This weekend will have enthusiastic Hams in Bangalore go on a “fox hunt”. It’s a sport where amateur radio operators of the city will participate in a contest where they use radio-direction finding techniques to locate radio transmitters hidden in a designated search area, the fox hole. The 14th VHF Bangalore Day Foxhunt is being conducted by the Bangalore Amateur Radio Club tomorrow, December 15. The club is the oldest amateur radio club in India!
Amateur radio operators or Hams are a community of people who use wireless communication to communicate with other Hams in any part of the globe. It’s a hobby and completely non-commercial. Hams are famous for helping out in times of natural calamities. The fox hole this Sunday will be located within an aerial distance of 35 kms from Vidhana Soudha.
“We have about 80 people registered for tomorrow’s fox hunt,” says Ramesh Kumar K.G. (VU2LU), secretary of the Club. There are participants from Tamil Nadu and Kerala as well. During the two-hour hunt, every five minutes a signal is transmitted for one minute; the final destination must be found by tracing these signals. Mobile phones are not allowed.
India is home to 20,000 Hams, and Bangalore alone has 1,800 Hams, points out Kumar. Such events help popularise the technical hobby.
The flag-off is at 8 a.m, at Bharat Scouts & Guides HQ, opposite KIMS Hospital. Non-competing participants who wish to join for lunch and fellowship can pay a fee of Rs. 250 at the time and point of flag-off. Children below five are exempt from fee. The event will be rounded off with a fellowship lunch. For details check >www.barc.in
