Amateur radio direction finding

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Amateur radio direction finding

A German competitor on a 2-meter band ARDF course.
Highest governing body	International Amateur Radio Union
First played	1950s, in northern and eastern Europe
Characteristics
Contact	Non-contact
Team members	Individual
Mixed-sex	Separate categories
Type	Outdoor

Amateur radio
Antenna theory Automatic Link Establishment Automatic Packet Reporting System Call signs Amateur radio operator Contesting Direction finding DX communication DX-pedition Emergency communications Frequency allocations Hamfest High speed multimedia High-speed telegraphy Homebrew Internet Radio Linking Project Maritime mobile Morse code Operating awards Packet radio Portable operation QRP operation QSL card Satellites Software Skywarn Special event stations Stations Television Vintage radios
Category
v t e

Amateur radio direction finding (ARDF, also known as radio orienteering, radio fox hunting and radiosport) is an amateur racing sport that combines radio direction finding with the map and compass skills of orienteering. It is a timed race in which individual competitors use a topographic map, a magnetic compass and radio direction finding apparatus to navigate through diverse wooded terrain while searching for radio transmitters. The rules of the sport and international competitions are organized by the International Amateur Radio Union. The sport has been most popular in Eastern Europe, Russia, and China, where it was often used in the physical education programs in schools.

ARDF events use radio frequencies on either the two-meter or eighty-meter amateur radio bands. These two bands were chosen because of their universal availability to amateur radio licensees in all countries. The radio equipment carried by competitors on a course must be capable of receiving the signal being transmitted by the five transmitters and useful for radio direction finding, including a radio receiver, attenuator, and directional antenna. Most equipment designs integrate all three components into one handheld device.