Collection of Fox Items

Amateur Radio Orienteering www.myardfsport.com
Radio Sport Penang	Fox Treats
	Dedicated to assist all those who want to play the role of the fox. Contents consists of write-ups on how to run ARDF sessions and building the fox units. Many of the items are extracted from various ARDF web sites and modified to suit local conditions.
Last update : Oct 11th, 2007

Fox Controller Units	My 1st Fox Controller - Using only discrete components and common logic ICs. PIC IC Fox Controller - For better timing and following international rules.
Write-ups	I want to organise an ARDF hunt! Most basic fox. ARDF - Beginner's level ARDF - Intermediate level
IARU Region 3 ARDF Rules	Amateur Radio Directional Finding Rules for IARU R3 Click on Icon


Fox Controller Unit
1.	My 1st Fox Controller
	In my quest to quickly jump into this fox hunt game, I had to experiment within my limited abilities and cook up some form of electronic control (not too complicated) to key up the 2 meter transmitter for 1 minute, introduce an audio morse code identifier, then key down for another 1 to 2 minutes before repeating the cycle again. It is also required to be able to control many different types of handie-talkies via their external microphone input. Had no knowledge in using or programming in PIC and so the only logical solution is to use discrete components, NE555 timers and TTL ICs. After meddling around a few circuits, I came out with one working version which I had been using it for nearly 12 years. The PCB layout was formerly done using EasyPC Pro, but over years, the layout file has been lost.

	Top view of the fox controller	PCB Layout

	For those who are keen to build this fox controller, I have the schematics and later the PCB layout template below:
	My 1st Fox controller schematics

2.	My PIC version Fox Controller
	The internet is a big helpful source of information, and I have constructed the "Montreal Fox Controller" which gave accurate timing and abides to the requirements of the IARU Region 3 ARDF guidelines. Assistance from fellow hams helps me to overcome my weakness in IC programming. Now, I can put all the foxes on the same frequency and use the crystal controlled timing to run on their allocated time frame without fear of over-lapping transmission. The fox identification is now as per the recommended international standards. This fox controller can operate most handie-talkies with external microphone inputs.



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