The South Shore Fox Hunters have had a lot of fun over the past 10 years chasing the elusive fox. They’re currently discussing a one-day hidden transmitter hunt, or “fox hunt” involving members of the Whitman ARC, Massasoit ARA and the Taunton Area Communications Group to “rekindle the flame” and introduce new hams to the fascinating hobby of directional finding.
According to Bruce Hayden, NI1X, “One member will be assigned to be the fox and he or she will transmit on 146.565 MHz simplex for about 30 seconds every five minutes between approximately 10:00 a.m. and noon on a Saturday morning. The Fox will be hiding in a public place.”
The boundaries used in previous hunts were Route 44 on the south, Route 138 on the West, Route 128 on the North and Route 3 on the East. Hayden says the group would probably pick a smaller area “to save on gas.”
The fox hunters coordinate their activities on the Bridgewater repeater on 147.180 MHz, PL 67. Amateurs are invited to monitor from the home QTH or mobile and to check in at 10:00 a.m. at the start of the hunt to report if you can hear the fox–or just as important–if you can not hear the fox from your location. You never know when the fox will be hiding in your back yard!
[Pictured here: Bruce Hayden, NI1X presenting on fox hunting at a Taunton Area Communications Group meeting, December 2006.]–Thanks, Whitman ARC Spectrum, January 2007