What equipment do I need?

You do NOT need a lot of gear to be a good foxhunter!

The Basic equipment

First, you will need a radio that tunes to the fox frequency, which is 147.180 mhz. Your radio can be a scanner, or perhaps the one radio that almost all radio amateurs now carry: a 2-meter handi-talkie. Although it is possible to use radios which do not have an "S-meter", or other means of showing relative signal strength, you will be handicapped if your radio does not have at least an LCD bar-graph, to help you judge how strong the signal is.

Second, you will want some kind of directional antenna. This should be small enough that you can hand-carry it, but designed so that it helps you judge the direction the signal is coming from. Many local hunters use a small 2-meter beam or quad of two- to four elements. These can be home-brewed (any hunter you meet can probably show you how!), or "store-bought". Popular beams and/or quads are made by Cushcraft, KLM, Arrow Antenna, AAE Bandmaster Quads, etc.

Third, you need an attenuator. An attenuator knocks down the signal strength as you get closer to the signal source. If you don't do this, then your S-meter will soon become "pinned" as you get closer to the source, and you will not be able to tell if your antenna is pointing in the right direction or not. Your attenuator should be variable from zero to about sixty decibels (db). You will probably find that when you have to put in forty db or more attenuation to keep the S-meter on scale, that you are very close to, or in sight of the signal source. When the signal gets to be much stronger, it will come into your radio through the case and on your feedline (coax), and bypass the antenna anyway, but by that time you are there!

If you cannot locate a variable attenuator of reasonable cost (under $35), you can build your own (see the suggested reference mentioned elsewhere). If you find an attenuator that is built for an impedance other than 50 ohms, that is OK for this application. If you happen to find some of those small, fixed-value attenuators such as are used for oscilloscopes, use them if you can get a good price ($3-$5 each, used).

Next, you will want a good map. Since our Rules dictate that the official boundaries are the limits of the RAND McNALLY map of Metro Boston, that is a good choice. You may find others (hint, hint) that also help. A good T-hunter is always looking for newer, better maps, perhaps to find new roads before the other hunters do, or to plan hiding spots for future hunts.

A compass will be handy to help you determine just which way your antenna is pointing when you take a bearing on the signal. You can plot these bearings on your map to help you figure out where the fox is hiding. (Before you plot those bearings, read the discussion about Magnetic Declination).

Non-basic equipment

One of the great aspects of transmitter hunting is that there is plenty of opportunity for people who like to "homebrew" their own gear and gadgets. Usually such projects are hoped to be a nifty "secret weapon" which will give you an advantage in future hunts. Maybe you can design a better antenna, or better "sniffer", or maybe you can come up with a way to hear those weak signals when noone else can. Everyone enjoys seeing new toys show up at the hunts, and then hearing the "war stories" of the hunters who brought them, after the hunt.

Lately, we're seeing some new ideas for "doppler"-type direction-finders showing up at the hunts. Some hunters have built versions of "active"-attenuators.

Of course, there are always ways to spend big bucks on T-hunting gear. I know more than one hunter who purchased a new (well, used) vehicle just for T-hunting.

A *HOLE* in my car roof?!!!

Don't worry that you need to mount the antenna on your car roof, that's not true. A simple hunting method is to just get out of the car once in a while, and aim the antenna by hand. Some of the more serious hunters mount the antenna on a short PVC pipe and run it through the window into the arm rest or map-pocket.

Drilling a hole in the roof of the vehicle is not smart if you are only going to hunt once in a while, but on the plus side you can hunt in any weather without getting wet, and you don't have to stop the vehicle to get out to take a reading. If you do choose to have a car-mounted antenna, this is another good excuse to invite a friend or spouse along to be your antenna-aimer and navigator while you do the driving, or vice-versa.

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