Fort Wayne Radio Club

Normally, we start the fox (hidden transmitter) hunt season on the first Sunday in February, but sadly this year one of our enthusiastic hunters, Don Glick, K9LI, passed away suddenly before the hunt. FWRC decided to cancel the February hunt and focus on March. So, Sunday, March 7, we started the first transmission with 30 seconds of silent air to honor Don. This began our hunt and the start of the 2021 season. If this first hunt is any indication, this could shape up to be a great year!

From the staring point we had a variety of hunters, some new to FWRC hunts, some experienced, and some new to the sport. The teams of Al, Jim, Carole, and Anne (WB9SSE, K9OMA, WB9RUS, KA9YYI) were there along with Charles, KC9MUT, who had a ride-along with newbie KD9QHL. We were happy that the team of N9FEB and ND9C, both from the Indianapolis area, drove up to the Fort to participate in one of our hunts. Then there was a new team of several Trine University students and their professor in the form of KC2TCP, N9AMT, KD9OKH, KD9QQW, KW9S, and Abigail (not licensed yet). Also, we had a visit from Fred, KC9EZP and his dog, Izzy. They weren’t in the hunt but passing through the Fort.

Prior to this first hunt, the fox team of Linda and Steve (W9LAN & W9SAN) had made several trips around the county searching out new hiding spots. We had identified six potential places but decided on returning to Franke Park back by the old soap box derby hill. With the help of grandson Alex, the microfox was literally hidden under the edge of a large rock and a small pile of leaves completed the disguise. At 1:30 pm, we started transmitting with the 25 watt fox and activated the microfox, the hunt was on! It was a beautiful late winter day with plenty of sunshine, but the temperature was not too warm in the range of 40 degrees. Since we were only about six miles from the start point, we figured it would be a short time before the hunters started showing up. Boy were we wrong! After about an hour we began to wonder if our “easy” hiding spot was anything but!

The Fort Wayne Radio Club will kick off its 2021 fox (hidden transmitter) hunting season Sunday, March 7, at the Corbin Park trailhead, 742 N. Coliseum Blvd., near 24/30 Surplus. That’s just north of what long-time Fort Wayne residents know as the city’s original cloverleaf intersection. This is near the geographical center of Allen County.

Gather there at about 1 p.m. ET, and be ready when the hunt starts at 1:30 p.m. sharp. The fox will be W9LAN, W9SAN and Alex.

The fox frequency is 146.430 MHz simplex. It transmits on high power for one minute starting on five-minute boundaries. The microfox transmits every 2.5 minutes on the same frequency, but at a 25 milliwatt power level. Foxes are always somewhere in Allen County. Use the 146.76 MHz repeater in Fort Wayne as an intercom to contact other fox hunters or the fox, if necessary. It is also OK for home stations to help hunters with antenna bearings if you have a directional antenna at home!

If you are new to fox hunting, we often have ride-along or follow-along space, and plenty of advice! For those who participate, we will build you a tape measure yagi to use with your mobile rig or HT! Attenuators can be home brew or purchased kits from K9SFX, or pre-built from Arrow Antenna.

We have picked a challenging but not too difficult hiding spot for this first hunt, so come on out for a fun afternoon this sunny Sunday!