Greater Houston / Harris County Fox Hunting
General guidelines for a mobile transmitter hunt
- Talk in frequency is the 146.640(-) repeater.
- The huntmaster may change the talk in repeater, the hunt boundaries and specify any specific changes to normal rules no less than one week before the hunt.
- Unless otherwise publized the starting point will always be at the parking lot on the ~kinda north corner of Bay Area Blvd @ Space Center, or near the Arby's and Exxon, Lat-Lon 29.5734 -95.1094
- The fox transmitter signal must be capablie of being recieved at the start starting point with a typical mobile radio and unity gain antenna.
- The Fox will transmit in phone using FM or standard MCW identifier tones for a period of about one minute and then fall silent for about one minute.
- The fox transmitter will generally be on 146.565 MHz and maintain constant power throughout the hunt, not exceeding 5 watts. An HT being used for the fox transmitter must be on external power such as a lighter plug or larger battery pack like an SLA battery so to maintain steady power output.
- The fox must be able to monitor a second "safety fequency" (145.565) that can be used by the hounds to ask the fox questions which will be, if the fox chooses, over the fox hunt frequency.
- The antenna may be in any configuration and can not be changed in any manner during the hunt.
- The antenna and transmitter shall be within 100 feet of access by standard passenger cars in a publicly accessible area with no charge for admission.
- Reasonable care must be taken to ensure that hunters can safely get to the hidden transmitter and in the spirit of fun hunts, easy access to the transmitter via a traffic or safety hazard should be avoided by the huntmaster.
- Unless otherwise publized the hunt area will be within the borders of;
- Hwy 146 to the east,
- IH-45 to the west,
- Fairmont Parkway & BW-8 to the north,
- TX 96 to the south.
The Hounds
- Hounds are responsible for providing all of their own equipment including any maps they care to use.
- Hounds shall obey all traffic laws at all times.
- Hounds must maintain radio silence on the hunt frequency.
The winner of the hunt is determined by the person/team who finds the transmitter with the least miles driven. Odometer readings are taken at the start point, and are then used to calculate the mileage driven by each participant at the end of the hunt.
Rule Modifications
Occasionally we may use an unmanned transmitter. In that event each hunt team will be given a control card at the start. The transmitter location will be marked with a standarad 6"x6" control bag and will have a standard orienteering punch for the control card. During the hunt instructions will be given over the fox frequency site on where to take the control card as proof of finding the fox.
Other rule modifications must be announced at least a week before a hunt if such a modification is deemed necessary by the fox/huntmaster. Rule changes may include the following
- Boundary extensions, which must be specified.
- Any off-road distance extensions, which must be specified.
- Any variations to "minimum mileage wins" rule, which must be specified.
- Any change of the primary transmitter frequency, which must be specified.
Hunt Results, Sunday 4 Dec 05
Wow ! ! ! We had seven hunter / hunter teams come out for this hunt
I learned a couple of things mainly because its been a while since I have been in a classic hunt based on milage. I had someone get the odometer readings for me since I had gone into hiding. I wanted to ensure that the hunters would be able to hear me on a HT at the starting point. Well I forgot to have them get the "tenths" or reset thier trip odometer. So we wound up with some milages that are the same (no tenths) so as a tie breaker I'm using time as the next criteria.
The line of site distance between the fox and the start was 2.4 miles.
In distance order with time as a tie breaker
- At 4 miles; Michael, KE5DGK & Dylan, KE5GSH whos parents did the driving.
- At 6 miles; David, N2OZK & Chris, KD5PTF
- At 6 miles; Mike, N5MT
- At 6 miles; Kyle, KG4YUQ
- At 6 miles; Nick, KC5KBO; Terry KD5AWZ & the lovely Julie KE5GOV
- At 7 miles; Walt, W5SWA & Jerry (?)
- And we didn't pressure Min, KE5GOK and his parents for their milage. As we say in classic foot orienteering, they made a nasty 180!
If you are new to fox hunting go to this page for help and tips.