Have You Read These Articles?

Homing In, CQ VHF Magazine, Spring 2009 -- "Ideas for Increasing Foxhunt Participation"

• "Kevin wasted no time. He began talking up the sport on the local repeaters and at the Albuquerque Amateur Radio Club meetings. Before long, there were regular mobile T-hunts in the Duke City."

• "Schedule a beginner hunt and announce it at the beginning of your talk. That will make everyone pay better attention, realizing that they will need the information you're presenting to do their best on the hunt."

• "The park's picnic tables are furnished with tools and soldering irons. Putting together a one-piece yagi/attenuator assembly takes only about an hour."

• "Next, WB6JPI dreamed up a simple window mount using PVC pipe, cut to fit around the glass and frame. To complete the package, Bob kitted a toggle-switch resistive RF attenuator for closing in."

• "Any item of electronics left in a public place becomes a magnet for vandals. After his first GeoTran was moved by persons unknown, Bob increased the unit's self-protection and security measures."

Links and resources related to this article:

• Transmitter Hunting, Southern California Style
  
• ARDF instructional video
  
• Two-meter measuring-tape yagi plans
  
• Offset attenuator plans
  
• EZNEC antenna modeling software
  
• Transmitter Hunting -- Radio Direction Finding Simplified
  
• Squawkbox miniature 2m transmitter
  
• Harbor Freight Tools
  
• Geo-Tran unattended transmitter
  

CQ Magazine, April 2009 -- "Bring Radio Foxhunting to Your Town"

• "A fellow ham has put one or more transmitters on the air -- somewhere. He or she is not telling where, but there might be a set of boundaries for the hunt. Your mission is to find the 'fox' or 'foxes.'"

• "Some hams prefer formal transmitter hunts with carefully crafted boundaries, specifications for signal parameters, time limits, and so forth. Others are completely content just by having one or more signals to hunt --- no need for any regulations they say."

• "At the start of every year, the officers of radio clubs in my area poll their members to find out what programs and activities are of greatest interest. If that's true where you live, it's your opportunity to get hidden transmitter hunting onto the front burner."

• "Around the USA and the world, there are wide differences in the guidelines and rules for transmitter hunts in vehicles. Each group develops the kind of mobile contests that suit the skill and temperament of the local T-hunters, as well as the geography and climate of the region."

• "Planning hunts and building gear can be almost as much fun as the actual transmitter tracking. There are plenty of resources to help you."

Links and resources in the notes of this article:

• USA and IARU-R2 2009 ARDF Championships
  
• Transmitter Hunting, Radio Direction Finding Simplified
  
• ARDF promotion and training video
  

Getting RDF equipment installed in the family vehicle for mobile T-hunting takes some planning. Now is the time to start, so you will be ready for Foxhunting Weekend. Read more in the April 2009 issue of CQ Magazine.

Homing In, CQ VHF Magazine, Winter 2009 -- "Transmitter Hunters Track Rockets in the Desert and Plan to Meet in Boston"

• KE6YGF: "Our high power rockets cost hundreds, if not thousands, with their onboard altimeters and other costly systems. With the extreme altitudes they can achieve, I think having a tracking system is a must!"

• KE6YGF: "With the Beeline in the rocket, one of us drove across the lake bed, intermittently stopping to set the rocket on the ground and see if the other still received a good signal at the launch area. This seemed to work well out to about 1.5 miles."

• KØOV: "As Rob was sweating out his written test, his friend Mark Melnyk was assembling the first rocket, carefully inserting the fuel stick into the motor cylinder and sealing with new O-rings. When he had it ready, they paid their fee, filled out a flight card and took Daisy Cutter to a pad in the second row."

• KØOV: "Thunder Child shot up out of sight and the transmitter told Rob that it was coming down toward the northwest. In the binoculars, they saw it land and headed out to pick it up, about a mile away. All the parts were together, so Rob was able to show everything and get his certification."

• KB1RLI: "My callsign in Russia was UZ3AYT. I started in 1982 and won my first bronze medal at the USSR championship in 1983. I became a member of the Soviet team in 1984 and ran at international competitions and later in military championships. I came to the USA in 1994 and brought my equipment."

Links and resources related to this article:

• National Association of Rocketry
  
• Rocketry Organization of California
  
• Communications Specialists rocketry transmitters
  
• Big Red Bee
  
• Arrow Antennas
  

Rob Foth KE6YGF and Mark Melnyk are packing a 433 MHz tracking transmitter into their high power rocket with help from Rob's son Jacob. Read more about how hams track rockets in Homing In for Winter 2009.

You can read my regular ARDF Update articles on the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Web site.

73 Magazine ceased publication with the September 2003 issue. Homing In is now in CQ VHF magazine, a quarterly publication. Click for CQ VHF subscription information.

The Fine Print: This is the official Web site for Homing In and other KØOV articles about RDF, but not for any magazine. Homing In articles are produced independently in southern California. Text and artwork of all articles Copyright © Joseph D. Moell. All rights reserved.

Surfing suggestion: Wondering what you've been missing by not reading Homing In since 1988? Check the complete index of topics at this site. It also has links to my ARDF Updates.

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This page updated 21 May 2009