Relating the HIPPARCOS Reference Frame to the Radio Reference Frame

Precise radio positions for a large number of stars can be made using the Very Large Array (VLA). From the emission of approximately 100 stars relative to background extragalactic radio sources, the HIPPARCOS reference frame can be related in a statistical sense to the radio reference frame at the fraction of a mass level. Using radio stars, the two principal problems of the linking process, i.e. determining residual rotation and position zero point can be solved fully satisfactorily. Techniques and results from recent measurements are discussed.