NSRC - Fox Hunt
Group photo from the 2022 Fox Hunt, outside the meeting location.
Our annual Fox hunt and social gathering will be held on the second Tuesday in July at the Glen. A Fox Hunt, in amateur radio, is a group activity where the “Fox” hides a transmitter, and the hunters use direction-finding techniques to locate it.
We are meeting at the northwest corner of Gallery Park, at the intersection of West Lake and Patriot Blvd. There is a parking lot across the street from Mint Lane (see map).
What to Bring
Bring a chair for the social part and some good walking shoes, radio and antenna, of course, for the hunters. We will provide some refreshments (soft drinks, food, snacks). Bring your own adult beverage, if you wish.
Logistics
The Hunt starts promptly at 7:00 p.m. but we gather earlier to get organized. The official hunt runs till 8:30 p.m. but the social activity goes till the bugs get too bad.
The Fox transmitter is set for a 146.460 frequency.
Suggested Equipment
Equipment varies from the simple to the sublime. Most people carry a Yagi with some kind of attenuator, but some people have won this event by simply sticking a paper clip into your antenna mount on your HT and use their body to shield the signal to get some rough sense of direction. While this is very elementary, it does work. As you get closer, different techniques are used to reduce the incoming signal including calculating the third harmonic. The current frequency is 146.460 MHz, and the third harmonic would be 439.380.
Others have various versions of tracking devices – some commercially available and some homebrews. These trackers are incredibly efficient and some athletic participants can usually find the Fox in short order. For this reason, we may deploy a second Fox.
However, there remains the challenge of managing the final few feet. Skilled Fox hiders will tuck the Fox in clever places so that it does take some acute hunting skills to find it (a trail with broken grass, a garbage can, or perhaps even suspicious mom sitting with her kids in a park, masking the transmitter under her chair!) Good times are had by all!