2022-03-11 to 20 Amateur Radio Transmitter Finding Event - Ottawa

Amateur Radio Transmitter Finding Event - Ottawa

Event Write-up and Fox Fotos

Will be posted when available ...

Mobile transmitter finding event

This will be a mobile only event so you will be able to drive around town using your mobile or portable radio to locate the hidden transmitter.

We are excited to be able to offer this activity to encourage everyone to get out for some fresh air and look forward to your participation and hopefully some discussion about your strategy and success.

Dates and Times

From noon on Friday March 11th to 5:00PM ET Sunday March 20th.

What you will need

You will need a 2 m radio and a directional antenna and ideally an offset attenuator so the strong signal will not de-sense your receiver. You might find success from getting several bearings from different points in the city and use a map to draw lines to identify a point of intersection.

What to listen for

The fox will be transmitting 15 mW on 147.57 MHz -- a warble tone followed by a Morse code identifier for 15 seconds, followed by 15 seconds of silence (no carrier) before it repeats the cycle. Be sure to turn your squelch all the way down so you can hear the fox at the edge of its range.

We tested the propagation at 15 mW and it covers an area about 4 km in diameter. If you can’t hear it from your home, jump in the car, you won’t have to drive very far. Take a major route like the 417 and you will surely hear it at some point.

Registration

You don’t have to register or check in for this event.

However, in order to facilitate your progress, please communicate with Roger (va3egy) with your guess by sending him an email at va3egy@gmail.com with the title “March Fox Hunt“. He will confirm whether you are correct (or not) each evening after 6:00pm so that you could head out again if your answer is not correct.

Safety first!

Please take care to park your vehicle in a safe place before you use your radio gear to get a bearing whether from inside or outside your vehicle.

Let us know how you do!

We would appreciate hearing what equipment you used and how you used it to help you find the fox as well as any other details you’d like to share – such as time and how many kilometers you drove.

If you are a paid-up member of either the OVMRC or OARC, you can borrow equipment by sending an email to va3egy@gmail.com

Have fun, stay safe and good luck!