[FoxHunt] Foxhunting/ARDF Equipment (Marvin Johnston)

[DL3]

See my answers below....

> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 13 Nov 2011 16:44:57 -0800
> From: Marvin Johnston <marvin at west.net>
> Subject: [FoxHunt] Foxhunting/ARDF Equipment
> To: ardf-socal at yahoogroups.com, ARDF <ardf at kkn.net>, 	Foxlist
> 	<foxhunt at mailman.qth.net>
> Message-ID: <4EC06489.5010207 at west.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> One of the things I've been quite interested in is getting more people
> involved in both transmitter hunting and ARDF (Amateur Radio Direction
> Finding/Radio Orienteering.)
>
> To that end, I've been providing Tape Measure Beams kits, offset
> attenuator kits, and MicroHunt transmitters for quite a few years now.
> Recently, I added a few more things to the mix trying to get equipment
> available.
>
> I am curious about a number of things related to increasing the
> participation in transmitter hunting/ARDF.
>
> * Where do/did you get your initial training? How could it have been
> made better?

Actually, I started through our local Club-the Cumberland Valley
Amateur Radio Club. We have had fox hunts off an on over the last
several years. We used to have mobile hunts, but due to the cost of
gas we have changed that to just fixed area hunts.

It was a mixture of Elmering and just going out and getting OJT (on
the job training)...by just setting up the transmitter, and figuring
out how to find it!

> * Where do you get your equipment? Is it mostly homebrew, plans on the
> Internet, magazine articles, or something else?

Homebrew, and using existing equipment. I have used everything from
just a plain HT and vertical antenna, to a multi element
Yagi...whatever I have available.

> * If you are traveling, how do you find out when and where local hunts
> are held in other parts of the country?

I haven't tried foxhunts anywhere else.

> * How did you find out about the listservers/forums dedicated to
> transmitter hunting?

I checked YAHOOGROUPS and QTH.NET, plus was alerted by other local Hams.

> * How can we reach more people, and with what kind of information to get
> them interested and/or involved?

Advertise, advertise, advertise!!! Get your event out there to every
group you can, via email nets, whatever. The more people know about
it, the greater the chance they will get involved.

Another way is to make up a presentation to deliver at local Club
meetings. That is an excellent way to build interest, especially among
new Hams.


> Your comments would be much appreciated!
>
> Marvin, KE6HTS
>
> P.S. my website is http://www.west.net/~marvin
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>


Darrell Lingenfield 3rd
N3QBI