Amateur Radio Fox Hunt November 12, 2005 Sequim-Port Angeles North Olympic Peninsula, Washington The Results!

Summary:

We met at the COSTCO parking lot just West of Sequim at 12:00 noon. This was to be our starting point. Three fox hunters participated:

• Art, KF7GD
• Jamie, N7KCE
• Jerry, KE7BVZ

Art brought along a number of his gadgets including an experimental interferometer shown in the picture. He used it to get an initial bearing on the fox.  Art and Jamie teamed up with Art driving Jamie's van while he operated the doppler system mounted on the roof.  Since this was a vehicle plus an on-foot hunt, they used the doppler to gain bearings of the fox from a number of different angles before commiting to the foot portion.

Picture at right shows Jamie getting ready for the start with the  doppler. Afterwards, they explained and showed us the memory from the laptop as each bearing was taken.  They certainly had good performance if you judged it for "minimum miles traveled"  because the doppler was doing such a good job of zeroing in on the fox and saving mileage even though this wasn't a "minimum mileage" event.  I made the mistake of making the fox vertically polarized, so next time I'll have to make it a little harder for these guys.

Our third participant, Jerry didn't have the luxury of all the fancy equipment like the other two.  For the vehicle and foot portion he used a new three element beam into a handheld with an offset attenuator to control signal levels. Since he didn't have a roof mounted antenna, he had to get out of the vehicle from time to time .  A process that slows you down but not a handycap for  "least mileage" hunts which some of us prefer.

Success for the first team!  They carried two antennas, a three element tape measure beam and a small multiple element circular quad along with a VK2YNG  Mrk 4 receiver.  I assume that the quad (or loop antenna) would have been used on 2 meters since I didn't see a 440 receiver for third harmonic detection.  An interesting idea but I didn't ask them about it?

The fox was placed in the brush at: N48º 06.017' , W123º 12.279' which was on the Olympic Discovery Trail about half way between Kitchen Dick Road and Vautier Rd.  This is about 2 miles from the COSTCO parking lot as the crow flies.  The nearest road is about 1/3 mile. The trail is paved on this stretch so Jamie had good access for his wheelchair.  Art and Jamie, as a team, found the fox in only 50 minutes. Considering they didn't seem rushed plus the added handling of his wheelchair, I thought they did a super job! Congratulations guys! Art has the most experience of all of us.

Jerry in the final stages of his hunt.  He's shown using a loop with an offset attenuator for close-in hunting.

Before the hunt.

I'm carrying my stealth antenna to the site.  I was proud of it because you really couldn't see the antenna as it was so well camouflaged.  Art noticed the black RG-58 coax but otherwise the whole thing was very difficult to see, including the fox when in place.  You really had to look hard.  Now I'm going to start working on a horizonal one to reduce  the edge these doppler guys have.

We met afterwards at 7 Cedars Casino for a late lunch and compared notes from the days event.  We all seemed to have a good time and the weather turned out fine.  I passed out McDonald's meal tickets to the winner plus some South Pacific currency to the other players.  Maybe they can buy a Marguerita when their foxhunting in the South Seas?

Art wants to have a picnic-hunt somewhere in the Seattle area in the Spring with the hopes that we all can get together again.  I'll be looking forward to it.  We also want to establish an exchange with our friends in Victoria so we can do "day hunts" back and forth.  Sounds like we should have a fun season ahead.  I'm hoping that Dale Hunt plans a hunt at Seaside this year.  It would be nice to have something along the beach.

Art's considering building a set of the low power transmitters as used in ARDF games plus an upgrade of his VK2YNG receiver.  I'm planning on adding filters to my "sniffer" and maybe consider a YNG receiver as well.  As we get better, I want to approach the National Park and CAP with an interest towards animal tracking. We talked about how to make these hunts interesting to both beginners as well as experienced hunters.  It was  suggested we have an easy fox plus a challanging one so that people can take their pick.

We  use the Northwest RDF Yahoo group for keeping in touch: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nwrdf/.  If you'd like to be on the mailing list, you should join this group. 

You don't have to be an amateur radio operator to participate, (as long as you don't operate the fox),  so I'm in the process of publishing an article in the local newspaper about the sport and maybe we can gain participants from outside ham radio?

73's,  Neil, WA7NBF

Rules used in this hunt:

• Time of start: 1200 noon sharp.
  
• Transmitter will be turned off at 1500
• Meeting place to start:
• Costco parking lot, Hwy 101 and Carsborg Rd
• Possible hidding boundary of fox:
• Longitude: between 123º 0.0' W and 123º 25.0' W
• Latitude: between 48º 0.0' N and 48º 10.0' N
• This covers Sequim from seacoast through to the foothills and West to East Port Angeles
  
• Boundary map here. If fox location can be plotted on this map, its fair game!
• Terrain will be flat as well as some rolling hills.  Both open and forrested terrain, rural and urban
  
• Coordinating and talk-in frequency:
• 146.760 repeater, PL=100 hz, "-" offset
• Expect this to be a vehicle and "on foot" hunt
• The fox will not be hidden in a vehicle
  
• "On foot" portion of hunt should not involve more than 1/3 mile (one way) of trail travel if a more or less direct path is taken.
• Closest access point from road should have parking nearby. 
• Will be wheelchair accessable
• Fox Frequency: 146.565 Mhz FM. Voice ID
• Transmitter power: 1.5 watts
• Fox may use directional antenna but power level and antenna pattern will be stable during hunt
• Fox will transmitt as follows:
• Voice ID and message lasting up to 45 seconds
• 30 seconds of carrier, no modulation
• 30 seconds of "off the air"
• Cycle repeats
• Picture of fox here
• Fox is remotely controlled on separate frequency
• Placement and access will be via public property. Don't go onto private property, the fox won't be hidden there, however, parking a vehicle on private property may be OK in certain cases, see below.
• Parks, trails, public easements or other places where public is allowed are prime candidates for fox placement. Some areas might have "time of day" limits or other special restrictions. The fox will not be placed where these special restrictions would prevent access during stated hours of "hunt".
• Certain areas have hunting this time of year. If you see it posted as such...... the fox won't be there.
• Parking exception: For example, I consider it OK to park in WAL-MARTS parking lot but I would not hide the fox there. Too dangerous and its private property.
  
  What about parking for "on foot" portion? Some public access areas have limited parking but businesses or churches have parking nearby. Sometimes they even post that parking is OK for access to the public area. If you disrupt their operation by using their parking, thats not good. On the other hand, the business may not even be open during the hours of our hunt. Use good judgement and be sensitive to any disruption your presence could have.
• Polarization: Vertical
• All participants must start from the same point at Costco.
• Pre-registration required
• I will place you on an email list for any late developments or cancellation
• Will be scored on "first to find" basis
• Modest prize for first to find"
• Separate prize for my students based upon "first to find".  Since my students may have more terrain knowledge, this evens the playing field
• Hunt cutoff time will be 1500
• "Fox" will be accessable within 15 feet of cleared pathway or road.  You will not have to travel in brush.  No bushwhacking required.
• To be scored, you must identify a codeword that will be attached at the bottom of the "Smokey Bear" button shown in the picture.  The button is 2 1/2" in diameter and will be attached to some object within about 10' of the transmitter.  It will be in plain view and could be as high as 8' or down to the ground. Please record the codeword and then move away from the area so as not to attract attention to the spot where the transmitter is hidden.  By standing around you also give clues to other hunters trying to find the fox..... let them do it on their own.  Their is no need to locate the actual transmitter as it will be well hidden to prevent accidental discovery by non-participants and dogs.
  
  A bystander may be found in the general vicinity who will accept the codeword and record your call and/or name.  If you mention foxhunting and they threaten to have you locked up...... you have the wrong bystander.  You look funny enough carrying around those strange antennas... I'd have you locked up too! Hi Hi   In the event that you find the fox but no bystander, call me on the coordination frequency and I'll give you further instructions. Don't give the codeword over the air.


• You can cooperate with or confuse other participants if you choose to but please don't do it on the Fox frequency.  Use coordinating frequency or some other of your choice.
• You will be responsible for your own road maps. A good map of the Sequim area should be adequate. The boundary map above is not intended to be a road map.

Neil A. Robin, WA7NBF
Last Revised: 11/20/05