[ARDF] Ideas for 2006 USA ARDF Championships

Tue Aug 9 08:48:02 PDT 2005

On Mon, Aug 08, 2005 at 10:22:58PM -0400, 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.)

April is just after we wrap up orienteering season in Texas, and it happens 
that April only has one radio contest (this may only matter to WA6NOL and I) 
that even counts as maybe-semi-interesting to most NA contesters (the Japan
International DX Contest, CW) and I could easily skip that one for an
ARDF event.

April 1-3 is the NCAA Men's Final Four (in Indianapolis, but still it's a big
TV event, and who knows - Duke or UNC could be contenders.)

April 1 is a Carolina Hurricanes home game (7PM at the RBC Center, against 
the New Jersey Devils, for those who like ice hockey.) 

Any of those dates seems feasible to me right now.

> 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.

I would recommend that there be a "suggested" hotel for all competitors to
stay at.  You might even come up with a "suggested" restaurant meal 
schedule even if everyone picks up their own tab, just so that we can 
all be social at meals together.

> 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.

How far away from the airport will the competition venue likely be?  
How early will competition start on Sunday?  Just poking around on 
Travelocity, the latest flights to BZN/SLC from RDU leave around 3:25PM.  
The latest flights to DEN/SFO leave around 5:00PM.  The latest flights to 
ABQ/AUS/CVG/LAX/SFO/SEA from RDU all leave around 6:00PM - 6:27PM.  
The latest flights back to ORD/MSP/STL leave around 7:20PM - 7:50PM.
Direct flights to some of the east coast airports like BOS/LGA/DCA leave 
as late as 8:00PM.

If the first start time was at 9AM, you could probably count on everyone 
being in by 1PM, and the awards ceremony could be over by 2PM.  Would that
give people enough time to make Sunday evening flights?

> The two-meter transmitters, including the homing beacon, will transmit using
> keyed-carrier amplitude modulation, just like at the ARDF World
> Championships.

I think almost every receiver I saw used this year was capable of AM reception,
so this might only be an issue for newcomers.  If you make it clear that 
newcomers with equipment needs should still feel free to sign up and we'll
work something out, then I don't see any problem.

> 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.

I would suggest that when the venue is announced, it also declared under 
quarantine for competitors.

> 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
> 
> _______________________________________________
> ARDF mailing list
> ARDF at kkn.net
> http://www.kkn.net/mailman/listinfo/ardf

-- 
Kenneth E. Harker WM5R
kenharker at kenharker.com
http://www.kenharker.com/