GEORGIA TO HOST 2002 USA ARDF/RADIO-ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS
by Marvin Johnston
***************
The ARRL Letter
Vol. 20, No. 44
November 2, 2001
***************
==>GEORGIA TO HOST 2002 USA ARDF/RADIO-ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS
ARRL Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF) Coordinator Joe Moell, K0OV,
has
announced that the Georgia Orienteering Club will host the second USA
ARDF/Radio-Orienteering Championships. The event will take place April
19-21, 2002, at F. D. Roosevelt State Park near Pine Mountain.
The USA ARDF/Radio-Orienteering Championships are open to all, from
beginners to experts from the US and elsewhere, and no Amateur Radio
license
is needed to compete. The 2002 competition will feature 2-meter and
80-meter
ARDF events. Participants will compete in age/gender categories with
awards
given for first, second and third-place finishes in each. Awards will be
presented in two divisions, Overall and USA-Only.
Details, including rules and registration forms, are on the Georgia
Orienteering Web site, <http://www.mindspring.com/~sam.smith/gaoc>.
Click on
the "Radio-O Champs" link (under Special Events). The GAOC site includes
information on lodging options.
The next ARDF World Championships in fall 2002 will be held in Slovakia,
and
positions on Team USA for that event will be determined by individual
performances at Pine Mountain and at the USA Championships in
Albuquerque
that were held this past August (see "The 2001 USA ARDF Championships
are a
Winner!" <http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2001/08/24/1/?>).
For additional information on Amateur Radio direction finding, visit Joe
Moell's Homing In Web site, <http://www.homingin.com/>.--Joe Moell, K0OV
21 years, 4 months
- 1
- 0
Upcoming ARDF Hunt
by Marvin Johnston
SBARC ARDF Hunt
Saturday, November 10, 2001
The Santa Barbara Amateur Radio Club will be sponsoring another Southern
California On-Foot ARDF hunt on November 10th, 2001. ARDF (Amateur Radio
Direction Finding), also called Radio Orienteering, is a timed event
where 5 transmitters are hidden and competitors use radio direction
finding equipment to locate them. This free informal event will be held
on Saturday, November 10th at Lake Los Carnaros Park in Goleta, CA.
Bring your two-meter hand-held or scanner plus a portable beam,
attenuator, and compass if you have them. A limited amount of RDF gear
will be available for loan. An orienteering map at a scale of 5000:1 was
just completed of the area and will be available for participants.
Several people who competed at the 2001 US ARDF Championships are also
expected to be attending including Sergei Zarubin of Ukraine, who won
gold on the 80m competition and silver on the 2m competition in the M21
(prime) division.
Practice transmitters will go on the air around 11:00 with the main 2M
transmitter hunt starting at noon. There will also be at least one 80M
transmitter on the air.
A tri-tip BBQ will follow (reservations requested) at a cost of 3.50 per
person.
Talk-in will be on the K6TZ repeater; 146.79(-), pl 131.8.
Location - This event will take place at Lake Los Carnaros and will
start at the Stow House Parking Lot just off of Los Carnaros Road. From
US 101 about 1 mile north of Goleta, take the Los Carnaros exit, head
north about ¼ mile and turn right into the parking lot.There should be
plenty of free parking.
Transmitters - There will be five transmitters, each transmitting on
146.565 MHz in round robin style for 1 minute each. Each transmitter
will be identified by an Orange/White Orienteering control flag.
Course - Orienteering maps of the area will be available at a scale of
5000:1. The course itself will be between 2 miles and 3 miles and can
easily be completed by walking in well under the 2 hour time limit.
Transmitters will be at least 200 yards from each other.
Classes - Beginner and Advanced. Teams will be allowed with the
condition that only one DF unit be used per team and the people on the
team stay together.
For more information, contact Marvin Johnston, KE6HTS, at
marvin(a)rain.org.
21 years, 5 months
- 1
- 0
FWD: Sales of Scanners, Radios Increase
by Paul Cronshaw, D.C.
Friday October 12 2:17 PM ET
Sales of Scanners, Radios Increase
By JAMES HANNAH, Associated Press Writer
CENTERVILLE, Ohio (AP) - Alarmed by the terror attacks, Brad Smith
has a new living room fixture near his TV set and aquarium: a police
scanner.
``I do think we'll have more terrorist attacks. And I'll be the first
to know where it is. I'll hear it on that scanner before the TV and
radio stations come on,'' he said.
The day of the Sept. 11 attacks, amateur radio operators were able to
pick up transmissions among New York police, fire officials and
dispatchers and listen in as the disaster unfolded.
Smith, 37, said early word from his scanner might enable him to
evacuate or otherwise react quickly to word of a gas attack or
terrorist bombing nearby.
Around the country, sales recently have increased of both scanners
and short-wave radios.
The Radio Shack chain, based in Fort Worth, Texas, has reported an
increase in sales, along with such dealers as Scanner World USA, a
mail-order business based in Albany, N.Y., and Uniden America Corp.
of Fort Worth. Some places are reporting that sales are up 10 percent
to 30 percent compared with the same period last year.
Norm Schrein, president of the Bearcat Radio Club in Dayton, said he
went to a trade show in Peoria, Ill., four days after the attack and
was all but cleaned out.
``They were buying the scanners and not the cheap ones. The high-end
ones that you can listen to military aircraft and all the other wide
coverage,'' he said. ``They think it's necessary rather than being
interesting.''
The lure of shortwave radios, which can cost up to $5,000, is that
they allow for listening to broadcasts from around the world,
including airline, shipping and military communications, said Larry
Van Horn of Monitoring Times magazine. Broadcasts in foreign nations
can also be tuned in.
``You're going to hear things that other people just don't hear,''
Van Horn said. ``You're going to hear it from the countries
themselves - Afghanistan
(<http://rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/*http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/n…>news
-
<http://rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/*http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=…>web
sites), Iran, Iraq - and get their point of view.''
Bill Gayton, a psychology professor at Southern Maine University,
likened some scanner buyers to people who built bomb shelters during
the Cold War in the 1950s and '60s.
``People's lives have really been shaken,'' he said. ``Security is a
very basic human need, and this is probably the first time it's been
threatened to this extent.''
If anyone is interesting in purchasing a receiver, I'd be happy to
make some recommendations.
Dr. Mark Levine
licensed ham op 29 years
21 years, 5 months
- 1
- 0
ARRL - The Big Project
by Marvin Johnston
I just received this email that was forwarded by Fried.
--------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Fried Heyn(ARRL SW Director) [mailto:lucky@surfpage.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2001 7:55 PMSubject: The Big Project -
Introductions
FYI...73/Fried(ô¿ô)UNITY=STRENGTH(ô¿ô)
-----------------------------------------------------------
Dear Educators,
Many of you have contacted the ARRL with questions pertaining to the new
Amateur Radio Education Project (aka The Big Project) within the last
year. Rosalie White, K1STO, Manager of the F&ES division, received your
inquiries and cataloged them in anticipation of hiring a Coordinator for
The Big Project. It took longer than expected to find someone to fill
the position but on September 4th I began work at ARRL headquarters.
Some of you have a history of working with the League through the
National Educational Workshops, writing articles on building project and
lessons you have had success with, or participated in SAREX or ARISS.
Others are interested in getting involved in a project on the national
scale. What ever you reasons, I want to encourage you to share your
creative talents with the youth of America. Share your love for Amateur
Radio and your love for education by helping develop a first-class
curriculum that we all can be proud of.
Like many of you I have used Amateur Radio to enhance my teaching. I
have
used it as part of my curriculum, as an enrichment tool and at other
times, just as a school club activity. I have had fund raisers for
equipment and spent weekends with my students working contests. I know
what it is to spend money out of pocket to buy materials, books, and
have
donated equipment to "The Club" in hopes of increasing student interest
in my classes and Amateur Radio. These are things teachers do, without
fanfare, that the public doesn't see. Weather you are a classroom
teacher or an instructor for your club, the reward comes with seeing
the
light in
young peoples eyes when they "get it." When they see the connections
and
a new part of the world opens up to them, and they grow.
It is in this context I have made my commitment to ARRL President, Jim
Haynie, W5JPB, and Vice President Kay Craigie, WT3P, to coordinate "The
Big Project." I say coordinate, because this is not any one persons
project. It cannot be done by just sitting down and developing a group
of
lesson plans. I envision a large scale, on going, continuous
improvement, educational endeavor, driven by those in the field using
the
materials and equipment, and working with students.
Are you a licensed Amateur Radio Operator working in the teaching field,
interested in participating in a group forum for the purpose of
developing a curriculum for "The Big Project?" Are you a licensed
Amateur
Radio Operator teaching classes with your local club? Are you an
unlicensed teacher, interested in the possibilities Amateur Radio can
offer your students? It's time to get on board. E-Mail me at the ARRL
headquarters kh6hu(a)arrl.net <mailto:kh6hu@arrl.net> and I'll put you on
"The List." Many of you are "Registered Teachers" already on "The List"
but, as you know, teachers don't always stay at one school and don't
always let us know, so there is a need to update "The List." So drop me
an E-Mail and we'll start "The Big Project" train down the track.
Jerry Hill, KH6HU
Coordinator for the
Amateur Radio Education Project
225 Main St.
Newington, CT 06111-1494
(860) 594-0369 kh6hu(a)arrl.net
21 years, 5 months
- 1
- 0