Fox Hunt (August 6, 2005)
Satopa Park, after the club breakfast
(Wicks Park West)

 

Fox Hunt Results:

The August fox hunt was at Satopa Park.  Rick (KC8VOA) and Keith (N8XD) found camouflaged spots in the park.  Rick was in the East woods, and Keith was out in the open disguised with a fishing pole by the pond.  Some of the hunters  were Aaron (KD8AVA), Kyle, Ron (KC8YVF), Dave (N8ERL), and George (N8NPW) 

There were four groups of hunters all using the tape measure yagi antennas that they had hand-made the Tuesday before.    Though the original plan was for the two foxes (Rick and Keith) to carry on a conversation, both were operating at such a low power they couldn't hear each other.   The low power transmissions were to offset the high gain of the yagi antennas (we haven't built attenuators yet). 

Keith was closer to the starting point so the hunters tracked his signal first, after about 15 minutes the first hunters walked by a fisherman a few times.  By 20 minutes into the event they realized that he was a fox.  From Keith's location, Rick's signal could be detected so the hunters tracked on to his signal across the park.  After about 30 minutes from the start, Rick was located by the first team.  After all the hunters had found the foxes 45 minutes into the event, we headed over to a pavilion where we talked about all the things we learned.

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What to Bring:

Map, Compass, Handheld Radio Receiver/scanner with S-meter, directional antenna, appropriate cloths for the weather.

What to Expect:

To experiment, and learn about radio direction finding / fox hunting.   We will divide up into groups -- each with an antenna / radio / map / compass.

Our first hunt will be to track down a couple of old ham's talking to each other.  They will sit in different parts of a park talking to each other and daring you to find them!  We also will be having a class in making a direction finding antenna.

Map to Site: