Fox-Hunt Workshop at Swinburne with the Amateur Radio Club Sarawak (ARCS) was organized on 2nd of April, 2011, from morning 9am to evening 5pm. We had manage to invites 5 members of ARCS came to conduct a workshop on fox-hunt that was well received by about 30 student members as well as Dr. Kho Yau Hee MIET.
The event started with the erection of a giant loop antenna spanning across an open field area of Swinburne. That was followed by a live-demonstration of amateur radio talk by the ARCS members. We were able to tune in and talk with a Miri-based ARCS member who was located about 500 kms away from Kuching.
It was a real-world experience for many of the student members to appreciate, from reception quality, how signal quality can be improved by a higher level of transmitted power and understand the phenomenon of what is called the ground-waves that enable long distance wave propagation.
In the afternoon, we had a brief introductory lecture on the operation of fox-hunt system before starting on a hands-on session to make our own antenna from measuring tape. We then had a go at locating various ‘foxes’ using the antenna that we had just made.
However, due to rain, we were limited to an indoor fox-hunt exercise and the system did not work very well in a enclosed, indoor space. Nevertheless, the event was a fun and education-filled one.
