Craig Park ARDF on 9/22/01 (Photos above)
Twenty-six human beings and one psittaciforme spent a beautiful afternoon in Craig Regional Park on Saturday, September 22. Nine transmitters awaited the eager radio-orienteers as they took off on the first such hunt ever held in this 124-acre site.
There were the usual five foxes for experts, transmitting for 60 seconds each in sequence on 146.565 MHz, in accordance with international rules. The shortest course length to each one and then back to the start/finish line was about 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles). One of them (MOS) was close enough that it was also on the beginners' hunt list. That list had four transmitters on four different frequencies, all within 1/3 of a kilometer (1000 feet) from the start/finish.
In the main 5-fox hunt, Marvin Johnston KE6HTS and his houseguest Serhiy Zarubin (pictured together above) had the best scores. Both had competed at the First USA ARDF Championships in Albuquerque seven weeks before. Here are the results:
Name Time Foxes Serhiy Zarubin 0:51:10 5 Marvin Johnston KE6HTS 1:31:41 5 Jay Thompson W6JAY 1:10:40 2 Bob Dengler NO6B 1:56:05 2 Scott Moore KF6IKO 2:01:05 1
The rest of the hunters treated the transmitter list on their competitor slips as a Chinese restaurant menu, selecting some targets from the beginners' list and some from the expert list. Here's how they did, including the numbers of each kind of fox found. Tom Gaccione WB2LRH (pictured below) was the only one to find every two-meter transmitter.
Name Time Beginner Expert Tom Gaccione WB2LRH 2:26:15 4 4 Cerecedes family 3:29:32 2 4 Barry Geipel AD6HR 1:03:45 4 with Mike Kellogg KG6CLC and Patrick Geipel Phil Goodman KC6SEP 1:07:14 4 2* with Joe Martinet N6ELW (*found separately, not timed) Wayne Yoshida KH6WZ 1:30:18 3
Several hunters also tried 80-meter ARDF for the first time, discovering that it is somewhat easier than on two-meters. 80m direction-finding equipment is smaller and there are no signal reflections. Times for those who completed the 3.2 kilometer (2 mile) round trip to the single 80m fox and back were:
Name Time Richard Thompson WA6NOL 0:56:15 Scott Moore KF6IKO 0:50:15 Christie Edinger KØIU 1:15:13 with David Reid W6KL
Mac, the Military Macaw (pictured above) came with Christie KØIU and served as the finish line beacon. His squawking could be heard all over the park.
Joe Moell KØOV
Huntington Central Park ARDF on 7/21/01
A baker's dozen of radio-orienteering enthusiasts signed in for the last ARDF practice session before the First USA ARDF Championships in Albuquerque. They got a good workout in this heavily vegetated park that is bisected by a major city street.
The results:
Name Foxes Time MAIN COURSE: Marvin Johnston KE6HTS 5 1:19:16 Gary Holoubek WB6GCT 4 2:27:35 Jay Thompson W6JAY 3 1:51:00 Robert Rossi 3 2:01:12 Scott Moore KF6IKO 1 1:47:00 BEGINNER COURSE: Tom Gaccione WB2LRH 4 1:01:50 (Pictured above) Wayne Yoshida KH6WZ 1 0:07:20 with Stephen Whitaker K9KUN
Jay W6JAY blazed his way to the 80-meter transmitter in 16 minutes. Scott KF6IKO also found it with his just-finished home-built 80m RDF set.
Joe Moell KØOV
Schabarum Park ARDF on 6/16/01 (Photos above)
Of all the nearby parks, Schabarum is my favorite for radio-orienteering. The developed part is perfect for beginners, and the Powder Canyon Wilderness Preserve area of the Schabarum map (by Los Angeles Orienteering Club) provides a real challenge for advanced ARDFers (and hiders).
The advanced course was carefully designed to be "do-able" and similar to championship courses in length. The four transmitters for Juniors (M19) and Old Timers (M40 & M50) were along or close to a trail loop. Actually, almost all of it was trail, but a 150-meter off-trail shortcut through the undergrowth was necessary to avoid taking the trail an extra 850 m as it meandered outside the park and back again. Done perfectly, this 4-fox route was about 6 km. For Seniors (M21), the fifth transmitter added about 1.5 km to a perfect route.
Adding to the difficulty of the advanced hunt was the trail elevation (low point 590 feet ASL, high point 1310 feet ASL). Temperatures were in the high 80s, with very little shade on the trail. And of course there were the rattlesnakes and Poison Oak to watch out for.
Fortunately, medical help was close at hand. Bruce Chappell KE6TSM of HDSCS was standing by. Mostly he made sure that all the returning foxhunters got lots of Gatorade to replenish their fluids and electrolytes. (Yes, that's Gatorade being mixed and served in the photos above!)
At least two of the hunters learned a valuable lesson: Pay close attention to signal bearings from all unfound transmitters at all times. It's easy to run past a transmitter when it's off and not realize it until it's too late to go back in the remaining time.
Advanced hunt results:
Name Division Foxes Time Marvin Johnston KE6HTS M50 3 1:50:05* Jay Thompson W6JAY M19 2 1:34:52 Chang Yoo HL1IWY M21 2 2:24:54 Richard Thompson WA6NOL M50 1 0:55:32 Scott Moore KF6IKO M40 1 1:49:55
*After a brief rest, Marvin went back out and found his fourth required transmitter, giving him total time of 2:47:50 for the four.
On the beginner's course, the team of Phil Goodman KC6SEP and Karen Gerharter KG6USN found 2 foxes in 1:43:25.
Jay W6JAY was the clear winner on 80 meters, finding the lone fox in less than ten minutes.
Joe Moell KØOV
Tri-City Park ARDF on 5/20/01 (Photos above)
The fourth annual Antennas-In-The-Park foxhunt was well attended, with more "foxes" to find than ever before. In addition to the five-on-one-frequency transmitters in the international-rules (IARU) course, there were five other transmitters for beginners on five other two-meter frequencies. There were also three hidden transmitters on the 70cm band, courtesy of KF6QCQ and the SuperSystem, plus an 80-meter CW foxbox. Here are results:
IARU COURSE
Name(s) Foxes Time
Marvin Johnston KE6HTS 5 0:38:15
Scott Moore KF6IKO 5 0:38:45
Jay Thompson W6JAY 5 0:47:50
David Jacobs K9KBX 5 0:51:30
Tony Boegeman WA6ZMZ 5 1:19:48
with Joe Loughlin KE6PHB
Richard Thompson WA6NOL 4 0:38:25
Gary Holoubek WB6GCT 4 1:09:35
with Al Enderle W7IZR
Tom Paquette N6OT 4 1:13:06
with David Corsiglia WA6TWF
John Oppen KJ6HZ 4 1:24:35
with Julie S.
BEGINNER'S COURSE
Barry Geipel AD6HR 4 0:42:57
with Patrick Geipel
David Cioni KF6OQC 2 1:00:30
It's no surprise that the top four finishers in the IARU course are on ARDF Team Southern California, representing the Rolling Blackout State at the 2001 USA ARDF Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They were up against teams from the Denver and Atlanta areas, plus individuals from several states and visitors from Australia, China and Ukraine.
At least two of the IARU course entrants were credited with only four foxes instead of five, because they mistakenly punched their cards at the 80-meter transmitter, thinking was two-meter MOH. That's interesting, because MOH was at least 600 feet away from the 80m fox.
This hunt was dedicated to Vince Vigus W6ZKZ, who passed away in April. In addition to teaching many ham radio classes over the years, Vince provided HF stations for Antennas-In-The-Park and other ham radio demonstrations.
Thanks to the leaders of Fullerton Radio Club and Western Amateur Radio Association for making AITP-2001 possible. Thanks to April Moell WA6OPS for timing the competitors, distributing the ribbons and providing the traditional National Foxhunting Weekend cake.
Joe Moell KØOV
Hillcrest Park ARDF on 3/17/01 (Photos above)
Nineteen foxhunters signed in at the first southern California radio-orienteering event of 2001, held at Hillcrest Park in Fullerton on Saint Patrick's Day. They came from as far as San Diego and Santa Barbara counties. Ages ranged from 13 to 76.
Since many beginners were expected, including some Girl Scouts, I designed the two-meter course to be relatively "easy," with six transmitters on six different frequencies. In addition, for experienced foxtailers, I put out an undisclosed number of "hard" microfoxes on or near 146.565 MHz, jamming one another. (There were 3 of them, but hunters didn't know that in advance.)
Everyone was timed, but there were no restrictions on which transmitters to find in which order. Probably the best strategy was to look for the "easy" foxes but keep checking 146.565 while doing so, in case the easy-fox route took the hunter near one or more "hard" foxes. Results below are listed in order of total foxes found, then by time.
Name(s) Time Easy Hard Marvin Johnston KE6HTS 2:01:53 6 3 Jay Thompson W6JAY 1:08:30 6 2 Rick Barrett KE6DKF 1:15:18 6 2 Bob Dengler NO6B 1:28:25 6 2 Gary Holoubek WB6GCT 2:17:30 6 2 Tony Boegeman WA6ZMZ 0:49:00 6 1 with Joe Loughlin KE6PHB Tom Gaccione WB2LRH 1:54:00 6 1 with Vicki Moll and Missy Hughes KG6CJJ Brian Welch KF6TTV 2:08:18 5 0 with Michael Welch Ira Feldman WB6ZXA 2:10:31 5 0 with David Feldman Richard Thompson WA6NOL 0:42:15 0 2 Cathy Stanfill KS6CW 0:45:50 2 0 with Ken and Mary Stanfill, KF6YGC & KF6YNM
Two hunters (W6JAY and WB6GCT) chose to go out at separate times for the "easy" and "hard" foxes. Their scores above are the sums of the two forays.
The two 80-meter ARDF sets got a workout, as six hunters used them to find the bonus 80m transmitter. Even though it was at the far end of the park, times were very good because 80m signals hug the ground and don't bounce the way 2m signals do. Here are the times for finders of the 80m fox.
Jay Thompson W6JAY 0:08:20 Rick Barrett KD6DKF 0:11:12 Missy Hughes KG6CJJ 0:14:52 Richard Thompson WA6NOL 0:17:15 Vicki Moll 0:18:32 Brian Welch KF6TTV 0:22:40
Joe Moell KØOV
Go to Southern California ARDF -- Current radio-orienteering news and results
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 Foxhunting for Scouts -- Let's get the kids involved
Go to Local ARDF Contacts -- Links to hams and groups that are doing international-style foxhunting in North America and around the world.
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This page updated 22 July 2004