[FARC] FARC Fox Hunt

[Herb Palm]

Thanks for describing what went on in Baker Park, Mark.  It was very 
much like you described but I can add my own experience to a a couple of 
fun hours and as a result I learned a lot.

Mark Whitmore wrote:
> The first annual FARC Fox Hunt was held yesterday in Baker Park in 
> Frederick.
> I have not had a chance to talk to the other participants but I 
> personally had a great
> time even though I didn't find the foxes.  I want to thank our 
> president, Brian Rozelle
> (AB3RW), for organizing this event and making it happen.
>
> First prize went to Herb Palm (K3HCP) who found both foxes while the 
> rest of us were
> wandering around in the park.  Herb used his homemade tape 
> measure-and-PVC pipe
> four element yagi with great success.
Snip . . .

Although it was only a three element yagi, it performed better then what 
I had expected.  Preliminary tests did show excellent "directive 
qualities" and the high front-to-back signal rejection guided me in the 
direction of the first FOX.  Once I got close, the antenna picked up the 
beacon in virtually all directions.  With all the metal objects, (cars, 
light poles, etc.) houses, and trees, it was no wonder the antenna was 
not very good in determining the direction of the FOX.  A home made 6 dB 
attenuator did little to help.

Then with a little trial & error I discovered "de-tuning the HT by as 
much as 5KHz and then 10KHz in either direction, the antenna did its 
directive qualities thing". That proved to be most useful. I relied on 
this discovery totally and found the second FOX without much difficulty.

My only suggestion for future "Fox Hunts" would be to decrease the "no 
signal dead time" between beaconing.  In over a minute of dead air time 
one can easily walk past the FOX without realizing it. Waiting to 
proceed forward before hearing the next beacon could take a lot of time 
and one could loose interest.

As my first participation in this kind of event, these few words 
describe it well: IT WAS FUN! and challenging.

Herb - K3HCP,  Technician.