Fox Hunting
In Amateur Radio a Fox Hunt is a search for a hidden transmitter using Radio Direction Finding (RDF) equipment and techniques. The transmitter is referred to as the Fox and the Hound and is the one using RDF equipment to search for the Fox. The frequently used equipment is a directional antenna and a handheld transceiver. A two-meter simplex frequency is often used because an inexpensive handheld transceiver and an easily built Yagi antenna is all that is needed. This type of setup can cost as little as $50 or less which makes if affordable to most hams. Check out the Tape Measure Antenna tab for an easy to build Yagi for 2-meter Fox Hunting.
More advanced setups may use an oscillator to generate harmonics on adjacent frequencies and a variable attenuator to weaken the received signal to better identify the direction of the signal without signal overload when in close proximity to the Fox. Kits for these oscillator setups can be purchased on-line for less than $20.
Fox hunting is not limited to the 2-meter band. Many HF and VHF bands are used by different groups but most will be in the upper HF bands or the VHF bands because they lend themselves to smaller directional antennas.
A typical fox hunt might have the Fox (the transmitter) transmit for a 30 second interval and then silence transmission for one minute. This cycle would be repeated until the Fox had been found by the majority of Hounds (Transmitter Hunters).
The Quaboag Valley Amateur Radio Club (QVARC) 