Radio orienteering (aka Amateur Radio Direction Finding, or ARDF) is a radio sport like no other. It gets you out of your shack chair and bounding through the woods or a park, using a handheld receiver and directional antenna to find a transmitter that’s located somewhere in the vicinity. People of all ages and skill levels can have fun with radio orienteering – and you don’t even need a ham radio license to join in. In this episode, we talk to USA ARDF Co-coordinator Charles Scharlau, NZØI, about how to get involved in what he calls, “the only athletic radio sport.”Check out the video edition of this episode: (1) On the Air Podcast — The Thrill of the Chase: Radio Orienteering - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGskvR0BjHw)

The Thrill of the Chase: Radio Orienteering

The On the Air podcast is a monthly companion to On the Air magazine, ARRL’s magazine for beginner-to-intermediate ham radio operators.

Education

Training

Language Courses

Higher Education

K-12

Educational Technology

How To

This year’s Dayton Hamvention, coming up May 17-19 in Xenia, Ohio, will be extra special — it’s also the 2024 ARRL National Convention. ARRL Director of Marketing & Innovation Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, joins this month’s podcast to share details about ARRL-sponsored activities at the show, including several of the ARRL-sponsored forums and the Youth Rally.

ARRL Forums at Dayton Hamvention 2024

We often hear about served agencies when hams talk about disaster response and emergency communications. ARRL Director of Emergency Management Josh Johnston, KE5MHV, joins the podcast this month to discuss exactly what and who served agencies are, and where the Amateur Radio Service fits into their responses.

Served Agencies: Who They Are and How We Serve Them

The Solar Eclipse QSO Party (or SEQP), is an on-air event coming up on April 8, the same day as the next total solar eclipse. The SEQP is a great opportunity for hams to contribute data to studies of Earth’s ionosphere, the part of our atmosphere that makes radio communications possible, and all you have to do is get on the air and operate as you normally would. The lead organizer of HamSCI, Dr. Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, joins us in this episode to explain how to get involved.

Contribute to Science While You Operate

The January/February 2024 issue of On the Air featured a story from Brian McSpadden Gardener, KE8JVX, about “The First-Year Experiences of a General-Class Ham,” in which Brian detailed how he got his feet wet as a General, and how he put together his first station for HF. Brian joins this episode of the podcast to tell us a little more about his first year as a General, as well as what he’s done since then.

The Joys of Being a General

Maintaining a “junk box” — a collection of odds and ends that can be used in future projects and repairs — is a time-honored practice among hams. Every ham radio junk box has to start somewhere, though. The cover story of the January/February 2024 issue of On the Air, “A Fine Mess: Starting Your Junk Box,” by Eric P. Nichols, KL7AJ, offers advice about how to do just that. The January 2024 episode of the On the Air podcast digs deeper by going on location to the workshop of W1AW, ARRL’s Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station. Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, welcomes us into this working space to show us some real-life junk boxes and discuss how they come in handy. Check out the VIDEO edition of this episode:Starting Your Junk Box (youtube.com) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjJpbKqjlPc)

The Thrill of the Chase: Radio Orienteering

Download our free app to listen on your phone