Competitors purchasing ARDF receivers should be aware of a practice that has a long history in the sport: the sale of handicapped equipment. It has long been known, and openly acknowledged by some equipment sellers, that the receivers available for purchase don’t necessarily perform quite as well as the receivers the small manufacturer owns for personal use. It has long been accepted as a perk of being technologically savvy enough to design or build electronic equipment, that you may elect to keep something in reserve.
There is no reason to believe that the same practice is any less pervasive today. And with the use of proprietary software, the “kneecapping” can be done without any trace of visible hardware differences.
So if you own an ARDF receiver with built-in GPS, and the assistance it provides seems helpful, but not game-changing, don’t assume that all competitors are obtaining identical results. Non-spectacular results might be by design, and not due to any limitation in the technology. You will probably never know all the differences between your equipment and the outwardly-identical equipment utilized by your competitors.
I would like to conclude this post with a “buyer beware” message. But the truth is, buyers cannot beware, because you can’t beware that which you have no knowledge. Only marketplace competition between receiver sellers can correct this problem – if one considers it a problem and not simply a perk. When receiver sellers must sell the best or lose your business to the competition, only then will buyers have some confidence that they’re getting the latest features and performance.
Since we can’t beware, let’s just not be naïve.