Team USA Goes to the
2002 ARDF World Championships
ARDF Team USA shows the flag at the WC opening ceremonies. In the front row, left to right: Dave D'Epagnier KØQE, Csaba Tiszttarto, Larry Noble NØNDM, and Marvin Johnston KE6HTS. Back row: Dick Arnett WB4SUV, Bob Frey WA6EZV, Karla Leach KC7BLA, Charles Scharlau NZØI, Nadia Mayeva, Bob Cooley KF6VSE, and Harley Leach KI7XF. Gyuri Nagy KF6YKN wasn't available for this photo, but he's pictured after the results on this page. (Photos of team and Nadia by Marvin Johnston KE6HTS)
ARDF Team USA Finds Success in Slovakia
Members of the USA's Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF) team are home from the High Tatras of Slovakia, where they competed in the Eleventh World ARDF Championships during the first week of September.
Going up against more than 300 competitors from 28 other nations, Team USA came within two minutes of bringing home its first medal. Nadia Mayeva from North Carolina (at right) took fourth place in D35 category (women ages 35 through 50) by finding all her required transmitters in 1:49:02. She was edged out by Han Chunrong of China, who won the category bronze medal in 1:47:20.
Gyuri Nagy KF6YKN of New York placed fifth out of 50 in the hotly-contested M40 (males ages 40 through 49) category. Gyuri and his family had organized a one-week training camp for members of Team USA near Gyuri's native hometown in Hungary during the week before the championships.
Here is the ARDF Team USA 2002 roster (in alphabetical order):
Name/Call Category Hometown
--------- -------- --------
Dick Arnett WB4SUV M50 Erlanger, KY
Bob Cooley KF6VSE M60 Pleasanton, CA
Dave D'Epagnier KØQE M40 Longmont, CO
Bob Frey WA6EZV M50 Cincinnati, OH
Marvin Johnston KE6HTS M50 Santa Barbara, CA
Harley Leach KI7XF M60 Bozeman, MT
Nadia Mayeva D35 Mooresville, NC
Gyuri Nagy KF6YKN M40 Maspeth, NY
Larry Noble NØNDM M40 Aurora, CO
Charles Scharlau NZØI M21 Chapel Hill, NC
Csaba Tiszttarto M21 New York, NY
In addition, Karla Leach KC7BLA represented USA and IARU Region 2 on the International Jury overseeing the competitions. Her assignment was Course Marshal at one of the foxes. Team USA co-captains were WB4SUV and WA6EZV.
The World Championships of ARDF take place in even-numbered years. The 2002 site was Tatranske Matliare in the High Tatras of the Slovak Republic, at about 900 meters elevation. Two Slovak hotels were taken over for the exclusive use of competitors. This was USA's third trip to the World Championships.
The schedule of events was as follows:
September 2 - Monday - Arrival of the Participants
September 3 - Tuesday - Training on Both Bands, Opening Ceremony
September 4 - Wednesday - 2 Meter Race
September 5 - Thursday - Free Day with Cultural Program
September 6 - Friday - 80 Meter Race, Awarding Ceremony, Closing Ceremony, Hamfest
September 7 - Saturday - Departure of the Participants
The 323 competitors were divided into five categories for males and four categories for females, in accordance with newly-approved ARDF rules of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). Each country was permitted to have up to three persons per category on its team.
Here are the medal winners and Team USA performances in all age/gender categories in which USA competed.
Two-meters (150 minute time limit)
D35 (Females ages 35 and older, 18 in category)
Gold Oksana Shutkovskaia Russia 93:43 4 Foxes
Silver Dagmar Skrivanova Czech 94:46 4 Foxes
Bronze Larissa Savinykh Russia 97:36 4 Foxes
Nadia Mayeva (13th) USA 147:38 4 Foxes
- - - - -
M21 (Males of any age, 61 in category)
Gold Sergyj Shtanko Ukraine 61:58 5 Foxes
Silver Peter Viskup Slovakia 65:04 5 Foxes
Bronze Jakub Oma Czech 65:49 5 Foxes
Csaba Tiszttarto (35th) USA 132:06 3 Foxes
Charles Scharlau (Overtime) USA 156:25 4 Foxes
- - - - -
M40 (Males ages 40 and older, 50 in category)
Gold Andres Talver Estonia 59:30 4 Foxes
Silver Kinstantin Zelensky Russia 66:12 4 Foxes
Bronze Milan Mittelman Slovakia 67:35 4 Foxes
Gyuri Nagy ( 5th) USA 73:22 4 Foxes
Dave D'Epagnier (28th) USA 121:02 4 Foxes
Larry Noble (Overtime) USA 166:47 2 Foxes
Team USA 8th of 13 national teams
- - - - -
M50 (Males ages 50 and older, 37 in category)
Gold Mykola Velikanov Ukraine 62:05 4 Foxes
Silver Tchermen Gouliev Russia 74:58 4 Foxes
Bronze Oleg Fursa Ukraine 75:21 4 Foxes
Bob Frey (30th) USA 104:01 2 Foxes
Marvin Johnson (Overtime) USA 165:13 2 Foxes
Dick Arnett (Overtime) USA 175:46 4 Foxes
- - - - -
M60 (Males ages 60 and older, 33 in category)
Gold Nikolai Semenov Russia 85:28 3 Foxes
Silver Eduard Kuvaldin Russia 88:33 3 foxes
Bronze Karel Koudelka Czech 91:30 3 foxes
Harley Leach (17th) USA 133:32 3 Foxes
Bob Cooley (Overtime) USA 153:59 3 Foxes
Eighty-meters (150 minute time limit)
D35 (Females ages 35 and older, 18 in category)
Gold Ljubow Prowatorowa Russia 103:51 4 Foxes
Silver Oksana Shutkovskaia Russia 104:54 4 Foxes
Bronze Han Chunrong China 107:20 4 Foxes
Nadia Mayeva ( 4th) USA 109:42 4 Foxes
- - - - -
M21 (Males of any age, 60 in category)
Gold Martin Baier Czech 78:26 5 Foxes
Silver Jakub Oma Czech 85:29 5 Foxes
Bronze Karel Fucik Czech 85:46 5 Foxes
Csaba Tiszttarto (39th) USA 149:06 5 Foxes
Charles Scharlau (51st) USA 135:16 3 Foxes
Team USA 14th of 20 national teams
- - - - -
M40 (Males ages 40 and older, 50 in category)
Gold Victor Romanov Russia 77:50 4 Foxes
Silver Alexander Kulikov Russia 81:15 4 Foxes
Bronze Jozef Simecek Slovakia 82:33 4 Foxes
Gyuri Nagy (19th) USA 127:15 4 Foxes
Dave D'Epagnier (25th) USA 138:45 4 Foxes
Larry Noble (Overtime) USA (Not provided)
Team USA 8th of 14 national teams
- - - - -
M50 (Males ages 50 and older, 39 in category)
Gold Oleg Fursa Ukraine 88:14 4 foxes
Silver Tchermen Gouliev Russia 89:41 4 foxes
Bronze Viktor Korshunov Ukraine 92:15 4 foxes
Dick Arnett (22nd) USA 113:54 3 Foxes
Bob Frey (34th) USA 127:53 2 Foxes
Marvin Johnson (36th) USA 139:31 2 Foxes
Team USA 11th of 14 national teams
- - - - -
M60 (Males ages 60 and older, 31 in category)
Gold Nikolai Semenov Russia 67:47 3 Foxes
Silver Josef Tuttmann Holland 74:12 3 foxes
Bronze Vladimir Kirgetov Russia 80:51 3 foxes
Harley Leach (18th) USA 131:45 3 Foxes
Bob Cooley (19th) USA 134:02 3 Foxes
Team USA 7th of 10 national teams
Many thanks to the ARRL Foundation and the Colvin Award Fund for providing the entry fees and in-country food/lodging/transportation expenses of the USA team. Training expenses and domestic/international airfares were paid by the individual team members.
Click here for first-person accounts of the Championships and the training camp, written by Bob Frey WA6EZV and Karla Leach KC7BLA. Also, a detailed narrative and photos of Team Australia's journey has been posted by Bruce Paterson VK3TJN.
Many thanks to the stateside supporters who organized practice sessions for Team USA members. If you would like to help train our team for future events, contact the undersigned.
Joe Moell KØOV
USA ARDF Coordinator
Go to the First-Person Reports from Team USA page
Go to the Championship Foxhunting News page (Upcoming ARDF events here and abroad)
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This page updated 23 July 2004