“There was despair, excite-ment, equipment failure, sig-nal reflections (oh, the reflec-

tions!), mud, rain, sun, four-letter words(lots of four letter words!), and every-thing in between. Overall, it was anenjoyable, challenging, and long day offoxhunting.”

That’s what Joshua Mesilane,VK3XJM, wrote just after participatingin the 2012 Victorian FoxhuntingChampionships, which took place dur-ing last year’s CQ World-WideFoxhunting Weekend. Nobody knowsfor sure why hams started using “fox-hunting” to describe contests in radiodirection finding (RDF), but they havecalled it that around the globe for overhalf a century.

For many of my ham radio acquain-tances, foxhunting is their favorite ama-teur radio activity. Mention it and theyenvision cars, trucks, and vans full ofRDF gear competing in search of a well-concealed transmitter/antenna setup.These mobile foxhunts can last from anhour to a weekend, depending on localpreference. In some places they havedifferent names such as T-hunts orbunny hunts.

Often the hider simply operates hismobile rig from an unusual location, per-haps using a beam antenna to bouncethe signal to the starting point via a hill,water tank, or other terrain feature.Other hiders prefer to conceal the trans-mitter, perhaps even camouflage it in apark, wilderness area, or schoolyard.Hunters must “sniff out” the fox with theirportable RDF gear.

For a growing number of hams in theUSA and around the world, foxhuntingmeans something else: a two-hour run(or walk) through the woods in searchof up to five “fox” transmitters. Each one

beacons for 60 seconds at a time, oneafter another in numbered sequence, allon one frequency on the 2-meter or 80-meter band. Other names for this on-foot radiosport are foxtailing, radio-ori-enteering, and ARDF (amateur radiodirection finding).

Whichever type of radio foxhuntappeals to you, the CQ World-WideFoxhunting Weekend is the time to doit and to promote it among your fellowhams. If you missed the April announce-ment about this year’s FoxhuntingWeekend on May 11–12, it doesn’t mat-ter, Foxhunting Weekend in you owntown can be any weekend this springthat you choose. For VHF and UHF, adirectional antenna such as a Yagi orquad plus an RF attenuation system are

all that it takes to join in. Both are easyto build or inexpensive to buy.1

A Different Kind of ContestFoxhunting isn’t like other on-the-aircontests. There are no mandatory timeperiods, no universal rules, and no logsheets. It’s just a weekend to set asidefor your club, school, or Scout group totry this exciting aspect of ham radio.Foxhunters don’t even have to haveham licenses, because they will bereceiving, not transmitting.

As always, last year’s FoxhuntingWeekend announcement brought in abatch of reports about hams having fun.Most hunts were on 2 meters, wherealmost every ham has receiving equip-

Whether you call it foxhunting, T-hunting, radio-orienteering, or somethingelse, CQ’s Foxhunting Weekend is the ideal time to experience it.

Results of the 2012 CQ WW Foxhunting Weekend

BY JOE MOELL,* KØOV

*ARRL ARDF Coordinator, PO Box 2508,Fullerton, CA 92837e-mail: <homingin@aol.com>Web: <www.homingin.com>

At the 2012 Dayton Hamvention® foxhunt there were two dozen tiny 2-meter trans-mitters in a park near the Hara Arena. Eighteen hunters searched for them indi-vidually and in teams. Here are Byon Garrabrant, N6BG, and Lara Garrabrant,KD6AYO, of Chandler, Arizona trying to figure out which transmitter to track down

next. (Photo by Marji Garrett, KJ4ZKC)

50 • CQ • June 2013 Visit Our Web Site

ment. However, there are no restric-tions on bands, modes, or frequenciesfor Foxhunting Weekend activities, aslong as you follow local band plans andguidelines.

The Victorian Foxhunting Champion-ships, described above by VK3XJM,

could be called “extreme foxhunting.”Like many of the monthly mobile trans-mitter hunts in the Melbourne area, ithad multiple contests with multipletransmitters on multiple bands. Almostall of the participants were long-timefoxhunters with lots of experience.

The fun started a half hour after noonwith a mobile hunt on the 1.2-GHz band,but that was just the warm-up. From thefinish of that hunt, there was a hunt onthe 80-meter band, designed to last for45 minutes. Next was a “four-leggedrace.” No, not a picnic game where twopeople share a pair of trousers, but ahunt for four separate foxes on four dif-ferent bands—2 meters, 80 meters, 6meters, and 10 meters.2

That would be plenty for most state-side foxhunters, but these Aussies werejust getting started. After a spot of tea,which gave the foxes a chance to findnew lairs, the hunters set out in theirvehicles on the next event, where theywere required to find three more foxes,one each on 2 meters, 70 cm, and 6meters.

Having worked up a good appetitethrough the afternoon, it was time for alavish buffet supper, followed by thefour-leg night hunt. Foxes awaited on 2meters, 70 cm, 6 meters, and 10meters, and they had to be found in thatorder. Josh reports that the final 2-meterfox was especially difficult: “The signalwas weak but everywhere. There wereno consistent directions, so we startedgrid-searching and signal-strengthhunting as opposed to actual direction-finding and eventually eliminated where

Here are some of the 40 transmitters that were hidden at Sinclair Park in Dayton for the 2011 Hamvention® foxhunt. (Photo by Bob Frey, WA6EZV)

www.cq-amateur-radio.com June 2013 • CQ • 51

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it wasn’t. Eventually we went towardwhere the fox suggested and nobodyelse had been. We ended up being sec-ond to find it.”

There hasn’t been a statesideFoxhunting Weekend event of thatmagnitude so far (maybe in 2013!), butmobile searches for a dozen or moretransmitters in a day do happen here.Los Angeles area hams have occa-sional “free for all” hunts where eachteam hides one or more unattendedtransmitters in the morning, and theneveryone tracks each other’s signals forthe rest of the day. The record numberof transmitters on the air in one hunt is40, set back in August 2008.

Tiny VHF and UHF transmitters on cir-cuit boards smaller than a stick ofSpearmint gum are readily available andinexpensive.3 That’s what was used thisyear for the Ski Country Amateur RadioClub picnic and foxhunt near GlenwoodSprings, Colorado. Bob Cutter, KIØG,concealed a tiny transmitter inside a ten-nis ball in tall grass. Phil Krichbaum,NØKE, was first to properly identify it.According to Bob, “The large number ofdogs at the picnic led to some tensemoments and the possibility of anunscheduled relocation.”

Reports from Canada“The foxhunting bug is now alive againamong the VE4’s of Winnipeg.” So wroteGarth Blumm, VE4GWB, president ofthe Winnipeg Amateur Radio Club.Garth sent a nice narrative that traced itsrevival from a club presentation andantenna-building workshop through the2012 Foxhunting Weekend event on

May 13. From the top of a toboggan hill,hunters followed Garth’s signal to thesuburb of Transcona, where they even-tually uncovered his little fox under a bro-ken tree branch next to a chain-link fencein Maple Leaf Park. A barbecue followedwith planning for more hunts through thesummer months.

A full radio-orienteering coursebrought out both beginners and expertsto a Vancouver, British Columbia sub-urb on Foxhunting Weekend. SurreyAmateur Radio Club sponsored this 2-meter event in Crescent Park, near theshore of Semiahmoo Bay. The coursewas set by Amel Krdzalic, VA7KBA,

Where is the transmitter? Inside thistennis ball! Bob Cutter, KIØG, made thisrolling fox for the Ski Country AmateurRadio Club picnic and foxhunt. (Photo

courtesy KIØG)

Radio foxhunting is a wonderful activity for Scouts and youth. Bob Frey, WA6EZV,of Jacksonville (standing at rear) helped these five Florida Scouts build measur-ing-tape Yagis to prepare for a 2-meter foxhunt last October. (Photo courtesy

WA6EZV)

As interest in ARDF spread throughEurope three decades ago, a committee ofIARU was formed to write standardized rulesthat would be used by all nations. That madeit possible to hold the First World ARDFChampionships in 1980. As the sport hasgrown in popularity, the rules have kept up.Their purpose is to ensure that winners havethe ideal combination of direction-findingskill, orienteering ability, and physical sta-mina. Championship ARDF now has six agecategories for men and five for women, so60-year-olds don’t have to compete against20- or 40-year-olds. Having more categoriesalso means that more gold, silver, andbronze medals are available to be won.

At national and world championships,there are separate hunts during separatedays on 80-meter CW and 2-meter AM.Each takes place in a large forested area.Five transmitters are on the air with distinctidentification. Fox #1 is on for 60 seconds,then it goes off and #2 comes on for aminute. The cycle continues until #5 has fin-ished, at which point #1 begins again.

Competitors receive a detailed color ori-enteering map of the forest just before theyset out on the course. They must navigatefrom the starting corridor to each of therequired fox transmitters (five, four, or threeof them, depending on category) and thento the finish line, using the map and their

own RDF gear. Scoring is done first by num-ber of transmitters found and then byelapsed time. There is a time limit, usuallyabout three hours. If you stay out in the for-est longer, you are disqualified.

There is no “mass start” in championshipARDF. Each person is timed individuallyfrom start to finish. Groups of competitorstake off at five-minute intervals that corre-spond to the times that transmitter #1comes on the air. The optimum order forfinding transmitters with minimum distancetraveled is up to the competitors to figureout, based on the signal strengths and bear-ings they get when they start. GPS help fornavigation isn’t allowed. Hunters are notpermitted to give clues to one another onthe course, even if they are on the samenational team.

ARDF World Championships take placeevery even-numbered year in a country thatis selected by the ARDF Working Group ofIARU. Each participating country may sendup to three competitors in each of theage/gender categories. Invitations formembership in ARDF Team USA are givento the best performers in each category inthe two prior USA ARDF Championships.The next World Championships will be inKazakhstan during September 2014.

Joe Moell, KØOVARRL ARDF Coordinator

Radio Foxhunting with International Rules

52 • CQ • June 2013 Visit Our Web Site

who learned the sport in Europe andhas won national championships inBosnia and Herzegovina as well as theformer Yugoslavia. Winner was GrantVan Skiver, VE7GVS, of New West-minster, who found all five ARDF trans-mitters plus one more in just 74 minutes.

For five years, Neil Robin, WA7NBF,of Port Angeles, Washington has orga-nized annual on-foot foxhunts in theNorth Olympic Peninsula of WashingtonState. His hunts have attracted partici-pants from as far away as Oregon andVancouver Island. For FoxhuntingWeekend 2012, Neil’s hunt requiredboth vehicular and on-foot hunting skills.

WA7NBF published a map of the areaof Silverdale, a Navy town with two sub-marine bases. Hunters could start any-where on that map and search for a foxin Neil’s parked vehicle. From there,they would hunt on foot for two moretransmitters along the extensive trails ofClear Creek, which empties into DyesInlet. Neil says it was a success, exceptthat it took the first hunter two hours justto find his car and get started on thefoot hunt.

Foxhunting brought extra fun to theannual Summer Family Outing of theARRL Michigan Section in July. It start-ed with a hands-on workshop for build-ing measuring-tape Yagis organized byJay Nugent, WB8TKL, and Mary AnnStoner, W8VWY. That was followed byan active attenuator workshop given byStan Briggs, K8SB. The next morningthere was a forum presentation on thetopic by Tom Bosscher, K8TB, and MikeHill, W8DER.

After that, it was time for everyone tosearch for the four 2-meter transmitterson separate frequencies that W8DERhad placed among the tall trees of theWoodlands Campground, Conferenceand Retreat Center. Winner was DougChauvin, N8PYN, who found them all injust 70 minutes. It was a great two daysof learning for the newcomers. As K8TBreported, “All agreed that it was not aseasy as it looked, and it was a lot morefun than they thought it would be.”

“In Chicago,” says Mike Brost,WA9FTS, “it is Foxhunting Weekendevery weekend. There is no seasonaltimeout, and our hunts continue throughthe winter. Unless there is a severeweather advisory, we hunt. We justdress for it.”

The 2012 Foxhunting Weekendevent on 146.985 MHz was typical fora Chicago area hunt as John Williams,WD9EXW, put a 50-watt transmitterwith a mag-mount antenna in a tree inElmhurst, a 20-mile drive from the start-ing point. Long-time T-hunter Tony

Levand, AA9CC, the winner, used thefreeway to get close and tracked it downin less than 35 minutes.

WA9FTS is Editor and CirculationManager of Chicago Foxhunting News(CFN), a monthly electronic publicationthat has local hunt reports, announce-ments of upcoming hunts, and updatedparticipant statistics for the year. Sende-mail to him at his QRZ.com addressto get on the mailing list for CFN, whichis updated weekly.

Opportunities in 2013As in Chicago, transmitter hunts takeplace year-round where I live in sunnysouthern California. In other placessuch as Monroe County in Michigan,4

CQ’s Foxhunting Weekend kicks off thewarm-weather transmitter hunting sea-

www.cq-amateur-radio.com June 2013 • CQ • 53

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son. If my mail is any indication, it’s going to be a great year,with more activity than ever. Besides lots of local hunts, therewill be opportunities for you to meet and compete againstfoxhunters from other parts of USA and the world.

If you are attending the Dayton Hamvention®, don’t missthe annual Foxhunting Forum at 11 AM on Friday, May 17 inRoom 2 at the Hara Arena. It will be followed by a multi-trans-mitter on-foot foxhunt in a nearby park on Saturday after-noon. Last year’s Hamvention® hunt was organized by BobFrey, WA6EZV; Dick Arnett, WB4SUV; Brian DeYoung,K4BRI; and Matt Robbins, AA9YH. It took all of them to putout two-dozen tiny transmitters in Sinclair Park to be soughtby 18 foxhunters in 12 teams. One fox was on 80 meters andthe rest were on 2 meters. An ARRL Handbook was the prizefor winner Matt Sanderson, KC9SEM, who found 20 trans-mitters within the one-hour time limit.

Transmitter hunting is also an annual tradition at the AESSuperfest in Milwaukee. In 2012, Paul Gruettner, WB9ODQ,concealed tiny transmitters under a log, in the fork of a tree,under a fence line, and buried in the tall grass. All were onthe same frequency, transmitting for short periods of time inrandom order. Hunters were given an hour to find as manyas possible, but Brian Jansen, KC9GMW, made it seem easyby snagging them all in just 19 minutes. He received an ARRLHandbook for his efforts.

SEA-PAC 2013, the ARRL Northwestern DivisionConvention in Seaside, Oregon5 will be a good place to learnabout international-rules on-foot foxhunting. Dale Hunt,WB6BYU, will give a “getting started” presentation on thattopic. A demonstration hunt is being planned.

Foxhunting is often a part of other annual get-togetherssuch as the Duke City Hamfest and the Huntsville Hamfest.Find out if the hamfests and picnics close to you are having

hunts. If not, volunteer to put one on! In southern California,there is always a hunt at Antennas-In-The-Park, sponsoredby Fullerton Radio Club. This year it will have been onSaturday, May 18 at Tri-City Park in Placentia.

At this event last year, I put out five transmitters on one 2-meter frequency in an international-rules course plus four“easy” transmitters for beginners on four separate 2-meterfrequencies. To top it all off, I deployed an 80-meter CWfoxbox to demonstrate the ease of RDF on that band. RDFequipment for both bands was available for loan.

The high point of 2013 for fans of international-style fox-tailing will be the Thirteenth USA ARDF Championships inthe second week and weekend of October. Thickly forestedcourses will be in the beautiful Birkhead Mountain Wildernessnear Asheboro, North Carolina. This year’s ARDF champi-onships for the USA are being combined with the champi-onships of International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region2, which encompasses North and South America.

Hosting these championships will be Joseph Huberman,K5JGH, and Ruth Bromer, WB4QZG. Setting courses andgiving them technical assistance will be Charles Scharlau,NZØI,and Nadia Scharlau, who was ARDF Team USA’s firstWorld Championship medal winner back in 2006. The option-al training, sprints, and foxoring events will be October 9–11,followed by full-course competitions on 2 meters and 80meters during the weekend of October 12–13.

USA’s national Championships are open to anyone whocan run or walk through the forest for 5 to 10 kilometers whilecarrying RDF gear. Most of America’s elite radio-orienteerswill be there, but about 25% of the participants are expectedto be first-timers. More information and registration forms areavailable at the event website.6

K5JGH and WB4QZG were among the men and womenfrom nine states and Canada who traveled to the Mt. LagunaRecreation Area for the 2012 USA ARDF Championshipsduring the week and weekend after Memorial Day.Competitor ages ranged from ages 27 to 71. Marvin

Karla Leach, KC7BLA, of Bozeman, Montana and RuthBromer, WB4QZG, of Raleigh, North Carolina proudly showthe US flag on the medal stand at the 2012 ARDF WorldChampionships in Serbia. They won bronze medals for their80-meter run in the category for women over age 60. Ruth willbe Registrar for the USA ARDF championships in October

2013. (Photo by Joseph Huberman, K5JGH)

Bob Cooley, KF6VSE, of Pleasanton, California broughthome four medals from his trip to Serbia for the 2012 ARDFWorld Championships, including three golds. (Photo by Joe

Moell, KØOV)

54 • CQ • June 2013 Visit Our Web Site

Johnston, KE6HTS, was General Chairfor these Championships, which tookplace in tall pine forests at 5900-foot alti-tude, about a one-hour drive from SanDiego. To get a good idea of what it’slike to participate in the USA ARDFChampionships, read the full report andsee dozens of photos on the Web.7

These championships were a quali-fying event for ARDF Team USA, whichformed afterward to compete at theSixteenth IARU ARDF World Cham-pionships in Serbia during September.This was USA’s eighth appearance atthe World Championships. Team mem-bers brought home 13 medals, morethan ever before.8

Ready, Set, Go! It’s time to start talking up foxhuntingaround your club and in your repeaterragchews, and to plan a hunt or two. CQdoesn’t impose rules or offer prizes forFoxhunting Weekend. That’s up to youand your fellow hometown hams. Yourhunt can be for mobiles or all on foot.Use the international rules or make upyour own.

If your club has always had one kindof hunt on Foxhunting Weekend, whynot try something different this year?Some hams prefer the formalities ofcarefully crafted boundaries, specifica-tions for signal parameters, time limits,and so forth. Others are completely content just to have one or more signals to hunt—no need for any regu-lations, they say. Talk it up on the localrepeater and see what your friendshave in mind.

Foxhunting teaches an importantskill—the ability to find the source of sig-nals from afar. RDF is useful for publicservice and volunteer enforcement. Itcan even save lives. Most of all, it’s fun!Give it a try, but make sure you have safefun. See to it that no one can be injuredby your hidden transmitter or by trying toget to it. Don’t let the excitement of thehunt make you an unsafe runner or dri-ver. Make sure that all transmitting andreceiving antennas are eye-safe. Alwaysbe mindful of your own physical limita-tions and never take chances behind thewheel or in the forest.

Every member of your club is a poten-tial participant in Foxhunting Weekend.Better yet, include the whole communi-ty, especially young people. Invite aScout troop to experience on-foot trans-mitter tracking or to ride along with themobile hunters. Look for opportunitiesto incorporate foxhunting into Scoutactivities such as Camporees, Scout-O-Ramas, and Jamboree-On-The-Air.

Afterwards, write up the results andsend them to me. The list of informationin a complete CQ Foxhunting Weekendreport is posted with the announcementat my website.9 We need details of date,location, hiders, and winners. Readersalso want to know what was uniqueabout your hunt and what lessons (pos-itive and negative) you learned from it.

Take lots of photos for your clubnewsletter and please send some to me

for a follow-up article. Although digitalfiles are best by far, sharp 5×7 printsmight be usable. A camera of at leastfour megapixels will provide detailedimages that make editors happy and aremore likely to be used. No cell-phonephotos, please.

I am eager to read your reports of2013 Foxhunting Weekend activitiesand the new ideas that you come upwith. Happy Hunting!

The 80-meter band is excellent for foxhunting, especially for beginners. Equipmentis small and easy to carry. Confusing signal reflections from buildings and hillsdon’t exist on that band. Joseph Huberman, K5JGH, of Raleigh, North Carolinawon a bronze medal in the category for men over age 60 at the 2012 USA ARDFChampionships at Mt. Laguna. He will be Meet Director for the 2013 USA

Championships in his state during October. (Photo by Joe Moell, KØOV)

Notes1. http://www.homingin.com/equipment2. Imagine putting RDF equipment for all those bands in and on your car. You can see

what their loaded vehicles look like in a whimsical video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47h5JXeWuk.

3. http://www.homingin.com/boxes4. Monroe County Radio Communications Association

(http://www.mcrca.org) 5. http://www.seapac.org6. http://www.ardf.us7. http://www.homingin.com/laguna128. http://www.homingin.com/serbia129. http://www.homingin.com/fw13

www.cq-amateur-radio.com June 2013 • CQ • 55