Pre-registration required.
Joe Burkhead, KE8MKR, ARRL ARDF Committee, airpwr41@yahoo.com, (734) 433-6824
SPECIAL NOTE: Joe will be speaking to the Chelsea Amateur Radio Club (by video conference) on this topic Tuesday, September 12th at 7PM. See this link to login.
Hello fellow MI Foxhunters! Are you ready for beautiful fall colors day in the park hunting down 15 transmitters!!? If so I invite you to come on out to the Fall Transmitter Hunt on October 7th from 10am to 2pm at Park Lyndon near Chelsea, MI and you can hunt away!
I will have two Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF – also called “radio orienteering”) courses set up for you, one on 144 MHz (2m band – 5 TXs) and the other on 3.5 MHz (80m band – 10 TXs), and if you don’t have your own equipment for either band that’s ok because we can lend you a receiver. Here are details on each course:
2m Classic (144 MHz):
This is a mini 144 MHz (2-meter band) Classic foxhunt course where you find as many of the hidden 144 MHz foxes as you can within the time limit. Since this is a mini 144 MHz Classic the winner should be able to find all 5 transmitters and clear the course within an hour and there will be a 1.5 hr time limit. The first transmitter transmits for a minute, then shuts off, and the next transmitter transmits for a minute, then shuts off, and so forth until all 5 transmitters have cycled through the sequence and then the cycle repeats throughout the event. Competitors are given a map. Optimal navigation sequence in visiting the foxes is desirable for a faster finish time. Standard 2m band RX and yagi works well for this event.
Foxoring (3.5 MHz):
This is a mini Foxoring course which is a combination of orienteering and “fox hunting” and is conducted in the 3.5 MHz (80-meter) band. Circles showing approximate TX locations are printed on the map and the runner decides what sequence to take for navigating to the TXs. The very small low-power hidden foxes are placed on a slim post. While still a good distance away from it the racer will not pick up any signal from the fox because of the fox’s very low power. But once the runner gets close to the fox the racer will start picking up and hearing the signal coming from the fox at which point the racer can then home in to the fox using the receiver. After finding the transmitter the foxhunter goes to the next approximate TX location drawn on the map, and continues to find as many of the foxes within the time limit as possible before finishing within a 1 hr time limit. Optimal navigation sequence in visiting the foxes is desirable for a faster finish time. If you don’t have your own 80m band receiver we have some loop antenna and ferrite rod antenna receivers available to loan if someone needs it.
Orienteering:
There will also be a simple orienteering course without any transmitters available for racing as well for anyone interested.
You can do 1, 2, or all 3 events, but it you plan on doing more than 1 event, please make sure you show up earlier in the event window as opposed to later to give yourself enough time to complete multiple courses.
It will also be better to come earlier so that we can give you time for instruction and getting started if this is your first time attending an ARDF foxhunt.
Registration
A registration fee of $10 covers the costs of park permit, insurance, map printing, etc.
Pre-registration is required and I will provide a link for registration soon.
Here is the location:
Park Lyndon, pavilion on the north side of Territorial Rd
18801 N Territorial Rd, Chelsea, MI 48118
I will also be providing updates and more info at this web page and encourage you to follow it to stay informed of any updates or changes: https://www.facebook.com/events/1439112233606456/
* Note: These are the same format of races that will be offered in the 2024 USA Radio Orienteering Championship which is being held here in Michigan next year, 7-13 October 2024, so this is a prime opportunity to start preparing for the championship if you are thinking about competing in it!
Let me know any questions and hope to see some of you on October 7th, it will be a blast!
Joe Burkhead, KE8MKR
ARRL ARDF Committee
airpwr41@yahoo.com
734-433-6824
