Fox and Field: Hurst Texas Stake Hosts Winter Ham Radio Operators Events
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by
Pat Autrey
Pat AutreyDFW area ham radio operators gathered at the Hurst Texas Stake Center for two events this past January and February to test their emergency radio skills and have fun.
(Editor’s note: For information about free zoom training and ham radio licensing course, see the flyer below. Classes start April 1, 2023)
Finding the Fox
On Saturday afternoon January 21st, the Hurst Stake Emergency Communications team of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hosted a Fox Hunt where DFW ham radio operators were tasked with locating a hidden transmitter placed a few miles from the Hurst Stake Center in North Richland Hills. Several members of the Hurst Stake participated and a gentleman from Azle who heard about the event on the radio.
There are a few purposes for this kind of activity. First is to develop the necessary skills to locate someone if they’re lost and hurt and have no way of telling you where they are. So, as they talk to you on the radio, you can home in on their signal and eventually find them without knowing their geographical location.
Also if someone were maliciously jamming radio frequencies, you could find out where they were and help put a stop to that bad behavior.
Lastly, sometimes radio equipment malfunctions and could inadvertently jam signals. By knowing how to find where the erroneous signals are coming from, you could locate the source of the problem and help to get it turned off. The frequency would then be usable again by the people who need to use it, which in some cases could be police and fire and rescue teams.
At the onset of the Fox Hunt, a brief training was held to review the principles of signal tracking and triangulation. The transmitter frequency of the 2-meter band of 146.565 MHz was given out so everyone could program it into their radios.
Participants were instructed to take a photograph of their vehicle odometer before beginning their search, as the winner of the event would be the one that drove the fewest miles!
Every 15 minutes a hint was given over the radio to help the operators narrow their search and home-in on the transmitter.
The winners of the event were a team of radio operators from the Hurst Stake, Kiera Elledge and William Scott. They only elapsed a total of 2 miles driven while masterfully tracking down the hidden transmitter in a local park off Glenview Drive. As the winners, it will be their responsibility to host the next Fox Hunt later in the year.
Winner Kiera Elledge said “The fox hunt was equal parts fun and frustrating! Fun because my partner and I drove straight to the site without any clues being provided, then frustrating because we spent over an hour walking around trying to hone in on the signal.
We did figure out what we need to do next time to be more effective in locating the fox though, so it was a great learning experience for us.”
Winter Field Day
On Saturday, February 28th, radio operators all over the nation gathered in groups to help one another practice making radio contacts—they try to make as many as possible throughout the day. This is called a Field Day and is done in public places for community awareness of this important skill.
Ham radio operators set up their radio gear on the front lawn of the Hurst Stake Center and began making contacts all over the country. They used homemade antennas which was uniquely fun.
This event simulates operating under emergency conditions and is great practice for when actual emergencies occur. By doing this, operators learn what equipment they want to take, how to set it up quickly and to become operational in sustaining the relief efforts of different organizations that we support, like the Red Cross, local police and fire departments, The National Weather Service and others.
Pat Autrey serves at the Hurst Stake Emergency Coordinator and spends his days selling Medicare Insurance to seniors. During his free time he enjoys watching movies, playing guitar, and recording music in his home studio.
