Sneaky Foxhunt Hiding Suggestions from Usenet
The following are postings made to various Usenet newsgroups, with suggestions,
war stories, and ideas for how to hide the "fox". The articles are unedited,
and ideas expressed are not necessarily endorsed by anyone associated with
these web pages.
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Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt wanted..
From: Wally@moor.slip.uky.edu (Walter R Francis)
Date: 18 Feb 96 23:24:03 -500
I am going to be the fox in a foxhunt here in Lexington, KY March the
3rd, and I am looking for suggestions on how I can be sneaky and throw
my hunters off. They've been waiting the winter (as every time I
thought about having a hunt it was nasty or really cold) and I am afraid
they're going to track me down in 15 minutes due to being so anxious..
:)
Any suggestions on what I could do to throw them off would be
appreciated. I've a couple ideas, but hopefully I can get some better
ones and make 'em work to find me. :)
Thanks..
========
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt wanted..
From: gsparks@ix.netcom.com(Glenn Sparks)
Date: 20 Feb 1996 18:10:04 GMT
The worst I ever ran into was a fox that had a audio modulated signal
on it that climbed and dropped from about 200 Hz to 2000 Hz in about 5
second cycles that also cycled the power output from 100 mw to 10 watts
in a seemingly random method and speed.
Beware though, the hunters were so furious by the time they found the
fox he barely escaped with his life. I simply got frustrated and left.
Glenn Sparks KI5GY
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Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt wanted..
From: tkc@ncn.net (tkc)
Date: Fri, 23 Feb 1996 02:54:09 GMT
On 20 Feb 1996 18:10:04 GMT, gsparks@ix.netcom.com(Glenn Sparks)
wrote:
Use HIGH power around 100 watts in a downtown location
Into a simple 1/4 wave antenna.
This will bounce all over the taller buildings and they will never get
a fix on you..
Set up in a truck with a strong 12VDC supply and back up batteries.
have fun.. 73 Dean
========
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt wanted..
From: Frank Barrett
Date: 21 Feb 1996 04:04:56 GMT
Good luck on your foxhunt. I enjoy being the fox, to make it harder
to find you try: hiding in a low spot, your signal does funny
things when it leaves the low area. Maybe under a water tower..
If you can find a road behind a large park or large area that
everyone will have to go around. Look for a bridge out.. and be
on the other side waveing at them when they have to backtrack
and find a new route..drop me a note if you need more suggestions.
========
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt wanted..
From: David Robbins
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 1996 23:45:45 -0800
the worst fox i have seen sat on top of one hill and aimed a beam across
the valley at a higher peak. the signal reflected very nicely off the
higher peak while the side of the hill shielded him from the valley. we
would start up the higher side and then the signal would come from the
opposite direction. when we went that way it would fade out and seem to
be coming from the higher peak again.
73, dave.
--
ky1h@berkshire.net or robbins@berkshire.net
http://www.berkshire.net/~robbins/ky1h.html
WWW Page now has New England Flea Market list from W1GSL
========
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt wanted..
From: macino@mail.fwi.com
Date: 21 Feb 1996 12:39:04 GMT
Hi Wally,
I did one last summer that still has 'em buzzing! I pulled into a
public parking garage at about the 4th level. It was one of those
that has about a 6'8" clearance, no the ones with exotic arrays
mounted on rooftops weren't too excited about skulking around there.
Most of the previous hunts had been 'out in the county'. A little
'urban guerrilla' hunting will drive the most avid hunter nuts. We
have a 2 hour hunt limit, and actually nobody found us in the alloted
time. Of course you are going to want to vary your power, etc. For
the initial contact to the hunters, we used a 4 element beam hanging
out of one of the ventilation openings. It was pretty nasty, but
probably more realistic than sitting in an air conditioned truck out
in a corn field! Have fun WD9AHF P.S. the idea came from KB9IHS my
13yr son.
========
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt wanted..
From: mcinnis@austin.ibm.com (Mickey McInnis)
Date: 22 Feb 1996 22:44:18 GMT
In article <4gf3p8$ba5@news.ios.com>, macino@mail.fwi.com writes:
>
> Hi Wally,
> I did one last summer that still has 'em buzzing! I pulled into a public parking garage
> at about the 4th level. It was one of those that has about a 6'8" clearance, no the
> ones with exotic arrays mounted on rooftops weren't too excited about skulking
> around there. Most of the previous hunts had been 'out in the county'. A little
> 'urban guerrilla' hunting will drive the most avid hunter nuts. We have a 2 hour
> hunt limit, and actually nobody found us in the alloted time. Of course you are
> going to want to vary your power, etc. For the initial contact to the hunters, we
> used a 4 element beam hanging out of one of the ventilation openings. It was
> pretty nasty, but probably more realistic than sitting in an air conditioned truck
> out in a corn field!
> WD9AHF
> P.S. the idea came from KB9IHS my 13yr son.
(Tongue-in-cheek on)
Makes me think of my idea for taking care of "too smart" foxes who park
in places that aren't public property. " Hello, police department, (or
xyz security, or building owner,..)., there are some suspicious looking
characters parked in XYZ parking garage, a construction site at xxx,
You might want to check them out. I think they are drinking, selling
drugs, selling cloned cellphones, shooting guns, etc..."
--
Mickey McInnis - mcinnis@austin.ibm.com
--
All opinions expressed are my own opinions, not my company's opinions.
========
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt wanted..
From: rst-engr@oro.net (Jim Weir)
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 1996 20:13:43 GMT
We allow the fox to "wander" in a defined radius so it looks "normal",
or like the fox is supposed to be there rather than rigid in space.
Normally, we give a 100 meter radius of wander.
Sneakiest I remember was putting the fox in a perambulator (baby
buggy) with a DDDR ring antenna in the bottom and a doll baby covered
up so it looked real. Sent "mommy" and "daddy" to the zoo with all
those great iron fences and cages.
Are YOU gonna go up to some 6'5" guy and ask if he's got a transmitter
under his kid?
Jim
Jim Weir VP Engineering | You bet your sweet patootie I speak
RST Engineering | for the company. I OWN the cotton-
Grass Valley CA 95945 | pickin' company.
http://www.rst-engr.com/ | AR Adv. WB6BHI Cessna 182A N73CQ
rst-engr@oro.net | Comm'l Pilot & CFI Airplane/Glider A&P Mechanic
========
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt wanted..
From: Steve Butler
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 1996 09:13:54 -0800
1. Stay away from flat terrain.
2. Put your back to a hill.
3. Aim your beam at a tall building a few miles away (or power line, or
ridge across the valley from you, or ....)
Those are presuming that you need to "visible" and accessable by
vehicle.
Now, if the end game is on foot: Mount the antenna on a chain link
fence behind a bunch of bushes and bury everything else.
+----------------------------------------------------+
| Steve Butler Voice: 206-464-2998 |
| The Seattle Times Fax: 206-382-8898 |
| PO Box 70 Internet: sbut-is@seatimes.com |
| Seattle, WA 98111 Packet: KG7JE@N6EQZ.WA |
+----------------------------------------------------+
All standard and non-standard disclaimers apply.
All other sources are annonymous.
========
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt wanted..
From: gray@news.humberc.on.ca (Kelly Gray)
Date: 22 Feb 1996 14:31:15 GMT
If you're using 2m or higher frequencies, you could try hiding a small
beam in some foliage, and aiming it at some nearby buildings. That
should keep things busy for a while.
On one of our foxhunts, the fox was sitting in a car parked near a
cluster of apartment buildings, and the reflections off the buildings
were giving us all sorts of false readings. I got at least six solid
readings, all pointing to the same place, a park about a kilometer
away from the fox!
========
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt wanted..
From: cgreenha@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Christopher K Greenhalgh)
Date: 22 Feb 1996 17:21:10 GMT
In article <4ghunj$em4@dns.humberc.on.ca>,
Kelly Gray wrote:
>If you're using 2m or higher frequencies, you could try hiding a small beam
>in some foliage, and aiming it at some nearby buildings. That should keep
>things busy for a while.
>
> On one of our foxhunts, the fox was sitting in a car parked near a cluster
>of apartment buildings, and the reflections off the buildings were giving us
>all sorts of false readings. I got at least six solid readings, all pointing
>to the same place, a park about a kilometer away from the fox!
Getting the transmitter under some power lines, around water, and/or
horizonally polarize (if its UHF/VHF) all helps "scatter" the signal.
In our rules, the transmitter and antenna(s) location cant change after
the hunt has started, but a Yagi or quad are allowed to be moved on
their axises. If you are allowed to do this, used in combination of
different power settings, it would surely slow them down. :)
We had a guy who used 3 different antennas (Yagi, Cube quad, horizonal),
2 different radios, total of 6 different power settings, under some high
tension electrical wires, next to a large river. Between all this, he
was changing the power levels, and "spinning" the Yagi and quad while
transmitting...talk about a hard signal to chase!
Take care.
--
Christopher K. Greenhalgh, N8WCT
Computer/Electronic Tech. II at The Ohio State University
E-Mail: ckg+@osu.edu (cgreenha@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu)
Radio : n8wct@w8cqk.#cmh.oh.usa.noam
========
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt wanted..
From: brian@nothing.ucsd.edu (Brian Kantor)
Date: 28 Feb 1996 01:06:16 GMT
1) borrow a police car and put the hidden transmitter in the trunk,
attached to the antenna that normally runs the radio. hunters have to
pick up a tag from under the windshield wiper.
extra credit: have a uniform busting someone every time a car with a
T-hunt antenna comes near
2) put the hidden transmitter into a briefcase and have a guy in a
cheap suit and sunglasses carrying the briefcase sit on a bus going
around the city for hours. hunters have to board the bus and ask the
spooky-looking dude for their tag.
extra credit: handcuff the briefcase to the dude
3) hide it in a storm drain hanging from a cable; hunters have to pull
it up and retrieve the tag.
extra credit: park a fire engine or other large truck in front of the
drain
4) hide it in a bush and when the first hunter arrives and goes crashing
off into the brush to find it, go pick it up and move it under his car
behind a tire where it can't be seen easily.
extra credit: put it under the hood instead
I'm not making this up you know, every one of these was done here in
San Diego.
Use your imagination.
- Brian
========
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt wanted..
From: clifto@indep1.chi.il.us (Clifton T. Sharp)
Date: Wed, 28 Feb 1996 21:39:41 GMT
In article <4h09q8$pbm@news1.ucsd.edu> brian@nothing.ucsd.edu (Brian Kantor) writes:
>I'm not making this up you know, every one of these was done here in
>San Diego.
Good sneaky stuff!
Some years ago, N9DLW and I studied the rules carefully and then hid
in the observatory deck of Sears Tower in Chicago, right in the heart
of "intermod alley". To circumvent the rule that said that you
couldn't hide in a place where admission was charged, we not only made
arrangments for anyone with a talkie to be admitted free, we had the
guards actively wave over anyone carrying radio equipment and
encourage them to go up and visit the observatory.
Not only did the hunters have to overcome the intermodulation and the
interference, they had to put up with the signal reflecting off just
about every tall building in Chicago, and had to learn to think in
three dimensions. We were not well-liked after that one. :-)
--
Cliff Sharp There are days when no matter which
WA9PDM way you spit, it's upwind.
clifto@indep1.chi.il.us --The First Law of Reality
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Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt wanted..
From: Bob Archer N4ECO
Date: Fri, 1 Mar 1996 19:36:09 GMT
Some 30 years ago, brother-in-law(WA4WGL) & myself hung a 2
meter ground plane up side down from a bridge about 4 feet off
the water. With a string from shore we would swing the antenna
in a circle while transmitting. There were several bridges over
the river & the signal would bounce off the water, buildings &
all the bridges. The hunters were scattered over a 15 mile area
up & down the river. We were not found until we were asked to
leave the antenna stationary and described the ball field near
the bridge we could see. It was a lot of fun watching &
listening to those guys driving over us on the bridge then going
on to the next bridge, etc.
Bob Archer N4ECO
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Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt wanted..
From: dhughes@efn.org (Dick Hughes)
Date: Wed, 28 Feb 1996 15:40:23 GMT
I had two real winners many years ago that should get some kind of
award. I'll tell you about one. Two of us hauled a 6-meter AM Gonset
Communicator and a car battery in a kids wagon to the top of a hill
near the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds. That should tell you how
long ago it was. A couple of miles to the west was an airport that
was called Bracket Field. Maybe still is.
A few days before the fox hunt, I recorded several minutes of a
helicopter flying around the air field. I knew that there would be
helicopter rides during the fair. You can see what's coming can't
you?
I could watch the traffic below using binoculars and could tell when a
hunter was in the area. As soon as they got close, and making sure
the helicopter was down by the air field, I would play the tape in the
background. In those days, we talked continuously. You could see the
mad scramble to turn around and head for the helicopter. Being
several hundred feet up kept the signal wierd enough to screw up the
signal strength. No one had direction finders in those days, and
relied on S-meters and how loud the signal was. I kept this up for
about 2 hours until one of my buddies finally figured it out. He was
the only one to find me that night.
I will tell you about the other one some other time.
Dick Hughes - W7LVA
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Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt wanted..
From: edellers@shivasys.com (Ed Ellers)
Date: 29 Feb 1996 04:46:11 GMT
I heard one guy a while back built up an automated "fox" that he hid
in a fake tombstone and set up in a cemetery. My own idea for a
hiding place would be in a car that is *not* known to be owned by a
ham and that has a fixed (not power) AM/FM antenna; this again would
use an automated transmitter fed into the factory antenna. A power
antenna wouldn't be quite so convincing because you usually don't see
them up while parked. (What would be really dirty, IMHO, would be to
do this with an old GM car that had a windshield antenna!) -- Ed
Ellers, KD4AWQ ======== Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc Subject:
Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt wanted.. From:
n1ist@netcom.com (Michael L. Ardai) Date: Fri, 1 Mar 1996 04:41:56
GMT
A few tricks we have used here around Boston include:
- putting the auto-fox a quarter wave in front of a metal loading-dock
door behind the BU Burger King. It bounced the signal across the
Charles River and had quite a few of us crawling around the MIT area
over in Cambridge
- Suspending a dipole from fishing line, and putting sails on the two
ends. As the wind blew, the dipole kept moving and changing rxvd
signal strength
- Wearing an auto-fox feeding a belt-mounted HT while wandering around
the flea area at the Manchester convention. Nobody found me even
though I was wearing a badge with "The FOX" in inch-high red
letters.
- Hiding the fox on someone's table at the flea. Unfortunately,
someone tried to buy it :-)
/mike
--
\|/ Michael L. Ardai N1IST
-*- ----------------------------------
/|\ n1ist@netcom.com
========
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt wanted..
From: morris@grian.cps.altadena.ca.us (Mike Morris)
Date: Sun, 3 Mar 1996 09:44:46 GMT
And don't forget to park in a lovers lane area, and have a couple of
teenagers necking in the front seat.
---
Mike Morris morris@grian.cps.altadena.ca.us
#include I have others, but this works the best.
This message assembled from 100% recycled electrons (and pixels).
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
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Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt w
From: burke_br@adcae1.comm.mot.com (Bruce Burke)
Date: 22 Feb 1996 13:00:00 GMT
In article ba5@news.ios.com, macino@mail.fwi.com writes:
}In <614.6622T1404T199@moor.slip.uky.edu>, Wally@moor.slip.uky.edu (Walter R Francis) writes:
} Hi Wally,
} I did one last summer that still has 'em buzzing! I pulled into a public parking garage
} at about the 4th level. It was one of those that has about a 6'8" clearance, no the
} ones with exotic arrays mounted on rooftops weren't too excited about skulking
} around there.} Have fun
} WD9AHF
} P.S. the idea came from KB9IHS my 13yr son.
Gotta be careful about doing those types of things. Some places will
have you removed because they see that as a threat to their customers.
Either that or they just don't have the same sense of humor...
73,
Bruce, WB4YUC
========
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt w
From: cgreenha@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Christopher K Greenhalgh)
Date: 22 Feb 1996 14:40:04 GMT
In article <4ghpcg$ooo@brokaw.comm.mot.com>,
Bruce Burke wrote:
>In article ba5@news.ios.com, macino@mail.fwi.com writes:
>}In <614.6622T1404T199@moor.slip.uky.edu>, Wally@moor.slip.uky.edu (Walter R Francis) writes:
>} Hi Wally,
>} I did one last summer that still has 'em buzzing! I pulled into a public parking garage
>} at about the 4th level. It was one of those that has about a 6'8" clearance, no the
>} ones with exotic arrays mounted on rooftops weren't too excited about skulking
>} around there.} Have fun
>} WD9AHF
>} P.S. the idea came from KB9IHS my 13yr son.
>
>Gotta be careful about doing those types of things. Some places will
>have you removed because they see that as a threat to their customers.
>Either that or they just don't have the same sense of humor...
>
>73,
>Bruce, WB4YUC
Fox hunting, or DFing, is popular here in Columbus too. We have one
every month, and I have a jeep that I can take the top off, and have
added a mast support to hold a 7ft, 1.25 mast with a 4 element gamma
Yagi on it. I also built an variable attenuator which works great...I
do very well at it.
I also built a "fox box". It consists of a small circut board with an
EPROM, 555 counter, and a PTT circut. With my Alinco DJ-162 (with no
battery), and a 7.0 amp hour gel cell, it all fits very nicely into a
small ammo box. The box is water-tight, green, and has a sealed
home-built 1/4 wave antenna built in.
Its pretty fun sitting in your car, watching the guys run up to your
car with a big smile thinking they have found you, only to say "You
have to find the transmitter!" which by the way, you have stuffed in a
bush about an 1/8 mile away that you can see in your side view
mirror...heh heh.
Ive got other neat tricks and traps that I will share about DFing
later.
Take care all.
--
Christopher K. Greenhalgh, N8WCT
Computer/Electronic Tech. II at The Ohio State University
E-Mail: ckg+@osu.edu (cgreenha@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu)
Radio : n8wct@w8cqk.#cmh.oh.usa.noam
========
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt w
From: macino@mail.fwi.com
Date: 24 Feb 1996 18:41:09 GMT
I thought about another 'real rotten one'. The local guy who is 'the
king' of fox- hunting for about the last tens years pulled the best.
He used a dual band HT, stuck it in a hollow in a tree about a half
mile from his house. Cross band repeated into it, and was drinking a
beer while everyone ran around for hours in the park. It was a dandy.
One good thing to remember is, when some of these folks don't find
you, they take it pretty hard. Last year, it was about 100 degrees
when my son and I were foxes at another event. We had Cold Watermelon
for the hunters as they checked in. They all thought that was pretty
cool.
WD9AHF
========
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt w
From: sdimse@bridge.net (Steve Dimse)
Date: Sat, 24 Feb 1996 14:29:59 -0500
A couple of years ago I rented a big Ryder (aluminum) truck, stuck a
13B2 in the back, aimed it across water towards the side of a big
condo building. People pulled up right next to the truck, a got a
bearing off the condo (2 miles) rather than off the truck (20 feet).
As you appoached the building, you got a very strong signal off the
building until you got very close, and then the dopplers would go
nuts, signal bouncing everywhere. People with beams seemed to do a
_little_ better, probably because they took fewer readings. No one
found me till I started giving pretty obvious hints. Besides the
obvious narrow beamwidth, the point here is that there are all kinds
of urban objects that people never give a thought to...like a Ryder
truck in a parking lot!
Have fun.
73 de Steve KO4HD
========
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt w
From: Mike Mayer
Date: Mon, 26 Feb 1996 13:24:24 -0500
Seems to me another nasty thing would be to poing your fox
transmitter yagi from a block or so away at anything that
rotates, like a bank sign, restaurant sign, etc. It would be
like the rotating baffle in a microwave oven - reflecting
the signal everywhere every couple seconds.
I suppose you COULD also point it a rotating radar dish near
an airport to scatter your signal, but you'd probably also
wind up eating jail food for beaming a 100W VHF signal at an FAA
radar.
Mike
--
^v^v^v^v^v^v PV-WAVE: Where it's @! http://www.vni.com ^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^
Michael Mayer, Senior Technical Support Engineer Amateur Radio KB8RJO
Visual Numerics, Inc. 32915 Aurora Rd. Suite 160, Solon OH 44139 USA
Email: mayer@boulder.vni.com Human: 216-248-4900 Fax: 216-248-2733
v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v Good * Cheap * Quick (pick any two) ^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v
========
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt w
From: horowitz@nosc.mil (Alan M. Horowitz)
Date: Wed, 28 Feb 1996 22:58:28 GMT
The airport radar dish is likely fed with waveguide that won't even
propagate your 144-Mhz energy.
========
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt w
From: cgreenha@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Christopher K Greenhalgh)
Date: 29 Feb 1996 15:08:28 GMT
In article <1996Feb28.225828.9163@nosc.mil>,
Alan M. Horowitz wrote:
>The airport radar dish is likely fed with waveguide that won't even
>propagate your 144-Mhz energy.
He was refering to the metal of the dish rotating, and bouncing the
signal that way...not trying to "make" a harmonic from mixing the 2
signals together.
Take care.
--
Christopher K. Greenhalgh, N8WCT
Computer/Electronic Tech. II at The Ohio State University
E-Mail: ckg+@osu.edu (cgreenha@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu)
Radio : n8wct@w8cqk.#cmh.oh.usa.noam
========
Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc
Subject: Re: Sneaky suggestions for fox in foxhunt w
From: corbin@physics.ucla.edu (Brent Corbin)
Date: 29 Feb 1996 21:26:17 GMT
Now, I *could* be wrong, but a parked Ryder truck accompanied by
strangers carrying HT's and other exotica might attract more
attention then you bargained for... 8*(
73... //Brent
========
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