Attention hams living in the cedar valley!

This coming Saturday, April 27, there will be a foxhunt in Cedar Falls.

Gather your gear and meet us in George Wyth State Park.  We will be meeting in the far West lot off the North side of Wyth road.  The first fox will begin transmitting at 1:00pm, but players are encouraged to come early to prepare for the game and prep/test their equipment.  A test beacon will be placed very near the meeting point well before the first round begins, for players to calibrate their antennas and meters prior to the first hunt.  All foxes for this game will be on the 2-meter band.  Google map images of the start location are available online at:

HTTP://CABLE.VFTP.NET/CVHOUNDS/HUNT001/

This will be an "easy" level game, with 2-4 foxes in play unless we extend the game.  Foxes will be using low power and will be hidden within the park area, and will have a generous transmit window.  Although they will also be placed within 200 feet of a drivable road, there is an extensive bicycle trail network in the park, and players may prefer to leave their vehicles in the parking lot and set out on bicycle.  Final tag will likely require a some light footwork however.

When a fox has been tagged by a player, the next fox will be turned on.  Other players may move on to the next fox or continue to hunt the previous fox.  There will be no trophies for today's game, this is just a warm-up for more frequent games we will be hosting throughout the year. (and possibly into the winter months, weather and players permitting)  A friendly competition and good opportunity for everyone to get the bugs and/or dust worked out of their gear and get back into the swing of things.

At the conclusion of the game, we will pack up and head over to McDonalds in Cedar Falls (at 1st and Walnut) for some chow and chat. (or another nearby restaurant agreed on by the players after the game)

You do NOT need to be a licensed ham radio operator to participate in the game!  Hams are also encouraged to bring their friends and give them an entertaining taste of your hobby.  Work as a team, or compete against each other.

There will be a variety of foxhunting gear brought to the meeting lot before the game, and players may borrow and try things out to find something they're interested in constructing or buying etc.  Although there will be a few basic radios to loan out (HTX-202 etc) we recommend you at least bring your own HT with a BNC or SMA connector.  Make sure your batteries are fully charged!  We're expecting the game to last 3-4 hours, finishing around 4-5pm.  Unlicensed players can also participate.  NO license is required to hunt for a fox, although we recommend you team up with another ham if you're new to the sport.  Foxhunts are often more fun when played by teams rather than individuals.  Come to the meeting lot early to get hooked up with a group before the game starts.

Talk-in will be on the local W0MG repeater 146.94, negative offset, use PL tone 136.5.  Or you may raise one of us on simplex (146.52)   Simplex will be used for coordination during the game, to avoid tying up the local repeater.  Please DROP ME AN EMAIL if you are considering or planning to attend the game, to give me a better idea of how many players will be attending.

Nathan Fisher / N0ZYC
email: n0zyc@vftp.net
phone: 319-232-2206 (evenings and weekends)


And for those of you new to foxunting or looking for construction information, there are many good resources on the internet:

http://www.homingin.com/
http://www.qsl.net/nz0i/equipment/equipment.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qHyIiSK7Lo
http://www.hawaiirepeaters.net/ardf/ardf.html
http://theleggios.net/wb2hol/projects/rdf/rdf.htm