Despite the fact that some California all-weekend mobile T-hunts require 300 or more miles of driving to find all the transmitters, Americans still are not considered
world-class RDF experts by the rest of the world's hams.
In most countries, cars and fuel are even more expensive than in the USA, so they aren't
used by the average ham for hobby purposes. Mobile transmitter hunting is typically found only in the USA, Canada, England, Australia, Italy and Japan. Everywhere else, it's entirely
an on-foot sport, done for its physical fitness benefits. In some eastern European countries, it has been an important part of
Physical Education programs in schools, for hams and non-hams
alike.Under current IARU rules, all competitors use the same venue and search for the same foxes, but there are nine age/gender categories. Only one category (M21) is required to find all five. Others need to find only three or four foxes; the designated ones are different for each category. Foxes may be found in any order. Here are the categories and number of foxes to be found:
M19 - Males ages 19 and younger, 4 foxes
M21 - Males of any age, 5 foxes
M40 - Males ages 40 and older, 4 foxes
M50 - Males ages 50 and older, 4 foxes
M60 - Males ages 60 and older, 3 foxes
D19 - Females ages 19 and younger, 4 foxes
D21 - Females of any age, 4 foxes
D35 - Females ages 35 and older, 4 foxes
D50 - Females ages 50 and older, 3 foxes
Transmitters must be at least 400 meters apart, with a total optimum-route course distance of 6 to 10 kilometers. Elevation change should not exceed 200 meters. The first fox should be at least 750 meters from the start. A prominent red and white prism (orienteering flag) may be located close to each IARU fox transmitter for visual identification. A homing fox at the finish line transmits continuously on a separate frequency to aid competitors who get lost. Two meter foxes in European and Asian IARU championships use AM with tone modulation, but FM tones are often used in North America. There is also a separate contest on a different day in all age/gender catetories on 80 meters, with keyed CW transmitters. Gold, silver and bronze medals are awarded in each age/gender category, individual and team, for both bands.
In about 30 countries where international-style foxhunting is popular, there are local and wider area events, leading up to annual national championships. Winners of these events are eligible to participate in multi-nation championships. In even-numbered years, one nation hosts the World Championships. Each country entering the World Championships may field one team of up to three contestants in each category. Team members are not allowed to help one another; Course Marshals are alert for violations. In odd-numbered years, IARU encourages each of the three regions to hold Regional Championships, hosted by countries in the individual regions.
For local competitions and practice sessions, IARU's rules can be modified as appropriate. For instance, no age categories are necessary if there are only a few participants. Smaller venues, fewer fox transmitters, and different timing may also be used.
Using The Right Terms
In typical American mobile
transmitter hunts, the competitors travel most of the distance in
their cars, with perhaps a
short on-foot search (called a sniff) at the end. In southern California and a few other places, these events are called T-hunts and the device being searched for is the hidden T. Elsewhere in the USA, they are called foxhunts, bunny hunts or rabbit hunts.
Though done with completely different rules, international-style RDF contesting is also frequently called foxhunting. Other names for this on-foot sport are fox-teering, fox-tailing, radio-orienteering and ARDF (for Amateur Radio Direction Finding).
Because it is both a mental and physical challenge, ARDF appeals to both "techies" and "jocks" of all ages. It takes skill to get proper bearings, plot them, set a course and navigate through the woods. It takes physical conditioning to do it faster than your fellow competitors. Perhaps you or a fellow club member have what it takes to become a champion. Your children and grandchildren might, too. And what about your local Scout troop? Remember, a ham license is not required to receive and track fox signals.
You don't have to be a combination of rocket scientist and marathoner to have foxtailing fun. There is a lot of trotting, walking and pausing on the course, plus a lot of head-scratching when the bearings don't to make sense. There is also immense satisfaction for each person who completes the course, no matter how long it takes. If ARDF activities have begun in your area, get involved. If they have not started yet, get the ball rolling by talking to your club about it and become a local ARDF Point of Contact. Send e-mail to the USA's ARDF Coordinator Joe Moell KØOV to get on the PoC list. If you live in Canada, contact ARDF Coordinator Joe Young VE7BFK. If you are in another country of North or South America besides USA and Canada, contact IARU Region 2 ARDF Coordinator Dale Hunt WB6BYU.
The stateside development of ARDF has been surprisingly rapid. Before August 1999, only one formal multi-national foxhunt had ever been held on US soil. It was
put on by the Friendship Amateur Radio Society (FARS) of Portland, Oregon in
May 1991. FARS came into being as the result of a Sister Cities arrangement between Portland
and Khabarovsk, a similar-sized city in Asiatic Russia. Ham operators of Khabarovsk invited a delegation of Portland hams to their homeland in 1989 for a
series of radiosporting events, including a European/Asian style foxhunt. Everyone had so much fun that it was decided to hold future Friendship Games every two years.
Portland hams reciprocated by putting on the second Friendship Radiosport Games
(FRG) in their city. Read Homing In for September 1991 and "Showdown in Portland" in the November
1991 issue of 73 Amateur Radio Today
Magazine for firsthand reports on FRG-91.
Victoria, BC Canada, another Khabarovsk sister city, hosted the next Friendship Games
gathering in 1993. By now, there were FARS chapters in USA, Russia, Japan, and Canada. Read
October 1993 Homing In for all the details of FRG-93.
The 1995 Friendship Games returned to Khabarovsk, with participants from all four countries again in attendance. The story is in Homing In for December 1996.
Japan hosted the Games in 1997. Because the primary activity of Japan's host club is foxhunting, the foxhunt was the main event. It was fully covered in Homing In for January 1998.
The Friendship Games gave us good ARDF experience, but they were not IARU-sanctioned events. In 1996, Kevin Kelly N6QAB was the first stateside ham to participate in an IARU radio-orienteering contest when he traveled to the Region 3 Championships in Townsville, Australia. He recounted his experiences in the Homing In column for December 1996. The photos above are from that event, courtesy of Kevin and his wife Susan.
Interest in radio-orienteering was rekindled among Californians in 1995. Hamcon/Foxhunt-95 was staged at the ARRL Southwestern Division convention that year. Then a formal foxhunt was a feature of the 1996 West Coast VHF/UHF Conference. For more about Hamcon/Foxhunt-95 and the 1996 Conference hunt, read Homing In for December 1995 and January 1996.
In fall 1997, a small group of hams across the USA and Canada formed the North American ARDF Organizing Task Force to promote the sport. The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) formally recognized this increasing interest at its January 1998 meeting of the Board of Directors. ARRL's President was authorized to appoint an ARDF Coordinator (Joe Moell KØOV) to work with hams here in the USA and abroad to promote the sport and arrange for competitions.
E-mail and personal contacts between the ARDF Coordinator, the Task Force members, and other ARDF enthusiasts around the world led to an invitation for our presence at the 1998 IARU ARDF World Championships in Hungary. The call for participation went out and six persons responded. After several informal local foxhunting practice sessions and a formal training event in southern California, they were ready for the big September event. All had a great time in Hungary. They learned a great deal about techniques used by foxtailing winners and about the organization of ARDF championship events. You can read all the details in two feature articles: "The USA Takes on the World Foxhunting Championships." by Joe Moell KØOV in the March 1999 issue of CQ VHF Magazine and "Amateur Radio Direction Finding--The 1998 IARU World Championships" by Dale Hunt WB6BYU in the May 1999 issue of QST Magazine. Homing In for January 1999 also covered this event.
Later that month, the IARU Region 2 Plenary Conference in Venezuela approved a request by FARS to include IARU Region 2 ARDF Championship foxhunts as part of the 1999 Friendship Radiosport Games (FRG-99) in Portland, Oregon, staged during the second week of August 1999. Dale Hunt WB6BYU, Team Leader for the Hungary trip, agreed to be Foxhunt Chair for this event. In June 1999, Joe Moell KØOV was appointed as the first IARU Region 2 ARDF Coordinator.
The first IARU Region 2 ARDF Championships in Portland brought hams from six European and Asian countries to take on fifteen Team USA members and five Team Canada members representing Region 2. In addition to the two-meter foxhunt, the first-ever multi-nation 80-meter foxhunt in the Western Hemisphere took place there. V.I.P attendees included Tom Atkins VE3CDM, IARU Region 2 President and Rik Strobbe ON7YD, Interim Chair of IARU Region 1 ARDF Working Group. Homing In for October 1999 covered these historic Championships in detail.
With the successful Portland event as impetus, year 2000 was much more active for ARDF in the USA. Dozens of two-meter practice on-foot hunts took place from California to North Carolina, and several places in between. Many of these sessions helped prepare Team USA members for the 2000 ARDF World Championships (WCs). The Team USA Qualifying Runs, held June 3-4 in southern California, had the longest 2-meter and 80-meter ARDF courses in North America to date. Twelve persons represented USA at the ARDF World Championships in Nanjing, China during October 2000. They ranged in age from 15 to 59. Dale Hunt WB6BYU became the first person from the Western Hemisphere ever to serve on the International Jury at the ARDF WCs. Read more about the 2000 WCs in Homing In for January 2001.
Even more ARDF activity occurred in the USA during 2001, including the First USA ARDF Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Over 40 radio-orienteers from the USA, Australia, China and Ukraine took to the courses. Homing In for February 2001 and ARRL's QST Magazine for May 2001 had detailed pre-event articles. Follow-up Homing In articles were in the December 2001 and January 2002 issues of 73 Magazine. Some USA ARDF enthusiasts also participated in the Friendship Games foxhunt in Victoria, BC during the week after the Albuquerque events.
Dale Hunt WB6BYU was appointed to be IARU Region 2 ARDF Coordinator in October 2001, replacing Joe Moell KØOV who resigned to concentrate on stateside ARDF development as USA ARDF Coordinator.
In April 2002, the Georgia Orienteering Club hosted the Second USA ARDF Championships. Read all about it in Homing In for July and August 2002. The Championships were also featured as a cover article in Monitoring Times magazine for July 2002. Members of Team USA 2002 were selected from the best performers at this event and at the 2001 Albuquerque hunts. These eleven Team USA competitors and one International Jury member traveled to Slovakia during the first week of September for the 2002 ARDF World Championships. USA's performance was the best ever, including one fourth place and one fifth place in the individual standings. Homing In columns covered our WC participation in the November and December 2002 installments.
The Third USA ARDF Championships took place near Cincinnati, Ohio from July 30 through August 3, 2003, hosted by the OH-KY-IN Amateur Radio Club. It was also designated as the Second IARU Region 2 ARDF Championships. Detailed coverage was in Homing In for Winter 2004, my first column after the move to CQ VHF Magazine.
Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club in California hosted the Fourth USA ARDF Championships, June 16 - 19, 2004. Homing In for Summer 2004 covered some unique aspects of these events, including the first use of electronic scoring in our national championships. This took place just in time for final selection of ARDF Team USA 2004 members, who traveled to Brno in the Czech Republic for the 12th ARDF World Championships in September. USA's team positions were filled based on performances in the 2004 events in California and the 2003 events in Ohio. USA also sent two persons to participate in the international jury at the World Championships. Also in 2004, Portland hams traveled to Khabarovsk for the Eighth Friendship Games.
The Fifth USA ARDF Championships and Third IARU Region 2 Championships returned to Albuquerque, New Mexico during the first week of August, 2005, with participants from USA, Australia, Kazakhstan and the Czech Republic.
The Sixth USA ARDF Championships took place April 7 - 9, 2006 in Raleigh, North Carolina, after which the members of ARDF Team USA 2006 were selected. In September 2006, the team traveled to Bulgaria for the 13th ARDF World Championships, where Nadia Scharlau brought home USA's first World Championships medal. More about both events was in my Homing In column for Fall 2006.
The Seventh USA ARDF Championships and Fourth IARU Region 2 Championships took place September 14 - 16, 2007 near Lake Tahoe, which is on the California/Nevada border. It was well covered in this site and in Homing In for Fall 2007.
The Eighth USA ARDF Championships were in a big park near Bastrop, Texas from May 8 through 10, 2008. Following that, Team USA members are now being selected for the 14th ARDF World Championships in South Korea during September. The Ninth Friendship Radiosport Games (FRG-08) will take place in Portland, Oregon, August 1 - 3, 2008.
Keep checking this Homing In site for the latest radio-orienteering news for the USA and all of North America.
The above references will increase your understanding of international style ARDF and help you plan hunts in your area. For technical and equipment ARDF references, see the Equipment Ideas for Radio-Orienteering page at this site.
There are no individual members of IARU, only national Member-Societies such as the American Radio Relay League (USA), Associazione Radioamatori Italiani (Italy), and Federacion Mexicana de Radio Experimentadores (Mexico).
The IARU Constitution, last amended in 1989, organizes the Union into three Regional Organizations that correspond to the three administrative regions of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Each region has a Web site for ARDF activities and an ARDF Coordinator (in parentheses), as follows:
IARU's headquarters (the International Secretariat) is located at the ARRL building in Newington, Connecticut, USA. The current IARU President is Larry Price W4RA. Presiding over Region 2 is Rod Stafford W6ROD.
Go to Equipment Ideas for Radio-Orienteering -- Simple and inexpensive receiving and transmitting solutions
Go to Latest Championship Foxhunting News -- Stories of recent multi-nation ARDF events and announcements of upcoming ones
Go to Electronic Scoring for ARDF -- What it is, how it works, and why it's better than pin punching
Go to Foxhunting for Scouts -- Let's get the kids involved
Go to Try ARDF on 80 Meters. -- The "other" foxhunting band
Go to Extenders Aid Handicapped Foxhunters -- A novel way to include persons with disabilities
This page updated 4 June 2008
The History of ARDF In North America
Radio-Orienteering Bibliography
Homing In columns on ARDF by Joe Moell KØOV in 73 Magazine (1988-2003) and CQ VHF Magazine (Since 2004)
Other articles
Book
What Is The IARU?
The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) is a federation of the national Amateur Radio Societies of 146 countries around the world, working together for the international good of Amateur Radio. IARU was formed in Paris, France in 1925 and has become the watchdog and spokesman for the world Amateur Radio community.
Go to Radio-Orienteering in southern California -- Announcements of upcoming demonstration/practice sessions and results of recent local events
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