ARDF stands for Amateur Radio Direction Finding or radio orienteering. It is
- the enriching program item for a fieldday,
- good for youth or vacation activities,
- an attraction at open house or town ebents,
- a healthy counterbalance to sitting in the shack
ARDF offers an exciting form of amateur radio for young and old alike. One can do it as sport with performance ambitions too. With handy direction finding receivers and a map, the aim is to track down several transmitters hidden in the terrain and to approach them. You do not need an amateur radio license to take part, only the organizers must have a transmission permit.
NOTE: The older term “foxhunting” is no longer often used, as it leads to misunderstandings among outsiders and forestry authorities.
Types of events
There are several variants of this outdoor branch of the great amateur radio hobby:
- Classic, depending on the age group, with up to 5 beacons transmitting with a time delay on 80 or 2 m
- Foxoring with approx. 10 short-range transmitters and a strong map and orientation component
- Sprint with timed transmitters at 12-second intervals
- Geofoxing in the style of a scavenger hunt as a connecting element to the popular geocaching hobby
- Stadium/plaza variant for people with impaired vision or mobility
- Fun variants, e.g. on the water, by bike, with moving transmitters or interesting additional tasks
ARDF Secrectary DARC District of South Westphalia (O)
I’m active – with some breaks – in ARDF since the late 80s as competitor and beginnig in the 90s as event organizer. In November 2022 I was appointed ARDF Secrectary for the DARC District of South Westphalia (O). Meanwhile I developped some ARDF transmitter control boards (JR55, FOXCTRL51 and FOXAVR).