Kris Ruuska – Victorian ARDF Group

June 5, 2025June 8, 2025

Mount Gambier – Railway Lands & Wulandia 2m ARDF sprint

This event is just for fun and will not contribute to convention results.

Transmitter locations and results added below.

Event arena: The area that is bound by Bay road, O’Halloran terrace, Wehl st south & Railway terrace / Eleanor street. (see map below) The only street that you may need to cross is Margaret street. Please use caution when crossing roads.

There is access from railway lands through to Margaret street in 4 places. At both ends (Bay Rd and Wehl St S), next to the Woolstore brewery (36 Margaret St) and at the public toilets (22 Margaret St).

There is also access from Margaret St through to O’Halloran Terrace in 4 places. At both ends (Bay Rd and Wehl St S) and either side of the Wulandia stadium (Between the Scout hall and the stadium and between the stadium and the courts).

Access to the Reidy park school grounds around the school buildings and playground is prohibited for this event. (Access to the oval is allowed and can be used to get between O’Halloran terrace / Wulandia and Wehl St S)

Start/Finish location: Mount Gambier scout hall, Margaret street

Transmitters: 5 Transmitters on 145.300Mhz. Each will each transmit for 12 seconds in sequence each minute with the following morse codes:

TX1 – MOE
TX2 – MOI
TX3 – MOS
TX4 – MOH
TX5 – MO5

Start time: Anytime between 8:30am and 9:00am (transmitters may be on before 8:30am, if they are you are welcome to start early.)

Time limit: 30 mins from your start time. (10 point penalty per minute (or part minute) late, transmitters will turn off at 9:30am)

Recording method: Maprun app

Each transmitter is worth 20 points (100 is the maximum points for this event)

There is no physical marker or punch at each transmitter. You do not need to actually find the transmitter, you just need maprun to register that you were close enough.

Warning: If you pass close to the start/finish then your event will automatically finish. Please only go close to the start/finish when you intend to finish. Keep in mind that GPS can be very inaccurate.

If you have never used the Maprun app before please see these friendly instructions.

Special thanks to Bruce and Mark for their assistance with creating this event.

Transmitter locations

Results

Name	Points	Time
Bryan	100 (5 TXs)	23:17
(Kris)	100 (5 TXs)	25:23
Bruce	100 (5 TXs)	26:54
Darian	80 (TX 1, 2, 3 & 4)	27:31
Monica	80 (TX 1, 2, 3 & 4)	28:53
Suzanne	40 (TX 1 & 3)	23:53

July 3, 2020August 7, 2020

Yarren Dheran – 2M ARDF Sprint

UPDATE: Due to the updated COVID-19 restrictions which are effective from 11:59pm on Wednesday, 8th of July, this event will be ending on Wednesday, 8th of July. Sorry, if anyone was planning on attending after this date.

5 Transmitters (145.300 MHz) are located within the parkland.

Transmitters are at least 100m from each other, and from the start/finish.

Transmitters are on from 2pm until 4pm each day from Saturday 4th of July until ~~Sunday 12th of July~~ Wednesday 8th of July.

There is no flag or registering device at the transmitters. You will need to use the MapRunF app. To find the event in the app go to Shwerkolt Cottage and press Events Near Me. The event is called “ARDF – Yarren Dheran ScoreRun90 04-07-2020” If you get asked for a PIN enter 6771.

Once you start the event you shouldn’t look at your phone until you finish.

The best thing to do is to move off the map screen. Select the centre tab (the symbol looks like a clock). This will show you how much time you have remaining, how many controls you have punched and what the last control was. (Note: the start and finish are counted as controls)
Make sure your volume is as loud as it goes so you know when you have registered as locating a transmitter.

Your time will start when you pass through the start/finish location and MapRunF registers that you were there, your time will end when pass though the start/finish location for a second time. (There is no beacon at the finish.)

The Map attached to this blog post is far superior to others that I have seen of this area, but if you wish to use others then feel free. (Thanks Geoff for the map.)

Please park in the carpark at Shwerkolt Cottage and walk north west to get to the Shwerkolt Cottage Orchard Shed (The western most building). The start/finish is the water trough north east of the building.

Some warnings

Do not enter the Freeway.
There are a number of cliffs in the area. There is no need to attempt to climb up or down any cliff.
Do not cross any fences. They are often close to the top of the previously mentioned cliffs.
To be fair to all competitors, please only cross the creek using one of the marked bridges.
There are hidden hazards in many areas including, logs, rocks, old fences and unmarked low cliffs.
There is a busy bike path that runs through the middle of the map, please use caution when entering/exiting or swinging your beam on this path.
Some of the ground is very muddy, spare shoes are recommended for the drive home.

If you venture off a track please be careful.

In case of emergency / technical issues

I will be within approx. 10 mins whilst this event is active.

If you are seriously hurt call 000. If you have a minor injury and require assistance then call me.

If one of the transmitters isn’t working then please contact me, I have a spare transmitter, but it may take 20 mins to program appropriately and get it in place.

Whilst you are in the area

I recommend the donuts at The Pastry Board in Ringwood North, or if you want a sugar overload Pizzeria Express has Donut Snack Packs (DSPs).

Results

Results will be available instantly in the MapRunF app but will also be posted on this page.

September 7, 2018July 16, 2020

19th ARDF world Championships – Final update

The final event for the championships was the second classic.

Ewen, Jack, Jenelle and Peter all competed on 80m, whilst Kristian was the only Australian competitor on 2m.

Thankfully the terrain and map were very appropriate for an ARDF event.
All Australian competitors did very well, getting all of the required transmitters with plenty of time to spare.

Jenelle just missed the podium, placing 5th in a time of 112’41.
Kristian was unable to beat the “sweet, handsom” M21 boys, finishing just outside of the top ten, placing 11th in a time of 65’05.
Ewen placed 18th in a time of 114’10.
Jack and Peter were inseperable, placing 25th and 26th in 99’33 and 100′ respectively.

Tonight the team will celebrate our achievements before boarding flights back home tomorrow.

Thanks for reading the updates. 🙂

Full results here:
https://ardf.darc.de/contest/18090407/180907m80+2-erg.htm
https://ardf.darc.de/contest/18090407/180907m80+2-lzl.htm

Map image available here:https://ardf.darc.de/contest/18090407/18090407.htm#map180907m80+2

September 6, 2018July 16, 2020

19th ARDF World Championships – Update 2

On Tuesday the first cassic event took place.
In a nutshell, it was tough. 6 out of 6 Aussies agreed that the course was very difficult. (but perhaps in more colourful language)
The map was large (B4) and was very colourful with lots of dense forest, many uncrossable features and decent contours to contend with. Many competitors were over the 140 min time limit and many competitors did not find the required transmitters.
Kristian and Nelly competed on 80m.
Ewen, Jack, Jenelle and Peter competed on 2m.

Kristian completed the course in 124 mins.
Ewen found 1 Tx and finished on time.
Nelly finished in perfect time (with 44 seconds to spare) but unfortunatley didn’t find any Tx’s.
Peter, Jack and Jenelle found 1 Tx each but finished over time.

Results can be viewed here:
https://ardf.darc.de/contest/18090407/180905m2+80-erg.htm
https://ardf.darc.de/contest/18090407/180905m2+80-lzl.htm

Todays sprint event was more enjoyable for all competitors. The open forest in this area allowed for quick running. All of the Aussie competitors found all of their Tx’s except for Peter and Jack.
The uncrossable fence 2/3’s of the way down the map caused some difficulty for many competitors trying to find transmatter 2F (Which also had its antena knocked down on the ground for approximately 20 mins during the event.)

Ewen placed 5th.
Jenelle placed 7th.
Nelly finished 18th.
Kristian finished 21st.
Jack and Peter both missed one Tx.

Results can be viewed here:
https://ardf.darc.de/contest/18090407/180906SP-erg.htm

https://ardf.darc.de/contest/18090407/180906SP-lzl.htm

After the sprint Jack, Nelly and Peter went on a tour to the unification observatory and DMZ museum.

Ewen, Jenelle and Kristian explored a local film set that contained many historic replica buildings from different periods and thought that they might find some instruments to assist in the local terrain.
Jenelle found a ladder (intended for storming castles) to assist with the impossible hills, whilst Ewen and Kristian found a battering ram to assit with getting through the inpenetrable forest.

Maps for events can be viewed in more detail here:

https://ardf.darc.de/contest/18090407/18090407.htm#map180905m2+80

September 4, 2018July 16, 2020

19th ARDF World Championships – Update 1

6 athletes (5 from VIC and 1 from Qld.) Are currently in Sokcho, Korea for the 19th ARDF World Championships.
In the usual fashion competitors made their way to Korea all at different times.

Jenelle and Ewen were the first to arrive, enjoying a week long tour of Korea before the event.

Peter and Kristian met up with Jenelle and Ewen just a couple of days before the event. As a team we headed on a tour to the DMZ and individual members enjoyed some of the historic and cultural sights around Korea.

On the arrival day Jack and Nelly met up with the rest of the team in Sokcho.
The following day we had training with 3 seperate model events which were held in the area surrounding the accomodation.
During the model events all equipment was tested and working except for one of the 2m beams had a broken BNC connector, but luckily there was a spare. (however the spare PVC beam exhibited a design flaw so no doubt a fault report will be lodged with the manufacturer on our return.)

The first event was the fox-or which was held today.
For each age category a different map was produced with only the required Tx’s shown. There were a total of 10 Tx’s (10mW) plus the beacon (3W) but the longest course only covered 8 of the TX’s (map shown below for M21). Each Tx had its own morse identifier and were numbered 1-5 and 1F-5F.

_
The frequencies for the foxes were 3520 kHz (1,2,1F,2F), 3550 kHz (3,3F,4,4F) and 3580 kHZ (5, 5F) with the beacon being on 3600 kHz.

All Australian competitors completed the course within the allocated time.

Jenelle and Ewen both finished 7th in thier categories.
Kristian finished 24th in M21.
Nelly finished 27th in W21.
Peter missed 1 Tx.
Jack missed 2 Tx’s.Full results can be viewed for todays fox-or event here:
https://ardf.darc.de/contest/18090407/180904FO-lzl.htm https://ardf.darc.de/contest/18090407/180904FO-erg.htm

September 9, 2015

ARDF classic competition 1 and ARDF sprint

We have all settled in at event HQ in Ikaho Japan.

The training day was wet, but the signals all seemed to be quite strong. (perhaps too strong?)

The sprint transmitters seemed to be stronger than the classic ARDF transmitters!

ARDF classic competition #1

On a very wet day the ARDF competitors gathered up a muddy creek ready for the start.

Jenelle, Bruce and Kristian were all on 2m whilst Jack and Ewen were on 80m.

The very first start group had Kristian and Ewen in it, with the other Australians starting up to 30 mins later.

The course provided interesting terrain with some very runnable forest, and some areas that you wouldn’t dream of entering into, and if you ask Jenelle possibly even a nice house with a warm heater in it?

After some mucking around on his first Tx Bruce gathered his thoughts, and finished strong with a fantastic sprint from on side of the map to the other. Bruce managed to grab Bronze in the M50 2m category.

Ewen had some initial technical issues, but then recovered and had a pretty good run, finishing just outside of the medals.

Jack had a couple of overshoots but also managed to get to the end without too much drama. Jack came in in 4th position in the M60 category.

Jack and Ewen secured bronze in the M60 classic 80m team competition.

Jenelle spent a fair amount of time searching for Tx4, but then with time almost up and having switched to her spare receiver she attempted to locate the finish beacon, but this seemed to be in the wrong direction. Eventually after flagging down a passing motorist, Jenelle was shown some true Japanese hospitality, before her hosts were eventually able to get in contact with the organisers, who when they were collecting her also appeared to be some what lost.

Kristian had a great start getting the first 4 Tx’s pretty quickly, but took the scenic route around a pig farm to get the last one, before being the first competitor back at the finish. This run was enough secure gold in the M21 category.

Along the way various people saw Greg wandering around looking very official. Greg found most of the 2m and 80m transmitters.

80m ARDF Sprint

It was very, very, very wet thanks to Tropical storm Etau.

Bruce got everything he needed, but unfortunately one of his punches didn’t register correctly.

Ewen managed to find everything he needed, and ended up in the silver medal position in M60.

Jack did the first half, but then went to the finish thinking it was the spectator beacon.

Jenelle found all of hers except for 1 and headed into the finish a little bit early. Which gave her the bronze medal in W60.

Kristian found everything eventually, but finished outside of the placings.

There were a number of (probably water related) technical issues, which are currently trying to be resolved before we go back into the wet tomorrow.

Greg only managed to spot Jenelle out on course in the rain.

(sorry, no pics today, as it was too wet.)

Tonight is the awarding ceremony for the first classic event and the sprint, and apparently it can viewed live at http://www.jarl.com/reg3ardf2015/

The presentations are scheduled to start at 7pm local time (8pm AEST).

September 6, 2015

Bruce, Jack and Kristian climb Mt Fuji

I’ve been a long time reader… I figured it was about time I posted something.

My story starts after leaving Jenelle and Ewen after a fantastic day of kayaking at Shimada. (Jenelle will fill you in soon!)

5 trains after departing Shimada Bruce and Myself arrived at Kawaguchiko at the base of Mt Fuji where we meet up with Jack at our accommodation.

After some much needed rest it was an early rise to catch the first bus to Mt Fuji Subaru line 5th station (the stations are huts along the track – 5th station is much more than a hut though, but it’s where you start walking from. 10 is the top)

The weather gods must have been happy with us, as we had a wonderful view of Mt Fuji in the morning and great weather all day.

Mt Fuji fro Kawaguchiko — Mt Fuji from Kawaguchiko

Once we arrived at the 5th station we set straight off. Bruce and me climbed 1570m up to the summit (elevation 3776m) in just over 3 hours, then we had a rapid 1.5 hour decent after a journey around the top. Jack made it up to the 8th station (elevation 3100m) and made a couple of radio contacts before heading back down.

Bruce and Kristian at the summit of Mt Fuji

Today we said farewell to Jack who was off on a bus trip with Jenelle, Ewen and Mark and we grabbed a couple of bikes to do a quick tour of the lakes before we returned to Tokyo before we head off to Gunma province where we finally join / rejoin the rest of the team.

And now just a couple more days until the serious stuff starts. 🙂

Kristian