"Mobile T-Hunt"
Somewhere in Gloucester County
November 3, 2018 Update
What a great fall day! And tomorrow may be even nicer, with an extra hour! Why not get out of the house, enjoy the fall colors and some fresh air, and join your fellow GCARC members on a hidden transmitter hunt from 1-2 pm?
The transmitter will be turned on in a public place, not private property, here in Gloucester County. To make it more fun, and to help narrow your searching area in advance, here are the boundaries to help you in your search here in Gloucester county:
Make sense? If not, email or call me direct.
Tomorrow, with your hunt team, check in with me, Jim N2GXJ, on our 2 meter repeater just before 1pm, so we all know who is hunting. That way we’ll know who to “taunt” during the hunt, and if there’s anyone still searching after an hour that needs some hints to get to the finish line. Let's have some fun!
What frequency?
The transmitter will be on FM simplex, 146.565 MHz. As you get closer to the transmitter, the signal will be stronger. If you go past it, it will get weaker. When you get real close, you may be able to hear it on the third harmonic (146.565 MHz x 3 = 439.695 MHz).
First timer? Great! Want some tips? Sure!
In the past, I’ve seen people park somewhere near the hunt zone and start with squelch off on their radio, just to see if they can even hear the transmitter. If not, they know they are not that close and will drive around the hunt zone until they can hear it.
Once can hear it, then they might set the squelch higher, and put the radio on the floor - driving around some more until they get a general idea of where squelch breaks and signal is strongest, where it does not. Sometimes they will take the antenna off the radio, knowing that only a stronger (thus closer) signal would be heard this way (just don’t accidentally press transmit if you did this!!!).
Once in the general area, then people will often get out of their cars periodically, to use a directional antenna, or use a “body fade” technique to get an idea of from which direction the signal seems stronger or weaker, and home in on it that way. A “body fade” is where you put your radio up against your chest and turn in a circle, listening to find which direction sounds _weakest_. Then you know the transmitter is somewhere behind you (because your body is blocking some of the signal strength). This same technique can also work by putting the radio up next to a big tree, using the tree to block the signal. You might see fellow club members also hunting.
So why not?
This is a great club event, with a built-in excuse to get outdoors with family and friends on a adventure, to enjoy the day, and have fun! We’ll be there on-air to help you, if you need it, and at the finish line to take a group picture, socialize, and exchange hunt stories afterwards!
Alright then, see you on the hunt tomorrow!
Jim, N2GXJ
What a great fall day! And tomorrow may be even nicer, with an extra hour! Why not get out of the house, enjoy the fall colors and some fresh air, and join your fellow GCARC members on a hidden transmitter hunt from 1-2 pm?
The transmitter will be turned on in a public place, not private property, here in Gloucester County. To make it more fun, and to help narrow your searching area in advance, here are the boundaries to help you in your search here in Gloucester county:
- North of Route 322 (Glassboro rd).
- South of Route 654 (Hurffville-Cross Keys rd).
- East of Route 47 (Delsea Drive).
- West of Route 655 (Fries Mill rd).
Make sense? If not, email or call me direct.
Tomorrow, with your hunt team, check in with me, Jim N2GXJ, on our 2 meter repeater just before 1pm, so we all know who is hunting. That way we’ll know who to “taunt” during the hunt, and if there’s anyone still searching after an hour that needs some hints to get to the finish line. Let's have some fun!
What frequency?
The transmitter will be on FM simplex, 146.565 MHz. As you get closer to the transmitter, the signal will be stronger. If you go past it, it will get weaker. When you get real close, you may be able to hear it on the third harmonic (146.565 MHz x 3 = 439.695 MHz).
First timer? Great! Want some tips? Sure!
In the past, I’ve seen people park somewhere near the hunt zone and start with squelch off on their radio, just to see if they can even hear the transmitter. If not, they know they are not that close and will drive around the hunt zone until they can hear it.
Once can hear it, then they might set the squelch higher, and put the radio on the floor - driving around some more until they get a general idea of where squelch breaks and signal is strongest, where it does not. Sometimes they will take the antenna off the radio, knowing that only a stronger (thus closer) signal would be heard this way (just don’t accidentally press transmit if you did this!!!).
Once in the general area, then people will often get out of their cars periodically, to use a directional antenna, or use a “body fade” technique to get an idea of from which direction the signal seems stronger or weaker, and home in on it that way. A “body fade” is where you put your radio up against your chest and turn in a circle, listening to find which direction sounds _weakest_. Then you know the transmitter is somewhere behind you (because your body is blocking some of the signal strength). This same technique can also work by putting the radio up next to a big tree, using the tree to block the signal. You might see fellow club members also hunting.
So why not?
This is a great club event, with a built-in excuse to get outdoors with family and friends on a adventure, to enjoy the day, and have fun! We’ll be there on-air to help you, if you need it, and at the finish line to take a group picture, socialize, and exchange hunt stories afterwards!
Alright then, see you on the hunt tomorrow!
Jim, N2GXJ
There’s certain briskness in the fall air. Autumnal, some might call it. Could it be time for a radio direction finding fox hunt? Yes! What’s that, you ask? In short, it’s a radio version of “hide and seek”, and is great fun for the whole family, hams and non-hams alike! A copy of a slide show detailing the answer from a presentation given at an earlier GCARC Club meeting can be found on the GCARC Fox Hunts page. Check out smiling faces from hunts I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, and XI linked from that page. When is it? On a “Bye” day for the Eagles, of course! And it’s on the day when we all get the extra hour of sleep after we “fall back” our clocks: Sunday November 4, from 1-2 pm. Surely you’re running out of excuses now not to jump in with some family and friends and have some fun! So what if you’ve never tried doing something like this before. Part of the fun is meeting new people and trying new things! Here’s a quick run-down on the basics, and some hints for what to expect. There’s stuff you can do in advance, and then there is the hunt! In advance:
Time for the Hunt, 1 pm Sunday November 4!
Have fun out there! See you November 4! |
Transmitter Frequency 146.565 MHz Transmitter
Range 1+ Mile Radius |