Radio Location - transmitter antenna

[KM6HEL]

Hi Guys,

I fairly new to radio and foxhunting. I know that most foxhunting uses a transmittter to produce a signal and competitors use directional antennas to locate the transmitter. My question is what would happen if the transmitter also was equipped with a directional antenna? Would you still be able to locate the source?

 

[nd5y]

Yes you can still locate it. The only difference a direcional antenna on the transmitter makes is the signal is weaker in some areas and stronger in others depending where the antenna is pointing. It doesn't affect the directional readings that the hunters get.

 

[dkf435]

Depends on how good they are at the Baldy Bounce, heard of one T Hunt they were like under a freeway overpass and pointed at MT Baldy with a beam and it scattered everyplace. They have had 2meter beams on rotors and a rotisserie so changing azimuth and polarity is not unheard of.

Signal stalkers - LA Times

David

 

[n9mxq]

I once put on a fox hunt where myself and assistant were in a forest preserve in the north part of the county. Had a beam pointed towards town.. all the hunters were 90% sure I was at a local farm store some 12 miles away... apparently they all wandered around the lot looking for a cross band setup.. funny thing was, I had the beam, a 2m vertical and another antenna I called "the bazooka" (2 5 pound coffee cans soldered end to end..open on one end with a rubber duck inside) and was switching between the beam and vertical, and saved the bazooka for when they started getting close.. hunt lasted 4 hours.. but we had grilled burgers and hot dogs waiting.. don't even ask about my mobile fox...hehe..

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[kb7gjy]

11 element beam, 200 Watts pointed at a water tower a couple miles away. Talk about splatter. Was in a slight depression in what looked like a open flat field.

Most everyone was using the minimum power as the fox, we went to the other extreme. Everyone on the hunt had preamps very few had attenuators. Made a very enjoyable hunt.

 

[oemctx4]

Try it out it's a lot of fun to DF a transmitter with a yagi signal is stronger in the path of the antenna. Use on with a good front to back ratio.

 

[jonwienke]

If you're going to fox hunt, do it right!
GLOBAL TSCM GROUP, INC. - Radio DF DDF2020T

 

[oemctx4]

That's a nice unit

 

[dkf435]

Dopplers are just about worthless when the polarization is horizontal, quads work best for that.

David

 

[paulears]

DF is an art, more than just science. I've seen experienced hunters work with just a radio with decent metering and a variable attenuator beat the people with beams, and dopplers! The best advice for beam users is get further away to start, and for signal strength users, plotting the levels on a map. Horizontal quads are a crafty one - all those side lobes creating false paths.

A side story - on and off topic.

A few years back we did one locally, started at about 7, with it getting dark about 8.30. By the time it started to get dark we were all in a similar area - a country lane 5 miles from town. We got such a strong signal he HAD to be here, and we noticed an unknown car tucked away inside an entrance to a field. We crept up, pulled open the door and yelled - to reveal two people er, performing. Oops. It did explain the steamed up windows and no lights. We carried on. Another hunter turned up and did the same thing, followed by another. After 3 interruptions, the occupants of thew car drove off with adrenaline levels a bit high wondering what on earth was happening. The fox was 10 feet away in the field. He had built a haystack around his car!