International Amateur Radio Union
Region 1
Working for the future of amateur radio
14th ARDF Championship of IARU
Region 1 :
A Great Success
October 2003
by Panayot Danev, LZ1US
EC member and representative of EC at the championships
Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF) is an exciting amateur radio
sport, which attracts nowadays thousands of radio amateurs throughout
all three IARU Regions. Each competitor, using a direction finding (DF)
receiver, map and compass has to locate within a fixed time limit up to
5 portable transmitters hidden in a forest. The length of the course is
5 – 10 kilometres, the terrain is usually hilly and the aim is to get
the best time, which means it is more or less mandatory to run ! ARDF
requires knowledge and practice in radio wave propagation, taking
precise bearings, map reading and of course excellent physical shape.
But exactly this combination of physical and intellectual abilities
makes ARDF an attractive and preferred activity for many radio amateurs.
ARDF
Championships have a long history. Eleven World and thirteen Region 1
Championships have already taken place in the past. The 14th Region 1
Championships were held in early September in the picturesque Polish
resort of Cetniewo, on the Baltic Sea coast. If I have to evaluate the
event with two words they will be “great” and “perfect” ! 20 Region 1
societies (exclusively European) with 235 competitors in 5 male and 4
female age categories took part (the actual ages varying from 15 to
65!). A great number of officials, fans, spouses accompanied this
impressive group. Polish organizers from PZK (Polish Amateur Radio
Union) and KRS (Polish ARDF Club) did a tremendous job to make the
competition attractive, pleasant and fair for everybody. Add to this the
beautiful forest, the sunny autumn weather, the famous Polish
hospitality, the joy of meeting lot of friends and you will be able to
sense the atmosphere and the spirit of this prestigious event.