July 2023 Meeting Presentation: Fox Hunting on the Cheap

Anthony Mendina, NT5TM, is pictured next to the marker tag for a hidden radio fox.The July, 2023 DARC meeting presentation, titled “How I Got Started in Fox Hunting Without Spending Much Money,” will be presented by Tony Mendina, NT5TM. He’ll talk about the very basic equipment that’s needed for VHF and UHF fox hunting—which most hams already have—and the step-by-step process of finding a fox that works best for beginners. He will also discuss some optional, easy-to-build equipment that you can use to improve your hunt experience, advice for planning a route around danger, the technique of using a map to save time, and good (and bad) places to take a bearing. A special bonus activity of poison ivy recognition practice will be included!

If you missed my presentation, please have a look!

Getting Started in Fox Hunting: Saving Money, Having fun, and Avoiding Poison Ivy

July Meeting Program: Share Your Money-Saving Tips!

DSC_3572_cropNext meeting’s program will be “Tips and Tricks for Frugal Ham Radio,” presented by me—Tony Mendina, NT5TM. I’ll share my favorite techniques for ham radio on a budget, like building my own antennas and even test equipment…but your participation will be important! There’s only so much that I know, and you probably know lots that I don’t. Do you assemble your own cables? What tools have saved you a trip to the repair shop? What non-ham things have you substituted for expensive ham gear? Please bring your stories, tips, and even show-and-tell items to the meeting. We’ll all be glad you did.

Updates: Bill, N5BB, and several other folks recommended this great collection of ham and electronic training videos by W2AEW.

Participants also mentioned the free practice exams at https://hamexam.org/. It’s important to get the URL right—put a .com on the end and you go to a commercial site.

And David, W5EBB, mentioned a site full of antenna schematics in the comments below.

And if you need to zoom in on that picture of Bill’s power supply, the full presentation is here, too. Frugal Ham Radio Tips and Tricks

Links from Meeting Presentation 07-10-2018: Beyond the J-Pole

coil crop DSC_2208The response and interest in my presentation was great! Here are the links from the presentation and the details of my antenna build. Remember, we’ll be building this antenna at the July 28th, 2018, Lecture and Lab.

My modifications to the design by F3WM:

If you want to reproduce my design exactly, use CQ-118 from The Wireman.

I wanted full 2-meter band coverage; I used a 19 11/16” (498mm) upper section and a 19 3/4” (500mm) lower section instead. His size will work better in a radome, if you want to weatherproof the antenna.

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