[ARDF] 2003 US ARDF Championships - Thoughts, Improvements, Etc. (long)

[Kenneth E. Harker]

On Sat, Aug 16, 2003 at 09:32:07PM -0700, Marvin Johnston wrote:
> 
> I am really curious where everyone had their problems on both the 2M and
> 80M courses. There is a good possibility of a training camp before the
> next US ARDF Championships, and I would *really* like to know what to
> emphasize on the training. It would really be wonderful if we could
> become a force to be reckoned with at the World ARDF Championships!!!

I've actually written a first draft of an article about my experiences
this year, aimed at a publication like Orienteering North America, although 
it could be rewritten to meet the needs a of a ham magazine.  So, without 
posting the article here, I can say that I've thought about my weaknesses.
So, in no particular order:

* I know that I could be making better use of my map.  I am used to 
  orienteering, where the map is folded into an appropriate size so as 
  to be held in one hand, with up being my current direction of travel.  
  I am used to using the thumb compass to take bearings off a map.  I tried 
  a few times this weekend to get a bearing from the radio and directly set
  the thumb compass off that.  One of my major problems was the receiver 
  affecting the compass needle.  Mostly, it didn't work out and I largely
  ignored the compass altogether.  I would often take a radio bearing, and 
  knowing where I was and what direction I was facing (often using the 
  predominant line of direction of the trail I was on as my reference -
  which is probably not the best idea) I would try to remember where on the 
  map I thought that bearing indicated likely locations.  I'm sure I can 
  make better use of the map and compass though.

* Attack points.  In orienteering, we have this idea called "attack points."
  They are place near a control that you can very clearly fix on a map where 
  you can get a good bearing and that gives you a good run toward the control
  with the highest chance of seeing the control on the first direct approach.
  Often choosing a good attack point is critical to finding a control quickly.
  I am still struggling with the analogous issue in radio orienteering.  I
  often find myself heading more or less straight at a transmitter to close 
  the distance as fast as I can (since I am not particularly fast, but this 
  often doesn't work out, as the direct line is often slower than alternative 
  routes) when I probably should be intentionally bearing off the direct line 
  to get more distinct bearings that help me come up with a better "radio 
  attack point."  Trying to find the balance between taking extra distance for
  better triangulation and yet not going overboard is still very challenging 
  for me.

* Basic strategies.  I would love to learn things like what Dale told us about
  the classic patterns for laying out transmitters.  Just having in my head
  on Saturday that two controls would probably be near, one in the center, and
  two far down the course, in close to a five-spot-die pattern but with some
  variation, was helpful.  I should also be looking at a map with the mind
  of a course-setter - if I had to put out the controls, where is a convenient
  place to carry all of that stuff to?

* Taking time to orienteer.  In looking over the maps after the meet, I 
  can see where, had the transmitter controls been marked on the map, I would
  never have made some of the route choices I made.  I think I would be better 
  off deciding to get to a particular place that I think I can use as a good
  "radio attack point" for a particular control, and concentrate on choosing
  the best orienteering route to it, rather than become distracted by the 
  transmitter en route and second-guessing and third-guessing my decisions, 
  etc.

* Distance estimation.  Almost all of the time, I grossly underestimated 
  how far away the transmitters really were, especially on 80 meters where
  my rig doesn't have a signal strength meter on it.

* Reflections.  I have very little experience with two meter direction finding,
  and the reflections are still quite vexing to me.  I think in part this 
  year the problem was made worse by my choice of yagi - I'm pretty sure
  in thinking about it that the yagi I used was optimized for forward gain,
  not for pattern, so there are likely nulls and sidelobes and such that 
  probably made things worse than they needed to be.

* Fitness.  Despite a fairly active lifestyle including over ten years as an
  adult commuting/transportation cyclist, I am still a very large man.  I
  am used to competing on the Orange courses at orienteering meets, mostly 
  at a very rapid walking pace, with short bursts of jogging on trails.
  The length of the courses at the 2003 ARDF champs were longer than I am 
  accustomed to and I probably set out at a faster pace than I should have.  
  I intend to start doing Green courses this O season, which will maybe help 
  me with the longer distances.

* Hydration.  On the first day, I was really badly dehydrated by the time I 
  finished the course.  I drank no fluids for almost two hours before I 
  started.  With the kind-of-rush start and my early start group, nobody had 
  set out a water barrel at the start area before I was already in the start 
  corridor.  At the time, of course, I wasn't even thinking about it, but with 
  500mL on me when I started, it was obvious about 70 or so minutes into the 
  course that I was going to be very thirsty when I finished.  By the end,
  I think I was badly enough dehydrated that I was having a little trouble 
  concentrating while trying to find the last control I was aiming to get.
  I don't know if this is something you can intentionally train for, but I 
  know proper hydration is something I will now be a lot better prepared for.

-- 
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Kenneth E. Harker      "Vox Clamantis in Deserto"      kharker at cs.utexas.edu
University of Texas at Austin                   Amateur Radio Callsign: WM5R
Department of the Computer Sciences          Central Texas DX & Contest Club
Taylor Hall TAY 2.124                         Maintainer of Linux on Laptops
Austin, TX 78712-1188 USA            http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/
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