closing banquet at the 2003 USA ARDF Championships. [Joe Moell, K0OV, Photo]