Description
Speed in a foxhunt is not just about hearing a louder signal or owning a better antenna. It comes from a repeatable process: listen, measure, move, verify, and adapt when the clues get messy. Find the Fox Faster teaches that process in a field-focused way for licensed amateur radio operators working VHF/UHF hidden-transmitter hunts.
Duarte Lickfold walks through the practical skills that turn scattered RF clues into useful movement decisions. You will learn how to assemble a reliable RDF kit without overcomplicating your gear, understand what directional antennas are really telling you, plot bearings as uncertainty wedges instead of perfect lines, and make better route choices from maps, terrain, and access points.
The book gives special attention to the problems that slow real hunts: front-end overload, broad peaks, reflections, polarization changes, shallow triangulation, urban multipath, and full-scale readings that stop being useful. Instead of treating signal strength as proof, it shows how to compare clues consistently and recover when the evidence seems contradictory.
Separate chapters cover mobile foxhunting, on-foot search patterns, and the transition into close-in work around parks, campuses, vehicles, shelters, trees, fences, and other common hiding environments. You will also find troubleshooting routines, practice drills, hunt-design guidance, and a 30-day skill plan for building competence over time.
This is a premium practical guide for hams who want to find transmitters faster through disciplined technique, not shortcuts or guaranteed results.
What You Will Learn
- How to think through a foxhunt as a repeatable listen, measure, move, verify cycle
- How to assemble a practical RDF kit using familiar receivers, directional antennas, attenuation, maps, notes, and backup tools
- How Yagis, Moxons, quads, loops, and compact beams can mislead when patterns, reflections, or operator handling are ignored
- How to plot bearings as uncertainty wedges and make better route decisions from geometry, terrain, and access
- How to manage overload, desense, broad response, and full-scale readings with attenuation and controlled receiver coupling
- How to use vehicles for information and access without chasing every stronger signal
- How to apply on-foot patterns such as expanding box, trail sweep, contour walk, perimeter cut, and sector search
- How to transition into close-in locating when ordinary bearings collapse
- How to troubleshoot bad bearings, strange signals, equipment issues, reflections, and intermittent transmitters
- How to practice RDF skills deliberately and design fair, safe, useful foxhunts
Who This Book Is For
- Licensed amateur radio operators who participate in VHF/UHF foxhunts or hidden-transmitter hunts
- New foxhunters who want a practical process before buying specialized RDF gear
- Club members who want to organize safer, fairer, and more skill-building hunts
- Experienced hunters who want cleaner bearings, better map reasoning, and stronger close-in habits
- Operators who struggle with multipath, overload, polarization changes, or misleading signal strength
Inside the Book
- 1. What Makes a Foxhunt Fast
- 2. Build a Reliable RDF Kit
- 3. Directional Antennas That Tell the Truth
- 4. Bearings, Maps, and Search Geometry
- 5. Managing Signal Strength, Overload, and Attenuation
- 6. Mobile Foxhunting Without Chasing Your Tail
- 7. On-Foot Search Patterns That Save Time
- 8. Close-In Techniques for the Last 200 Feet
- 9. Troubleshooting Bad Bearings and Strange Signals
- 10. Practice Drills, Hunt Design, and Long-Term Skill
Format: EPUB eBook. Author: Duarte Lickfold. Publisher: Lickfold Digital Publishers.
