At formal international competitions, horizontal antenna polarization is required for two-meter foxes. The Montrose Amateur Radio Club (MARC) President Bill Bear, KC��QXX, has asked me to help popularize fox hunting within our club, which covers a huge chunk of Western Colorado. There is no 80-meter transmitter in this box. You don’t even need a license to search for a fox, so unlicensed individuals can take part in the fun. A SquawkBox in a black plastic case is shown opened up in the photo above right. Later, I added small three-watt transmitter boards (ON7YD design) for 80 meter ARDF. It includes a voice chip and miniature microphone that records and sends your voice ID and short voice messages at adjustable periodic intervals. In a quick test with a resistor selected to run a FTC-2025 board at 1.5 watts with a nearly charged battery (12.85 volts), the power was only 0.75 watts at near discharge (12.0 volts). QRG NOT ON 160M BAND! The BeeLine 70cm transmitter (photo at right) by BigRedBee LLC of Lake Oswego, OR (Greg Clark K7RKT, owner) puts out up to 16 milliwatts on frequencies between 420 and 450 MHz. Occasionally, I use them for mobile transmitter hunts. Dave Pelaez AH2ARlE 4872 Trailside Courl Huber Heights OH.45424 E-mail: [ah2ar @webtv.net] features that make this transmitter a popular choice among foxhunters who are looking for a simple transmitter for newcomer hunts in small areas. 0000003843 00000 n
Select your batteries in accordance with current drain and anticipated hunt time. Changing R4 on the PicCon from 10K to 910 ohms increased the drive. (You do carry a small soldering torch along, don't you?) The kids love the activity, and it could be a first step for them developing a life long passion for amateur radio. If they come on and ask, just tell them what you're doing. For full-scale ARDF events, transmitters should have sufficient battery power for at least five hours of operation, because competitors are started at five-minute intervals. Someone just talking is how various clubs/groups perform fox hunts. Regular hiders use a wide variety of equipment. I then used a spectrum analyzer to verify signal stability and purity. Finally, in your fox hunting adventures, please follow the rules of the road. Before shelling out cash for them, check with the biomedical engineers at your local hospital. Communications Specialists in Orange, CA (Spence Porter WA6TPR, owner) sells tiny low-power transmitters (photo above right) for the Amateur Radio 125 cm band (222-225 MHz). All rights reserved. I built this Byonics Micro-Fox into in a die-cast metal box with a piano-wire lanyard and lock to prevent theft. The output of home-built VHF/UHF transmitters should be checked with a spectrum analyzer. 0000008352 00000 n
They are still in regular use. Fortunately, the PicCon switching transistor can handle 40 mA, and more base drive for the transistor is available from the PIC chip. The sixth is either a ready spare or serves as the finish-line transmitter on a separate frequency. xref
The foxbox contains a transmitter, battery, antenna, and controller/timer unit. The majority of the total cost was for the PicCon controllers. If the club is just getting started in mobile T-hunting, it may be sufficient to use an ordinary handi-talkie or mobile rig and just have someone stay with it and key it up at appropriate intervals. On April 1st, 2017 our local amateur radio club, the Wisconsin Valley Radio Association organized a fox hunt. Please share them in the comments below. Copyright © 2010-2018 by Dave Casler, Mt. and http://www.svenskalag.se/grj Frequency, timing, callsign ID and tone patterns are entered from a PC via a serial connection and held in non-volatile memory. or even in an auditorium. At left, the added LM317 IC and potentiometer provide power regulation and control. In their design they used crystal controlled CMOS oscillator modules for LO frequency generation. Inside one of my well-worn foxboxes. With this regulator, power remains nearly constant as the battery discharges.