Foxhunting

Eliot Mayer, W1MJ, writes:

This weekend (June 18-19, 2022) K1MJC and I are putting our foxes out in the same general area.

Fox #1
Call:  K1MJC
Frequency:  146.565 MHz
Location: Rock Meadow, Belmont, MA
On air now through Monday morning.

Fox #2
Call:  W1MJ
Frequency:  446.075 MHz
Location:  Beaver Brook Reservation North, Waltham, MA (accessible from Rock Meadow by foot bridge)

Map:  https://walthamlandtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/2017-07-29-GOS-Beaver-Brook-North-Reservation.pdf

On air from 10 AM Saturday until 5 PM on Sunday

Best place to park for both foxes:  Rock Meadow parking area on Mill St. in Belmont.  If the lot is full, parallel parking on Mill St. is allowed.

The following link shows a map of the area containing both foxes.  From Rock Meadow, the Western Greenway Trail crosses a wooden bridge into Beaver Brook Reservation North near back-left-corner (sorta) of Rock Meadow:

https://www.trailforks.com/region/rock-meadow-conservation-area-belmont/?activitytype=1&z=16.0&lat=42.40183&lon=-71.20170

73,

Eliot, W1MJ

Bob Evans, N1BE, writes on the NEMassFoxHunters list on May 20, 2022 at 3:56 PM:

The MMRA Fox Box is at the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge in Stow.

The Fox transmits on 145.63 MHz with a 146.2 Hz PL.

Transmissions repeat approx. every 165 seconds. 

I plan to retrieve the Fox on Tuesday, May 24th.

Email me directly if you want a hint to help locate the fox.

Happy hunting,

Bob Evans, N1BE

Mike Cormier, K1MJC, writes on the Waltham ARA list and NEMassFoxHunters list at 4:16 PM on May 13, 2022:

Yes, the K1MJC Fox’s  are  a-foot!

I put it them out  today, Friday.

The fox’s are close to each other somewhere in an area within the City limits of Waltham, MA.

 “School”  is the clue. 

The extra added bonus here is this time, I’ve placed a UHF fox out as well. 

This is an experimental unit, made up of a Arduino  pro mini 3.3 V with a 433 MHz  AM transmitter with very low power. 

It does tend to drift 10 kHz on either side of the stated frequency possibly with battery voltage; and for those of you who have “AM“ capabilities in your handheld, this is an extra added bonus.

Also, I’m not sure how long the battery life will last with the AM Fox so the sooner you hunt it the better ; ( possibly 2days?)

Note: It can be heard on FM, but it is scratchy and noisy. AM reception is the best!

Fox Frequencies are:

VHF 146.565

UHF 433.975 (thereabouts).

(There is only a log with the VHF fox. Nothing with the UHF fox).

As usual, they will be retrieved before Sundown Sunday.

One of The maps on this page would prove useful!

https://walthamlandtrust.org/trail-guides/

Happy hunting!

Andy Stewart, KB1OIQ, writes on the  NEMassFoxHunters list at 9:27 AM on May 13, 2022:

The fox is on the loose!

I verified that the signal can be (weakly) heard from the Cider Mill Pond parking area.

It will be out all day today (Friday) and Saturday.

If you are in the neighborhood, feel free to visit my home QTH.  I should be there most of the day today.  My info is good on QRZ.com.

I am willing to tweak your R3500D fox receiver for peak performance by adjusting the capacitor and two transformers.  LMK if you are interested.

Have fun(!) and 73,

Andy

Bob Evans, N1BE, writes on the NEMassFoxHunters list on May 11, 2022 at 7:41 PM:

The MMRA Fox Box transmits on 145.63 MHz with a 146.2 Hz PL.

Transmissions repeat approx. every 165 seconds.

The box has been heard in the town of Acton, MA.

I plan to retrieve the Fox on Monday May 16.

Email me directly if you want a hint to help locate the fox.

Happy hunting,
Bob Evans, N1BE

Andy Stewart, KB1OIQ, writes on the NEMassFoxHunters list on May 10, 2022 at 6:36 AM:

Good morning fox hunters!

I have moved the KB1OIQ 2m fox.  It is still in Cider Mill Pond, but now you should(?) be able to hear the fox from the parking area.  The battery has been replaced and it should be good for the entire day.

Have fun and 73,

Andy

—

Andy Stewart, KB1OIQ, writes on the NEMassFoxHunters list on May 8, 2022 at 10:02 AM:

146.565 FM is the fox frequency.

Go to the Cider Mill Pond conservation area in Westford.

A fox awaits you.  Have fun and good luck!  Cider Mill Pond is a very large
area (100? acres).

I’ll leave it out there for today and Monday.

73,

Andy

Andy Stewart, KB1OIQ, writes on the NEMassFoxHunters list on May 8, 2022:

I have a fox for the 80m band, and I’m wondering who has gear to receive the signal.

It is a real CW signal on the color burst frequency, roughly 3.579 MHz.

One possible receiver is shown here: http://crkits.com/r3500d.jpg

The fox has not been deployed.  I’m just assessing the interest level of such a fox hunt.

73,

Andy

Bob Evans, N1BE, writes on the NEMassFoxHunters list on April 29, 2022 at 6:55 PM:

The [Minuteman Repeater Association] Fox Box transmits on 145.63 MHz with a 146.2 Hz PL.  Transmissions repeat approx. every 165 seconds.  The box has been hidden where it can be heard in the towns of Hudson and Stow MA.  I plan to retrieve the Fox on Monday May 2.

MMRA uses the fox box to train for locating repeater interference.  This is a longer distance hunt than ARDF.  Therefore the transmitter power is higher and search area is larger.  (Fox is on low power ~150mW this weekend — future hunts may use 2.3W.)

Leave a note in the “mailbox” at the left end of the box to report your success.

Email me directly if you want a hint to help locate the fox.

Happy hunting,
Bob Evans, N1BE

I placed the KD1D Fox in a Westford location.   It is operating on 146.565 MHz with an output of 50 mW and the same 30 second message as last year, repeating every 60 seconds. I expect to retrieve the fox around noon on Monday. 

It should be a relatively easy find if you start from the Norman E. Day School on East Prescott Street (near the intersection of East Prescott and Town Farm Road).  If you’re not a local, be advised that East Prescott turns into North Main Street without warning a few hundred feet down the road.  North Main is not anywhere near Main Street, by the way.  If you choose this starting point, you will see a separate parking area for the John Gagnon Trail.

An alternate starting place is from the Blanchard School parking lot off of West Street.

A map of the area can be found at:

https://westfordconservationtrust.org/tws_holding/kissacook-hill-trails/

Happy hunting  and 73 de KD1D, Alan!

Eliot Mayer, W1MJ, writes on NEMassFoxHunters and Waltham ARA lists:

Two foxes will be transmitting this weekend (April 9-10) from Greenough Land in Carlisle, MA.  This conservation area is only 15 minutes from the center of Westford and 25 minutes from beautiful downtown Waltham. The parking lot is more-or-less across the street from 811 Maple Street. If you come from Route 3, Maple Street is actually the same street as Treble Cover Road, so it’s a straight shot 2 miles from the highway.  A map of Greenough Land is available here:  https://www.carlislema.gov/DocumentCenter/View/805/Greenough-Land-Trails-Map-PDF

Both foxes will be on the air from Saturday at 9:30 AM until Sunday at 5:00 PM.

Call  / Frequency   / TX Power

K1MJC / 146.565 MHz / 15 mW
W1MJ  / 147.54 MHz  / 5 W

Mike Cormier, K1MJC, writes on the Waltham ARA list and NEMassFoxHunters list at 2:43 PM on March 26, 2022:

Yes, the K1MJC Fox is out first time for 2022!

I checked the weather, supposed to rain Saturday afternoon, but Sunday is supposed to be nice and decided to put it out on a Lark, perhaps Sunday maybe a bit chilly in the 50s.

The fox is in “Storer Conservation area” within the City limits of Waltham, MA.

I’ve decided to try out the “Delayed Start” feature, and set it to begin transmitting 12 hours later, so it should start transmitting or around 2 am and should be active all day Sunday. I also water-proofed it so a little rain this evening should not hurt it.

As usual, it will be retrieved before sundown Sunday.

There is no logbook with it so you could just post to the IO group if found.

The map on this page would prove useful!

https://walthamlandtrust.org/trail-guides/

NOTE: Perhaps in the near future, Eliot and I will put out tandem foxes, and the proposed location tentatively would be the “Greenough Conservation Land” in Carlisle MA.

Happy hunting!

Mike C. K1MJC 73

[Oops… forgot to mention, the fox is transmitting on 146.565. -Mike]

Eliot Mayer, W1MJ, writes on the NEMassFoxHunters list:

This Sunday, March 20, we are expecting partly sunny weather with a high near 53F in Belmont, MA.  I will deploy the W1MJ 5-watt fox in the Rock Meadow Conservation Area in Belmont from 9:30 AM until 5:30 PM.  The fox will transmit frequently on 147.54 MHz.  Information about this fox is available at http://w1mj.com/fox. 

The Rock Meadow parking lot is at 248 Mill St, Belmont, MA.  This is approximately 30 minutes from Westford per Google Maps.  If the lot is full, parallel parking on Mill Street is allowed.  Due to the rain expected on Saturday, please come prepared for mud in some parts of the meadow.

Per our online meeting over the winter, I will do another deployment at some point at Greenough Land in Carlisle, which closer to Westford.

73 DE W1MJ

Eliot Mayer, W1MJ, writes on the NEMassFoxHunters and Waltham ARA mailing lists:

I recently assembled a 5-watt fox, and plan to put it out this Sunday, January 23, from 10 AM (or earlier) to 4 PM.  I will make another post here on Sunday morning to confirm successful deployment (or not).

The suggested starting point is Elsie Turner Field on Trapelo Road in Waltham, across from the National Archives. 

Since a 5-watt fox can be heard from some distance, and since it is winter, I offer this clue:  I reached the hiding place with less than a ½ mile walk from Elsie Turner Field.  The fox makes transmissions on 147.54 MHz at approximately 1 minute intervals, mostly in voice, but some in Morse code.  If you want to know a bit about what you are looking for, see http://w1mj.com/fox. 

Good luck DE W1MJ

George Allison, K1IG, writes on the NEMassFoxHunters list:

The days are starting to lengthen and that can only mean that fox-hunting season is getting closer! To help get us ready, I’ve scheduled a Webex video conference for all interested fox hunters on Tuesday, February 8, at 7:30 PM. If you haven’t used Webex, it’s very similar to Zoom; I’ll send out an invitation to the groups.io list with instructions and a link you can click on to join the conference. Feel free to forward the invitation to anyone you think would be interested in attending.

The February 8 date is flexible; if there aren’t enough attendees to support that date, I can re-schedule.

I haven’t finalized the agenda, but it could include these topics:

1. Introductions
2. Show and tell of foxes and antennas
3. Discussions of fox-finding techniques
4. Plans for the upcoming season. Suggestions for variations and improvements.
5. Suggestions for recruitment and training.

If anyone has a discussion topic or wants to make a presentation, let the group or me (k1ig@arrl.net) know. We should be able to finalize the agenda by February 1. 

73,

George
K1IG