[ARDF] Photos from 2006 USA ARDF Championships

[Kenneth E. Harker]

     The photos I took (please let me know if I made any errors):

http://www.wm5r.org/photos/2006_usa_ardf/

Some of my comments, in no particular order:

* I had a great time at the event.  The state park was very nice, even
with all the deadfall that made getting through some portions of the forest
difficult.  The lack of significant undergrowth in most of the park was a 
refreshing change from what I'm used to in Texas.  The hills were not as 
bad as I remember in Georgia, New Mexico, or even in Ohio.

* In the two meter event, I did think it was odd that the map included 
many private home sites that were not marked out of bounds.  I would kind of
feel wierd running through someone's back yard during an event like this.

* I thought the downed trees markings on the map were not all that useful.
I certainly never felt like I could rely upon them for determining where
I was, or for deciding upon my route choice.  Maybe they were more accurate 
or useful in 1997.

* The route lengths for M21 felt longer than in recent ARDF Championships, 
but of course at 8.2 and 8.5 kms are still perfectly appropriate lengths 
for these championships.

* I wasn't really as prepared for the cold weather on Sunday morning as I 
should have been.  

* I am now interested in trying out other receivers for 2M keyed AM courses.
The VK3YNG receiver worked best for me in tone mode, but even then, it was
hard to get good bearings on distant transmitters.  There was a certain 
"ramp-up" in audio frequency with the beginning of each code element that was 
really distracting because you had to mentally factor it out as you compared
the relative audio frequency between code elements as you moved the antenna.
This was less of an issue with stronger signals or when you moved the 
antenna more slowly.

* On Sunday morning I had a serious issue with my Altai 3,5 receiver right 
out of the start.  It was so cold that morning that the conductors in the 
Soviet headphone jack and plug I think shrunk just enough that they were no 
longer making good contact.  The result was really scratchy audio.  In fact, 
the headphone plug was so loose in the jack that it was falling out on its
own just from the normal walking motion.  Luckily, I had a spare rubber band 
with me that together with a really small twig, I used to hold the headphone
plug firmly in place.  After that, I had no real issues with the headphone 
audio unless I happened to physically bump the plug.  From now on, I'm always 
carrying an extra rubber band or two with me.

* I'm mildly surprised that we didn't have any issues with the use of 144.200
as the hunt frequency on Saturday.  144.200 is the national CW/USB call 
frequency for two meter weak signal enthusiasts, which is probably the only 
other interest group on the band that is also horizontally polarized and
likely to understand the Morse code.  I was concerned that we might
attract attention from up to a hundred miles away...

* Most of the 100-milers in the park on Saturday ignored me.  One made some
crack about me hunting for the mother ship, and another joked about "I'm not 
speeding officer, I swear!"  I think having a competition number on my chest
probably helped keep people from bothering me too much.

* Saturday was the first time I've done an ARDF event in the rain.  I had a 
plastic Ziploc bag over the VK3YNG receiver, held on with a rubber band, and
did nothing special with my cheap Sony headphones.  Everything worked fine,
even though I know the VK3YNG receiver is not designed to be waterproof.

* I really appreciated April looking out for us at the finish lines.

* I continue to make gross navigation errors.  On the eighty meter course,
my route from MOH to MO5 was especially bad.  Most of my errors are the 
result of assuming that the transmitter is a lot closer than it really 
is, so I am willing to charge up or down hillsides and such when I really 
should be spending longer on trails or the same contour until I really know 
where the transmitter is located.

* I especially enjoyed finding MOI on two meters off cycle when I knew 
Jay and Bob were on the same general hillside still looking for it.

* I'm looking forward to the next one.

Thanks Nadia and Charles!

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