It seems apparent now, after countless schematic revisions, and several PCB respins, that it would be nearly impossible to beat a smartphone or small tablet to serve as the user interface on a high-end ARDF receiver.
Now that ARDF rules allow for GPS receivers to be carried on competitions, the logic for using a smart touchscreen device is especially compelling. Smartphones almost all include a host of useful and ARDF rules-permitted components and peripherals:
- A bright colorful touchscreen display
- GPS
- Digital compass
- Power supply
- 3-axis Accelerometer
- Audio amplifier and stereo earphone jack
- Powerful processor, ample memory, and an advanced operating system
What more could one want?
One might request a little bit less, actually.
Here’s the rub: Virtually all smart devices that include GPS, also contain cellular radios. Also, smart devices support mapping apps, including apps that display digital maps of the terrain. Devices providing those features are banned from ARDF competitions conducted under current Region 1 rules, because they could be used to unfair advantage.
So a receiver that incorporates a smartphone for its user interface would be banned from use in the bi-annual ARDF World Championships, and many other competitions held around the world every year.
The situation is slightly different in Region 2 (The Americas) where rules come into existence for a short time only, materializing some months prior to each competition. Then they disappear, like an apparition, once the competition has ended. During their short lives, Region 2 rules much resemble Region 1 rules with certain changes introduced specifically for the competition to which they apply. In theory, one might petition for a specific exception to be made for smartphone use at Region 2 events, but it is an exercise that must be repeated for each event, with no guarantee of success.
This situation is a shame. Apps can be designed to preclude the use of banned functionality. Apps can also record if they are closed, placed in the background, or otherwise circumvented. Thus, if an app logs all such events to a file, that log file could be submitted as proof that no banned activity occurred on that device.
But with no assurance that smart-device apps, and devices utilizing them, will be permitted for use in championship events, there is little incentive to develop them.
ARDF rules in all regions should be altered to allow smartphone use, on the condition that only rule-abiding apps are used, and that usage logs from all smartphones used by competitors are made available for review.
Being a card-carrying citizen of Region 2, I will start my quest for a smartphone blessing with this hemisphere’s powers that be. But my hopes are not high: given the ephemeral nature of my home-region’s rules, any changes are likely to be short lived.