[ARDF] Fun and Frustration

[Charles Scharlau]

What I have in mind is one place that I can point to: You can find
regulation transmitters at "Fox Finders Inc." It will be $$ for each
receiver, $$ for regulation transmitters, and $$ for flags, punch cards (or
e-punch), etc. Place your order and you will have everything you need within
## weeks. The equipment can be foreign built, but there needs to be one or
two reliable suppliers domestically. -- Just a wish.

2009/9/27 Vadim Afonkin <vadim.afonkin at comcast.net>

> As for transmitters - set of 80 meter microtransmitters from ukraine will
> cost you only about $100 and will make your work easy. It is very portable
> and you can hear it up to 3-4 km. Sergey Storkov I believe has one set for
> sale.
>
> I may get more if we need.
>
> What we need is cheap but good receivers.
>
> But most of all - less talks and more work.
>
> Отправлено с iPhone
>
> 27.09.2009, в 13:38, Charles Scharlau <charles.scharlau at gmail.com>
> написал(а):
>
>   Hi Marvin,
>>
>> You have put your finger on the crux of the matter, and the most difficult
>> question to answer. How must the sport evolve?
>>
>> My concern internationally is that the sport has been evolving away from
>> being a technical sport, and has become more a sport of pure athleticism.
>> The World Championship courses are much longer than they used to be, with
>> difficult terrain to traverse. With more age categories the numbers of
>> competitors out in the field has increased. The result is an emphasis on
>> endurance and running ability, with rampant following and no enforcement
>> to
>> prevent it.
>>
>> The sport remains relatively popular in Eastern Europe where there is
>> still
>> some state sponsorship of the sport. In Russia, the Czech Republic and
>> Ukraine there are established clubs and organizations that receive tax
>> dollars to cover travel to competitions and stipends to encourage those
>> who
>> teach the sport. In the remainder of Europe and the rest of the world
>> (with
>> few exceptions) it remains a purely amateur sport. So it is without
>> exception that the competitive teams all come from the Eastern Europe, and
>> that seems unlikely to change for the foreseeable future.
>>
>> Internationally, I think rules changes are in order to 1) prevent rampant
>> following, 2) bring more technical skills back into the sport, and 3)
>> promote an even playing field for all competiting countries.
>>
>> One encouraging development that Nadia noticed in this year's European
>> Championships results is some statistics revealing likely following by
>> competitors. So hopefully the organizers will get a better idea of the
>> degree of the problem, and will deal with it swiftly and appropriately.
>>
>> Domestically, the problem boils down to how we make the sport appealing
>> (at
>> least as appealing as orienteering) without any "ARDF stimulous money"
>> being
>> invested by the financially strapped governments. Nadia and I have had
>> long
>> discussions about that, and have not come up with any brilliant solutions.
>> Realistically, I think it will probably take quite some time, and a lot of
>> work, for the sport to reach critical mass in the USA. Here's my thinking
>> on
>> a strategy right now:
>>
>> 1) Identify and target groups and organizations that have similar
>> interests
>> or related goals. Orienteering clubs, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, others?
>>
>> 2) Sell ARDF to the leadership of at least *two* closely-located
>> clubs/troops in those organizations. A commitment from the groups to
>> provide
>> motivated participants must be put in place.
>>
>> 3) Promote competition between those clubs/troops, and provide
>> training, support, and practice opportunities to them. An annual local
>> championship competition needs to be part of the mix.
>>
>> 4) Be willing to modify the rules a bit to adapt to the competitor's skill
>> level, be flexible, and don't give up. Keep promoting to other groups to
>> join the fun... with support provided mostly by the active groups.
>>
>> An inexpensive domestic source of quality ARDF equipment would also be
>> very
>> helpful, since it would make it simpler for these activities to get
>> started
>> with an affordable and quantifiable initial investment cost.
>> Will it work to plant a seed? I don't know. But it is the best we've come
>> up
>> with.
>>
>> -NZ0I
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Sep 27, 2009 at 12:43 PM, Marvin Johnston <marvin at west.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Charles,
>>>
>>> In what ways do you think ARDF needs to evolve? I'm not sure if ARDF
>>> needs
>>> to evolve or if the way we are approaching promotion needs to change ...
>>> or
>>> both.
>>>
>>> I certainly agree with Vadim that a time committment needs to be made,
>>> but
>>> that time also needs to be spent effectively. It is quite possible we are
>>> repeating ways of promotion that are just not effective, so I am starting
>>> to
>>> test different approaches.
>>>
>>> Putting on an antenna building workshop prior to a hunt has brought out
>>> some new people. And a couple of them show some real promise of being
>>> potential competitors.
>>>
>>> My next approach (besides the ARDF practice this month) will be to put on
>>> some ARDF training on the afternoon of our next Scouting orienteering
>>> meet
>>> at Firestone Boy Scout Camp. We will have training and equipment for the
>>> scouts. I'm also thinking about an adult leadership training for scout
>>> leaders who would like to know more about ARDF and how to help scouts get
>>> involved.
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>>
>>> Marvin, KE6HTS
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Charles Scharlau wrote:
>>>
>>> I think ARDF will ultimately need to
>>>
>>>> evolve or go extinct. I think it must evolve both in the USA and
>>>> internationally. The rules, and the equipment, both must evolve.
>>>> -NZ0I
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>