Via the ARRL: US and Region 2 Amateur Radio Direction-Finding Championships Results are In

The results are in for the 20th US ARDF Championships and 11th IARU Region 2 Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF). Four days of competitions were held October 14 – 17 in North Carolina, and the results will help determine the makeup of the US ARDF team at the 20th ARDF World Championships, set for summer 2022 in Serbia. The US Championships and the World Championships were rescheduled from 2020 after they had to be canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions. Even so, visitors from outside the US were unable to attend this year’s competition due to continued travel restrictions, but a hardy group of hopefuls for the US team came ready to compete.

Competitors ranged in age from 14 to 74. Competitive events were held in the Birkhead Mountains Wilderness Area just south of Asheboro, North Carolina. Events began on October 14 with sprint events, a fast-paced competition in which two sets of five transmitters operating on two different 80-meter frequencies transmit nonconsecutive 12-second bursts every minute. Between the transmitters, competitors pass through an open spectator area, where supporters and onlookers may cheer them on. Two elite competitors completed the sprint course in just over 15 minutes, a world-class time.

Two classic events were held on October 15. The longer courses for the younger adult categories took place on 2 meters, and the shorter courses for the older adult and youth categories took place on 80 meters. Separating the longer and shorter courses and holding them on separate, non-interfering bands allowed course designs to be tailored for optimum challenge within each competitive category.

Foxoring, a combination of radio direction finding and classic orienteering on 80 meters, followed the next day.

Read more – via American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources http://www.arrl.org/news/view/us-and-region-2-amateur-radio-direction-finding-championships-results-are-in