[ARDF] Region 2 Rules and GPS

[Charles Scharlau]

I've had a recent exchange with an advocate of GPS in ARDF. The reasons for
it, and I am paraphrasing, are as follows:

1. It doesn't fundamentally change the sport.
2. Everyone in the world is using it.
3. We would compromise the competitiveness of Region 2 ARDFers if it were
banned here.

>From experience and long hours of testing, I can attest that unbridled
utilization of a stream of accurate position data (usually < 10 meters)
will remove much of the need for navigation skills from ARDF. If that isn't
the case today, then GPS-enhanced receiver makers are either using
substandard hardware, or poor software. (There is also a third possibility
<http://openardf.org/index.php/2017/10/26/receivers-does-your-mileage-vary/>
.)

If you want to see the future of ARDF under current Region I rules, or "a
GPS" is perhaps a better name for it, check out the iPhone app
Map-n-Compass. That app uses standard GPS position data and electronic
compass info to simulate an ARDF course, complete with transmitters, and
the app serving as a receiver. In the beginner mode (default) the app
allows you to see your position on the screen, record your track, see
exclusion areas, record bearings, and calculate bearing crossing locations.
If you don't install a map of the course terrain, and you remove the SIM
card, you've got an ARDF tool that meets all the current Region I rules. It
will lead you almost inerrantly on a straight line path to the transmitter
of your choice.

If that doesn't change the sport by diminishing the need navigation skills,
I don't know what would.

While point #1 has been debunked, points 2 and 3 remain, and those final
two points have some merit. Sadly, the acceptance of points 2 and 3,
combined with the debunking of point 1, means that everyone probably needs
to have a GPS-assisted receiver (especially beginners in the sport) in
order to be competitive with their peers so equipped.

The bar to entry into ARDF has just been raised. Or, maybe not. At least
not by so much.

Rather than trying to slam the barn door shut years after the
satellite-following cow passed through, perhaps it would be better to
accept that instead of the death of ARDF, GPS has given rise to a new
event: an ARDF flavor that requires fewer navigation skills, but still uses
hidden transmitters and receivers.

Rather than imposing the cost burden of purchasing a spiffy new receiver,
let's allow folks to use their tired old smartphone or tablet instead (or
purchase a used one at low cost). Let's modify Region 2 rules to permit the
use of smart devices running apps that don't break any existing ARDF rules.
Those permissible apps can be required to maintain a constant log that
proves that they were running during the entire duration of a competitor's
run.

So a new sport is born, but what about the old one? You know, the one we
used to call ARDF. Well that one doesn't have to go away. Those who prefer
not to play the sat-nav version can elect to run as a classic competitor.
That would be a different class of competitor, whose performance would be
judged against others in their class, not against sat-navvers.

But it still seems that the rules for our region need to come into
existence in order to make any of this a reality. It is a shame that our
region has its hands tied by blind adherence to Region I's decisions. Will
no one in an ARDF leadership position actually lead? Move this forward,
shoot this down, or please get out of the way.