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24th USA Radio Orienteering Championships

The 2025 USA Radio Orienteering Championships will be hosted by the Backwoods Orienteering Klub (BOK) at Morrow Mountain State Park, North Carolina. Practices and the championship events will be held June 14-22. For more information, see the bulletins as they are posted to the BOK website: https://backwoodsok.org/ardf. The latest bulletin, which includes all event details, can be found there.

22nd IARU World ARDF Championships 2025

Lithuanian Amateur Radio Society is delighted to invite you to Birštonas, Lithuania, for the 22nd IARU World ARDF Championships, taking place from 16 to 22 August 2025. Birštonas is a picturesque spa town located within the Nemunas Loops Regional Park, along the Nemunas River, and surrounded by stunning natural beauty. For more information see Bulletin 1.

USA will be sending a team to Lithuania in 2025. For information on how to participate on Team USA contact the ARRL Radio Orienteering Committee.

Radio Orienteering Championships a Success!

The 23rd USA and 12th IARU Region 2 Radio Orienteering Championships are in the record books.  The event was held in the area of Chelsea, Michigan from 5-13 October 2024.  

All radio transmitter hunters, from beginners to experts participated in radio orienteering (ARDF) competition and other fun events. Visit the event website for pictures and all the r:  www.radioorienteeringchamps.us

Seventh IARU World Youth ARDF Championships Coming in 2025

The Czech Radio Club has been entrusted with organizing the 2025 IARU World Youth ARDF Championships. The event is planned to be held in Mariánské Lázne, Czech Republic, where the IARU R1 ARDF Championships was held in 2015. The dates are slated to be July 2-5, 2025.

If you know of a young USA competitor who will be age 16 or younger in 2025, and would like to participate in the youth championships, contact the ARRL Radio Orienteering Committee.

Same Sport, New-ish Name

An announcement from the ARRL ARDF Coordinators:

The name Radio Orienteering has been around for a very long time and has frequently been applied to the sport of ARDF, but it hasn't been recognized in any official sense. Because Radio Orienteering is more descriptive of the sport (especially to the orienteering community), and because Amateur Radio Direction Finding is often confused with other radio direction-finding activities (like mobile t-hunting), the ARRL ARDF committee has decided to officially favor the use of the term Radio Orienteering. We believe that a transition to that name will result in less confusion, and perhaps, quicker acceptance of the sport by orienteers and others who will more readily grasp the essence of the sport. So look for more references to Radio Orienteering going forward, and don't be confused: it is the same radio navigation sport we all enjoy, but with a more descriptive name.
Note: this web page now links from https://www.arrl.org/radio-orienteering and https://www.arrl.org/ro, as well as https://www.arrl.org/ardf.

Future USA Radio Orienteering Championships

It is always a good year to bring the biggest annual USA Radio Orienteering event to your town. Download and share the trifold brochure to drum up the excitement, then apply online to host the USA Radio Orienteering Championships. The ARRL ARDF Committee is standing by to help you arrange for everything you need.

About Radio Orienteering

In this sport there are no vehicles, traffic jams, or exhaust fumes. Radio Orienteering (aka, Amateur Radio Direction Finding, or ARDF) brings radios into the great outdoors with maps and compasses, providing a uniquely enjoyable way to learn new radio skills. This radio sports activity deals with the taking of radio bearings to navigate through wooded areas in search of transmitters. It involves constructing direction-finding equipment, training amateurs in the rules of the sport, and organizing events in the USA and other IARU countries.

Interest and participation in Radio Orienteering activities are growing, and ARRL provides encouragement and support for Radio Orienteering activities across the United States. Events often take place at amateur radio conventions and hamfests as a magnet to amateur radio for youth and others. Championship competitions are held annually to help decide membership on the US team at the ARDF World Championships.




Join Team USA!

Would you like to represent the USA at international radio orienteering competitions? There are World Championships held biannually, and World Youth ARDF Championships (WYAC) have been held annually since 2017. Citizens of the USA, Green Card holders, and those who have lived in the USA for the previous year and have not competed for the title of Champion in any other country during that time, are eligible for membership on Radio Orienteering Team USA.

The only way to ensure an invitation to join the team is to prove your mettle by competing in ARRL-sanctioned radio orienteering competitions such as the USA Radio Orienteering Championships. But occasionally there are open team positions available that can be filled by qualified individuals lacking competitive results. A limited number of non-competing visitors may also travel with the team. USA Team members and visitors are responsible for all expenses associated with their participation, including paying for their own transportation, room, board and entry fees. Contact the ARRL Radio Orienteering Committee for full details.



Radio Orienteering Schedule

Take a look at this list of Radio Orienteering activities to find out what is happening in your area. If you are planning to hold an ARDF activity then please email the Radio Orienteering Committee to get it added to the list!

ARRL Learning Network ARDF Webinar Video

We hope that ARRL members took advantage of the opportunity to learn the basics of The Sport of Finding Hidden Transmitters On Foot, presented by Robert Frey, WA6EZV. For those who missed it, and those who would like to see it again, please view the video online.

Questions or comments? Please contact the ARRL ARDF Committee at ardf@arrl.org.