My first time being the fox was a blast. Not only did I learn a ton (as one does with new adventures) but a lot of people were entertained as well!
A few lessons learned:
- Don’t try to run the event on your own. My lovely XYL had fallen ill the days before, so the original plan of her being my assistant while the kids raged was changed at the last minute.
- Someone might find you while you’re doing net announcements. I had intended on using a UHF Yagi pointed at the repeater to provide a little more stealth, but with a diminished manpower presence, that as no longer feasible. (This happened. Congrats to Hunter, K0WMJ, for stumbling upon me.)
- GAIN IS YOUR FRIEND. I really can’t stress this enough. The fox was fed into a Comet X30 antenna and apparently it was quite loud some miles away!
- There are some awesome foxhunt devices out there! Most notably, the VK3YNG Sniffer made an appearance and is a phenomenal piece of kit! (It’s a right bit cheaper if you order it from the fellow in Australia!)
We’re talking about doing another fox hunt, perhaps in the Fall with the Pikes Peak Radio Amateur Association!