Category Archives: Drills

Foxhunt

Greetings!

  With a stretch of nice weather in the forecast, it’s time to dust off the transmitter hunting gear! This Thursday (8/29/19), the Bloomington Amateur Radio Association will be hosting a transmitter hunt, beginning at 6:30 PM at Bloomington Civic Plaza from the parking lot on the west side of the building (near the southwest entrance).

The field of play will be the City of Bloomington, bounded on the west by US HWY 169, to the north by I-494, and to the south and east by the Minnesota River.

Format: Two hidden transmitters; one 500 mW to 1 W, the other 10-20 mW and in the general vicinity of the stronger transmitter. The transmitters will be on alternate 1-minute transmit windows.

Accessibility: A vehicle will be required for finding the transmitters, but at-home operators (in Bloomington and possibly surrounding municipalities) with omnidirectional or directional antennas can still contribute with coordinated hunting (see Resources below for tips from WB4APR). On-foot hunting is expected to take up to a mile of walking on sidewalks, dirt/grass paths, or over cut grass.

Difficulty: This is intended to be a beginner-friendly event, and those without directional antennas are encouraged to take part in a coordinated hunt (see Resources below). With sunset at 7:56 PM, the event will be complete around 8:00–8:15 PM.

Frequencies:
Two hidden transmitters: 146.565 MHz FM
Safety and administrative: 147.090 MHz, +600 kHz, no tone, analog FM (KD0CL VHF repeater)
Coordinated hunting: 444.375 MHz, +5 MHz, DCS 047 (TX and RX), analog FM (KD0CL UHF repeater; repeater is Yaesu C4FM capable, but please use analog for this event)

Resources:
Homing In, and specifically this page on first-time hunting techniques and equipment.
Bob Bruninga’s (WB4APR) Direction Finding Tips for those with Omnidirectional Antennas.Further updates will be appended to the event posting on the Bloomington Amateur Radio Association website, https://mnhamradio.com/hidden-transmitter-hunt-thursday-8-29/
I have tried to copy Twin Cities area radio club leadership on this email; please pass this along to any people or clubs that may be interested (and please make sure your information on the ARRL Affiliated Club site is current!).

Regards,  Bill Mitchell
AE0EE

All Call Net March 14th

ALL Call Net Drill on the 14th

All members should try to check-in if possible. This is a test drill during our normal net time of 6:30pm this Thursday. The Net will be closed to our current members for the first part and then will be open to all, and finally open discussion. This can also be called a “Role Call!” Please follow the net controllers instructions carefully because it is a different then other nets and will be used in a major call out event in some form. Another note you must check yourself out on this type off nets if you have to leave.

Quick samples for this type of net responses are….

Simple check in “A0BC”, you have nothing to add to net but checking in “A0BC Clear”, You have something for the net “A0BC Traffic”, when assigned location and ready “A0BC inservice”, You have have to leave “Recheck A0BC” then wait to response “A0BC is going out of service, or A0BC is Checking out” finally wait for confirmation and any instructions, If you need to add new comment to the net “Comment A0BC”, Status of who in the net? “Status check A0BC”.

Please be more formal on this type of net and patient because of the volume people needed. We hope everyone has fun, but learn from this type of net.