Category Archives: Fox Hunting

AREG January Foxhunt – a great day out!

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The AREG January saturday foxhunt event was a great success with 4 groups participating in the foot hunt around the south Adelaide parkland wetlands . We had a couple of family teams out there as well. 6 low power 2m (144 MHz) beacons were scattered through the wetlands. All teams managed to find these within about 45 minutes which was a great effort.

One of the groups checking in that they found a fox transmitter

After the foot hunt, we took on the vehicle hunt challenge. Tony VK5AH and company took on the task of hiding the transmitters for this event across the NW suburbs of Adelaide. Three teams set out to find the foxes, two of which were on the 144 MHz band and one on the 439 MHz band. Tony set quite the challenge for us as we couldn’t hear any of the transmitters from the start.

After heading to high ground in North Adelaide, several of the teams caught a weak signal from one of the 144MHz beacons and we were then off north. That beacon was ultimately located near the Dry Creek rail yards. Next was 439 MHz, which took us across to the Port Adelaide Canoe club and finally, we caught a signal from the 2nd 144MHz beacon which lead us to the eastern boundary of the Adelaide Airport.

Fox Beacon 1 – 144 MHz

Fox 2 – 439 MHz hidden inside the polypipe

Fox 3 – buried under brush in a reserve on the east side of Adelaide Airport

The equipment used varies by team. Mark VK5QI has developed a system based around a Kraken Synchronous SDR Time of arrival system which allows his team to track while driving. Most of the others need to stop and take bearings along the way.

VK5QI team with a Kraken TOA Direction Finding System

Here you can see the route taken by the VK5QI time finding these three rather low powered fox transmitters spreadout across Adelaide.

Thanks to everyone who took part. This new Saturday format is something we will consider going forward for foxhunting throughout 2026!

AREG Adelaide Foxhunt Events: Saturday Jan 31st at 2pm

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UPDATE: The next AREG foxhunt event will now be held on Saturday January 31st starting at 2.00pm. The date change is due to the weather forecast predicting 40+ deg Celcius on the original date of Saturday 24th.

Fox hunting, or Amateur Radio Direction Finding as it is more properly known, is an event where radio amateurs gather together to track down the location of a hidden transmitter using radio direction finding techniques. Foxhunts can take several forms, including on foot and from a vehicle over a wider area.

For this event, we will cater for both kinds of activity – with a 5 transmitter foot based hunt firstly held around the wetlands in the Adelaide South Parklands, followed by a three stage vehicle hunt across metropolitan Adelaide.

The event is open to everyone. For those without vehicle based equipment, you can still come and try some on foot hunting around the Adelaide South Park Lands before the multi-leg metropolitan hunt gets underway (we will have some equipment available to borrow for this part of the event).

While the activity is running, we will be listening and liaising on the linked repeater system via either the CBD 438.025 MHz or Summertown 439.900 MHz repeaters. It is intended to wrap up hunting activities by ~5.30pm and then pick somewhere close to the final fox locations to gather for dinner.

For more information email vk5arg@areg.org.au.

AREG April Meeting – Good Friday Park Picnic / Foxhunt / HF Activation

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For April’s meeting (on Friday the 18th of April, the Good Friday public holiday), AREG will not be holding a meeting at the Fulham Community Centre. Instead, we’ll be trying something a bit different and meeting up in a park for a BBQ lunch, HF activation, and some fox-hunting!

We’ll be meeting at the lower section of the Morialta Conservation Park from around 11AM with parking available off Moritalta Falls Road. We’ll be near one of the BBQ areas, so look out for a red AREG flag!

We’ll have a HF station going to activate the Morialta Conservation Park (VKFF-0783) so listen out for VK5ARG on the bands! There will also be a fox-hunting (amateur radio direction finding) course set up around the park, with plenty of equipment available to borrow and give fox-hunting a go.

If you’re coming along, we suggest you bring a chair, drinks, and food for lunch (the club will provide some basic BBQ fare too).

Hope to see you there!

Next Fox-Hunt – Friday 7th March

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AREGs next car-based fox hunt will be held this coming Friday the 7th of March. We arrive at the start location around 6pm, and depart at 6:30 PM.

We are also looking for volunteers to hide the foxes each month. If you would like to give this a go, please contact Mark at vk5qi@rfhead.net

Our start location is the Beaumont Road carpark, off South Terrace in the southern CBD Parklands. 

We’ll have three foxes deployed around the Adelaide area, on both the 2m and 70cm bands, so come along and have a go!

Area where the foxes might be hidden.

The frequencies will be:

  • 145.300 MHz (1W transmit power)
  • 144.390 MHz (100mW transmit power)
  • 439.400 MHz (50mW transmit power)

As usual, liaison will be on the VK5RSB Summertown 70cm repeater which operates on 439.900 (-5MHz) 91.5 CTCSS. Please come up on the repeater so we know who is out hunting, and how you are faring throughout the evening! If we don’t hear from your, we may recover the foxes before you find them!

We also have a mailing list, and a Facebook Messenger group – please contact Mark VK5QI (vk5qi@rfhead.net) if you would like to be added to this!

The event is open to anyone with radio direction finding equipment, with the foxes hidden within the bounds shown on the above map. We would love to see you there!

73

Mark VK5QI

Next Fox-Hunt – Friday 1st November

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AREGs next car-based fox hunt will be held this coming Friday the 1st of November. We arrive at the start location around 6pm, and depart at 6:30 PM.

We are also looking for volunteers to hide the foxes each month. If you would like to give this a go, please contact Mark at vk5qi@rfhead.net

A fox on top of a fox

Our start location is the Beaumont Road carpark, off South Terrace in the southern CBD Parklands. 

We’ll have three foxes deployed around the Adelaide area, on both the 2m and 70cm bands, so come along and have a go!

Area where the foxes might be hidden.

The frequencies will be:

  • 145.300 MHz (1W transmit power)
  • 144.390 MHz (100mW transmit power)
  • 439.400 MHz (50mW transmit power)

As usual, liaison will be on the VK5RSB Summertown 70cm repeater which operates on 439.900 (-5MHz) 91.5 CTCSS. Please come up on the repeater so we know who is out hunting, and how you are faring throughout the evening! If we don’t hear from your, we may recover the foxes before you find them!

We also have a mailing list, and a Facebook Messenger group – please contact Mark VK5QI (vk5qi@rfhead.net) if you would like to be added to this!

The event is open to anyone with radio direction finding equipment, with the foxes hidden within the bounds shown on the above map. We would love to see you there!

73

Mark VK5QI

Next Fox-Hunt – Friday 4th October – CANCELLED

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UPDATE: Unfortunately due to many key people being unavailable this Month, we’ve had to cancel this month’s hunt. We’ll be back again on the 1st of November!

AREGs next car-based fox hunt will be held this coming Friday the 4th of October. We arrive at the start location around 6pm, and depart at 6:30 PM. Don’t forget to bring your torch, it’ll be dark!

We are also looking for volunteers to hide the foxes each month. If you would like to give this a go, please contact Mark at vk5qi@rfhead.net

Fox, Hunting.

Our start location is the Beaumont Road carpark, off South Terrace in the southern CBD Parklands. 

We’ll have three foxes deployed around the Adelaide area, on both the 2m and 70cm bands, so come along and have a go!

Area where the foxes might be hidden.

The frequencies will be:

  • 145.300 MHz (1W transmit power)
  • 144.390 MHz (100mW transmit power)
  • 439.400 MHz (50mW transmit power)

As usual, liaison will be on the VK5RSB Summertown 70cm repeater which operates on 439.900 (-5MHz) 91.5 CTCSS. Please come up on the repeater so we know who is out hunting, and how you are faring throughout the evening! If we don’t hear from your, we may recover the foxes before you find them!

We also have a mailing list, and a Facebook Messenger group – please contact Mark VK5QI (vk5qi@rfhead.net) if you would like to be added to this!

The event is open to anyone with radio direction finding equipment, with the foxes hidden within the bounds shown on the above map. We would love to see you there!

73

Mark VK5QI

Next Fox-Hunt – Friday 6th September

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AREGs next car-based fox hunt will be held this coming Friday the 6th of September. We arrive at the start location around 6pm, and depart at 6:30 PM. Don’t forget to bring your torch, it’ll be dark!

Our start location is the Beaumont Road carpark, off South Terrace in the southern CBD Parklands. 

We’ll have three foxes deployed around the Adelaide area, on both the 2m and 70cm bands, so come along and have a go!

Area where the foxes might be hidden.

The frequencies will be:

  • 145.300 MHz (1W transmit power)
  • 144.390 MHz (100mW transmit power)
  • 439.400 MHz (50mW transmit power)

As usual, liaison will be on the VK5RSB Summertown 70cm repeater which operates on 439.900 (-5MHz) 91.5 CTCSS. Please come up on the repeater so we know who is out hunting, and how you are faring throughout the evening! If we don’t hear from your, we may recover the foxes before you find them!

The event is open to anyone with radio direction finding equipment, with the foxes hidden within the bounds shown on the above map. We would love to see you there!

We are also looking for volunteers to hide the foxes each month. If you would like to give this a go, please contact Mark at vk5qi@rfhead.net

73

Mark VK5QI

Next Fox-Hunt – Friday 2nd August

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AREGs next car-based fox hunt will be held this coming Friday the 2nd of August. We arrive at the start location around 6pm, and depart at 6:30 PM. Don’t forget to bring your torch, it’ll be dark!

Due to construction works around the Adelaide Aquatic Centre, the start location has been moved to the Beaumont Road carpark, off South Terrace in the southern CBD Parklands. 

We’ll have three foxes deployed around the Adelaide area, on both the 2m and 70cm bands, so come along and have a go!

Area where the foxes might be hidden.

The frequencies will be:

  • 145.300 MHz (1W transmit power)
  • 144.390 MHz (100mW transmit power)
  • 439.400 MHz (50mW transmit power)

As usual, liaison will be on the VK5RSB Summertown 70cm repeater which operates on 439.900 (-5MHz) 91.5 CTCSS. Please come up on the repeater so we know who is out hunting, and how you are faring throughout the evening! If we don’t hear from your, we may recover the foxes before you find them!

The event is open to anyone with radio direction finding equipment, with the foxes hidden within the bounds shown on the above map. We would love to see you there!

We are also looking for volunteers to hide the foxes each month. If you would like to give this a go, please contact Mark at vk5qi@rfhead.net

73

Mark VK5QI