World Championship bronze medal for Martin HE9LER at the 2022 ARDF World Championships in Borovets (Bulgaria)
In the week from August 28 to September 3, the 20th ARDF World Championships took place in the Borovets region (Bulgaria). In the forests around the winter sports resort on the northern slopes of the Rila Mountains, the Bulgarian Amateur Radio Association BFRA organized challenging competitions in the Sprint, Classic 80m, Classic 2m and Foxoring disciplines. 230 participants from 21 countries competed for the coveted medals. Martin HE9LER, Hans-Jürg HB9CFB and Michael HB9ENL took part from Switzerland.
At the end of the week, Martin HE9LER achieved a sensational third place in the M40 category in foxoring and won the bronze medal. The small Swiss team thus concluded the World Championships on a positive note. In the first Classic competition, Martin was already able to set an exclamation mark with 7th place, so that Michael HB9ENL’s 17th place was enough for 5th place in the team ranking.
The organizer provides further information and a picture gallery on the website https://ardf2022.eu/.
German ARDF Championships 2022 – Three medals for the Swiss team
On the weekend of April 2-3, 2022, the International German Championships (Sprint and Foxoring disciplines) took place in Heidenheim near Ulm. In cool weather and at times snow flurries and 10-15 cm of snow, exciting competitions were organized with participation from four countries. Depending on the category, up to 20 transmitters had to be found on a course of 8-9 km.
Martin (HE9LER), Armin (SWL) and Michael (HB9ENL) took part from Switzerland. They were able to take home three medals: Martin (M21) won silver in the fox ring and Michael (M40) won silver in the sprint and, after catching up in the second run, gold in the fox ring. Armin (M40) came fourth in the Foxoring. Congratulations to them!
ARDF European Championships 2021 in Bansko (Bulgaria)
From August 28 to September 3, 2021, the 23rd ARDF European Championships and the 18th European Youth Championships will take place simultaneously in the Bansko region (Bulgaria). The Sprint, Classic 2m, Classic 80m and Foxoring disciplines will be held over the four competition days. Bansko is a well-known winter sports resort and also offers very interesting terrain for ARDF. Martin Lerjen HE9LER is the only Swiss representative taking part in the M40 category. Martin reports on the competition on his Facebook page, and the results of all disciplines are available online on the DARC results page.
After the somewhat difficult sprint competition on Sunday, Martin was able to achieve a great result on Monday in the 2m Classic with 6th place!
On the third day of the competition (September 1st), Martin HE9LER achieved an excellent 5th place in the 80m Classic (as the best Western European). The course was 3.86 km long and had about 200 meters of elevation gain; Martin’s running time was 50 min 59 sec.
On the last day of the Foxoring competition, Martin achieved an excellent 7th place. The choice of route was very challenging, as the terrain was characterized by several ditches. As the evaluation showed, the best competitors chose different sequences, and in the end it was not only the optimal sequence but also the running element that was decisive.
Congratulations Martin on the great results! After this eventful week, we wish you a safe journey home and are already looking forward to the next training sessions with you!
German ARDF Championships 2020 – Gold medals for Paul, HB9AIR and Martin, HE9LER
After the World Championships in Serbia had to be canceled in September due to the corona pandemic, the German ARDF Championships were fortunately held on the last weekend of September. Paul (HB9AIR), Martin (HE9LER) and Michael (HB9ENL) took part from Switzerland.
The competitions were held in Lichtenwald near Stuttgart. Sixty ARDF cracks from five countries competed in the hunt for the direction finders hidden in the forest. The quite large differences in altitude in the terrain and the cold, wet weather on the first day were challenging.
The Swiss team was delighted to win two gold medals: in the 2m competition on Saturday, Paul confidently took first place in the M70 category with a lead of 20 minutes. Martin and Michael came 5th and 6th in the M40 category.
In the 80m competition on Sunday, Martin left the competition behind him and was the only participant to find all five stations in under an hour with a time of 59:53. Paul finished in 5th place and Michael in 7th place.
Congratulations!
ARDF European Championships 2019
The ARDF European Championships took place in Rogla, Slovenia, from September 2-8, 2019. The organizing committee of the Slovenian Amateur Radio Federation offered the 331 participants from 28 countries an excellent event in the challenging and definitely championship-worthy terrain in the forests around Rogla. The weather also played along, so that three of the four competitions could be held in fine weather.
The Swiss USKA team consisted of four participants and competed in all four disciplines in the M40, M60 and M70 categories. All participants achieved excellent results. Paul Rudolf, HB9AIR, was able to celebrate as a triple medal winner. He won a silver medal and two bronze medals in the M70 category! Congratulations to him!
