Greater Houston / Harris County Fox Hunting
The Fox
- The Fox will transmit in either phone FM or MCW for a period of one minute and then fall silent for four minutes somewhat following the ARDF stardard for hidden transmitters. This may be modified during the hunt and the times between on and off may be shorter.
- Because the hunt could be in different parts of the county (which is good) the huntmaster/fox will choose the talk in repeater, the hunt boundaries and specify any specific changes to normal rules.
- The fox must be able to monitor the talk-in repeater in addition to the fox frequency during the hunt. The talk in repeater will be used by the fox to keep hunters apprised of any changes / problems.
- The fox transmitter signal must be copyable at the starting point with a typical mobile radio and unity gain antenna.
- The Fox should refrain from any conversations other than during the time the Fox is actually transmitting. Hunters can ask questions over the repeater and the fox can answer them, if they so choose, during the next transmit cycle.
- The fox transmitter must be on 145.565 MHz and maintain constant power throughout the hunt, not exceeding 5 watts. An HT being used for the fox transmitter must be on external power such as a lighter plug or larger battery pack like an SLA battery so to maintain steady power output.
- The antenna may be in any configuration and can not be changed in any manner during the hunt.
- The antenna and transmitter shall be within 100 meters (328 feet) of access by standard passenger cars in a publicly accessible area with no charge for admission.
- Reasonable care must be taken to ensure that hunters can safely get to the hidden transmitter and in the spirit of fun hunts, easy access to the transmitter via a traffic or safety hazard should be avoided by the huntmaster.
The Hunters
- Hunters are responsible for providing all of their own equipment including any maps they care to use.
- Hunters shall obey all traffic laws at all times.
- Hunters must maintain radio silence on the hunt frequency.
The winner of the hunt is determined by the person/team who finds the transmitter with the least miles driven. Odometer readings are taken by one of the hunters at the start point, and are then used to calculate the mileage driven by each participant at the end of the hunt.
Clear Lake Amateur Radio Club
Talk in frequency is the 442.750 (103.5) / 146.860 (100.0) Clear Lake Amateur Radio Club repeaters. These are cross linked so it doesn't matter which one you check in on.
Unless otherwise publized the starting point will always be at the parking lot on the ~kinda N/NW corner of Bay Area Blvd @ Space Center, or near the Arby's, Lat-Lon 29.5745 -95.1088
Unless otherwise publized the hunt area will be within the borders of;
Hwy 146 to the east,
IH-45 to the west,
Fairmont Parkway & BW-8 to the north,
FM 646 to the south.
Rule Modifications
Occasionally we may use an unmanned transmitter. In that event each hunt team will be given a control card at the start. The control card will be punched with a standard orienteering punch and control bag that will be located at the transmitter site. There will be instructions at the transmitter site on where to take the control card as proof of finding the fox.
Other rule modifications must be announced at least a week before a hunt if such a modification is deemed necessary by the fox/huntmaster. Rule changes may include the following
- Boundary extensions, which must be specified.
- Any off-road distance extensions, which must be specified.
- Any variations to "minimum mileage wins" rule, which must be specified.
- Any change of the primary transmitter frequency, which must be specified.
Hunt Results, Sunday 4 Dec 05
Wow ! ! ! We had seven hunter / hunter teams come out for this hunt
I learned a couple of things mainly because its been a while since I have been in a classic hunt based on milage. I had someone get the odometer readings for me since I had gone into hiding. I wanted to ensure that the hunters would be able to hear me on a HT at the starting point. Well I forgot to have them get the "tenths" or reset thier trip odometer. So we wound up with some milages that are the same (no tenths) so as a tie breaker I'm using time as the next criteria.
The line of site distance between the fox and the start was 2.4 miles.
In distance order with time as a tie breaker
- At 4 miles; Michael, KE5DGK & Dylan, KE5GSH whos parents did the driving.
- At 6 miles; David, N2OZK & Chris, KD5PTF
- At 6 miles; Mike, N5MT
- At 6 miles; Kyle, KG4YUQ
- At 6 miles; Nick, KC5KBO; Terry KD5AWZ & the lovely Julie KE5GOV
- At 7 miles; Walt, W5SWA & Jerry (?)
- And we didn't pressure Min, KE5GOK and his parents for their milage. As we say in classic foot orienteering, they made a nasty 180!
I misplaced part of my notes and had to recall some of this from memory so if you think I got it wrong you better hollar now.
The first team to reach the fox was N2OZK & KD5PTF in a meer 22 minutes. Followed by N5MT in 29 minutes and then KE5DGK & KE5GSH in 34 minutes. Had N2OZK & KD5PTF stopped at the intersection of Space Center & Nasa Rd 1 and taken a bearing there they would have nailed in in about 3.5 miles and 15 mins.
Thanks to all who came out for some fun.
The next hunt I will do will be a "on foot" hunt at either Challenger 7 Memorial Park in Webster _OR_ possibly Herman Park between downtown and the medical center. I'd like to try to do this in Jan or Feb 06
If you are new to fox hunting go to this page for help and tips.