[ARDF] Ideas for 2006 USA ARDF Championships

[Matthew Robbins]

Charles,

    I mentioned in Albuquerque that the Flying Pig A-Meet is usually
on the weekend of Easter, but I was wrong.  Here is the "Planning
Calendar" of the A-Meets for next April:

March 31-April 2	OCIN Flying Pig X  Relay Champs  Sprint
Champs	sanctioned A meet
 
Spring sometime	BOK possible A event, Umstead Park	Joseph Huberman
 
April 8-9	NEOC, A event, Wells State Park, Sturbridge, MA 
Intercollegiates	in sanctioning
April 9	GHO Giant's Rib Raid Adventure Run, Bolton Ontario	 
April 22-23	COK, Blue Ridge Classic, NC  Interscholastics	sanctioned A meet
April 29-30	EMPO A event  Short (Middle) Champs  Long Champs	sanctioned A meet

Here is the "Planning Calendar" website---be aware that it is truly a
planning calendar, and subject to change:

http://mapsurfer.com/sanct/maincal.map

I guess my comment would be that two days is pretty difficult.  

I usually look at Light Data to see how long the daylight is:

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.html

I did April 8th just for an estimate.  It's already Daylight Time by
then, so that helps.

Sun and Moon Data for One Day

The following information is provided for Raleigh, Wake County, North
Carolina (longitude W78.7, latitude N35.8):

        Saturday 
        8 April 2006          Eastern Daylight Time          

                         SUN
        Begin civil twilight       6:25 a.m.                 
        Sunrise                    6:51 a.m.                 
        Sun transit                1:16 p.m.                 
        Sunset                     7:42 p.m.                 
        End civil twilight         8:08 p.m.

I propose:

Arrivals on Thursday, say from 6pm to ???
Friday:
7am-11am 2m Practice Transmitters
11am-noon Lunch
Noon: Depart for event site.
1:30-2:30pm starts
Course closes at 5:30pm (3 hours after last start).  I don't like to
plan to use within 1 hour of sunset, so this gives you 1 hour 12
minutes of float, and then a full hour before sunset for stragglers
and search parties.

Alternatively, you could have a brunch from 10am-11am, and start the
2m competition even earlier.

Saturday:

8am-10am: 80m practice Ts.
10am-noon: Some sort of mini-ARDF: A quick, fun event---good for
beginners, reporters, etc.  (Completely Optional)
noon-1pm: Lunch
1pm-5pm: Social time: mini-ARDF conference/show-and-tell/gear ogling...
6:30pm: Banquet for 2m awards.

Sunday: 

9am First Start (Over two hours after Sunrise = plenty)
Last Finish: 1pm
1:15-1:30: 80m awards presentation
1:30pm: Flee

My thought was basically to have a three-day event, with one-day
between the big events, and have a day 1 late-day start (rather than
morning), with first-day practice Ts in the morning.  Clear as mud.

Are you planning to just have people get hotels?  Most dorms are still
occupied in April...

Matthew

On 8/8/05, cscharlau at earthlink.net <cscharlau at earthlink.net> wrote:
> As Nadia and I make plans to host the 2006 USA ARDF Championships, we'd like
> to get some feedback from the likely participants. Here are some tentative
> plans. Please send us your comments in favor or against these ideas.
> Remember, they are tentative plans at this point, so give us your opinions!
> Final plans will depend on your feedback, and on the approval of the ARRL
> ARDF Coordinator.
> 
> 
> Venue: Raleigh, NC
> 
> The two days of the competition will take place over one weekend, Saturday
> and Sunday. That's right: two days in a row with no rest day. (Come a few
> days early, or stay late, if you'd like to experience some R&R in beautiful
> North Carolina.)
> 
> The Friday before the event will be for arrival, orientation, and a small
> practice session to help you become familiar with the transmitters.
> 
> The possible weekends we are considering are: April 1-2, 22-23, 29-30 (We
> will avoid Easter April 16.)
> 
> Participants will be responsible for their own transportation, meals, and
> accommodations. We'll provide a list of hotels, restaurants, and
> transportation options in the vicinity of the competition. Camping inside
> the park might be one option---let us know if you might be interested.
> 
> We may forego a post-competition banquet in favor of a simple award ceremony
> immediately following the Sunday competition. This would allow competitors
> to depart sooner, to accommodate those who might need to return to work on
> Monday.
> 
> The two-meter transmitters, including the homing beacon, will transmit using
> keyed-carrier amplitude modulation, just like at the ARDF World
> Championships.
> 
> The courses will be challenging and conform closely to IARU Region I ARDF
> rules. Accurate, high-quality orienteering maps will be provided. The
> identity of the venue will NOT be kept secret, but all information about the
> courses themselves will.
> 
> 
> The proposed dates are only 8 months away, so please reply ASAP with you
> comments. Feel free to forward this to anyone who might be interested in
> attending.
> 
> 73,
> Charles & Nadia Scharlau
> mailto:cscharlau at earthlink.net
> 
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