South Fulton ARES Supports Special Event
2002 U.S. ARDF/Radio Orienteering Championship
By Laurie Searle

Mention Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and many think of ham radio operators who volunteer their services during times of disaster.  But did you know that ARES often provides communication support for special events? 

Our event was special, all right. So special that each time I describe it, I feel like Julie Andrews when she sung, "Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start."  So I start at the beginning by describing orienteering, where competitors use a map and a compass to navigate a course in the woods. Then I describe radio orienteering, also called Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF), where competitors use radio direction finding equipment to navigate to hidden transmitters, which send specific signal patterns. Our event was the 2002 U.S. ARDF/Radio Orienteering Championship, hosted by the Georgia Orienteering Club at Pine Mountain, GA, April 19-21, 2002.

In planning the ARDF competition, we needed an impound process to collect the competitors' equipment prior to turning on the transmitters each day. Since start times were staggered over one hour, impounding the equipment would ensure that no one started plotting their courses before their official start time.  That's where we needed some highly skilled volunteers. 

We needed volunteers who could identify different types of radio equipment so they would know what to impound and how to spot unauthorized equipment such as GPS. We also needed volunteers who knew how to transport radio equipment, since competitors couldn't compete if their equipment got damaged.  And lastly, we needed volunteers who were skilled at setting up a remote radio station and passing emergency traffic, since communicating to the start, finish, and impound areas could require a stronger signal than the few hand-held radios other volunteers carried.     

The South Fulton ARES volunteers came to our rescue. With Ron Smith, N4XQN as crew chief, Henry Kelly, KM4O; Rick Mueller, KC4HYM; Pat King, KG4NCP; and Tony King, WA4UPE, volunteered to managed the impound area.  

Shown from left to right is Brandy the mascot, Henry, Rick, Pat, Ron, and Tony.

Each morning, the South Fulton ARES volunteers were up before dawn in order to set up their communication station and the impound area. Between 7-8 a.m., they greeted each competitor, inspected their equipment to ensure it was properly tagged, then carefully loaded and transported it to the start.    

 

Many competitors came to the impound area early, just to have the opportunity to chat with the South Fulton ARES volunteers and show off their competition equipment. If competitors were at all worried that their equipment might not make it to the start in one piece, the impound crew quickly reassured them.

All of the equipment was collected by 8 a.m. each morning, in order to provide enough time to get it to the start by 9 a.m.   The Day 1 start was accessible by car, so the impound crew just handed off the equipment to Sam Smith.  Shown left to right is Sam Smith, KD4SHK; Sandy Donahue, W4RU, ARRL SE Region Vice Director; and Tony King, WA4UPE. 

But the Day 2 start was a different story. The start was 150 meters off the road and required a bit of bushwhacking to get there. Luckily, the impound crew planned ahead and protected the equipment by carefully loading it in plastic tubs. They also scoped out the location on Friday so they knew exactly where to go. Shown left to right is  Rick Mueller, KC4HYM; and Tony King, WA4UPE.  

In addition to safely delivering the competitors' equipment, the impound crew also relayed several messages to the start and finish crews including an updated list of competitors who had actually turned in their equipment. This helped each crew keep track of the number of competitors on the course.   

The U.S. 2002 ARDF/Radio Orienteering Championships was a huge success and thanks to the South Fulton ARES volunteers, all 26 competitors received their direction finding equipment without any problems.  

On behalf of the Georgia Orienteering Club, I'd like to extend our sincere thanks to the South Fulton ARES volunteers for a job well done.

If you would like to learn more about ARES and the wonderful volunteer services they provide, please visit the South Fulton ARES website at: www.sfares.org. Or better yet, come out and meet the South Fulton ARES volunteers at their annual Field Day on June 22 at 2 p.m. at Cochran Mill Park south of Atlanta. There you'll have an opportunity to learn about ham radio and even make your first radio contact.