Geocaching + Fox Hunting

[Guest charles]

Has anyone ever think about combining geocaching and fox hunting together? I think this is a good idea if the cache is hidden in places where the GPS will not receive well (like dense forest).

[Guest jeremy]

Interesting thought. I've heard of transmitter hunting, or "fox hunting" before. Would you need to have a constant signal broadcast from your cache? Is that possible? I suppose it would be since animals can be tracked the same way.

 

Do you know of a guide to creating your own "fox hunt?" I can see having the GPS coordinates be a "start point" for such a search. Then it's up to you to pick up the signal to the prize.

 

Looks like GPS units are used in some of these hunts too. Something called GPSS.

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/gpss/df1.htm

 

Jeremy

[Guest Charles]

I personally have never done fox hunting before, but I know that their transmitter usually transmits only "once a while" in order to make the game more challenging and probably to save the battery.

That's exactly what I was thinking, use GPS to get to the general area (may be within 100ft) then use a direction finder to pin-point it.

The only problem I don't know how to solve is, is there anyway to make the transmitter self-powered or something so I don't need to go back there to change the batteries all the time.

[Guest makaio]

We had a thread about 'moving stashes' some time ago. The trick is how to broadcast the coordinates every n . Basically, you'd need the equivelant of an emergency beacon (like climbers use), but you'd have to refresh the power supply frequently.

[Guest john]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Charles:

I personally have never done fox hunting before, but I know that their transmitter usually transmits only "once may be within 100ft) then use a direction finder to pina while" in order to make the game more challenging and probably to save the battery.

That's exactly what I was thinking, use GPS to get to the general area (-point it.

The only problem I don't know how to solve is, is there anyway to make the transmitter self-powered or something so I don't need to go back there to change the batteries all the time.

---

if we're going to use the gps to get within 100 feet or so then instead of a transmitter we could use an intermittant beep - sorta like the ones on smoke detectors when the battery is running low. That way we don't have to invest in (and power) a receiver. john KB1DFQ

[Guest Mike_Teague]

I think the whole idea is a step backwards compared to GPS...

 

We have the most sophisticated, most accurate positioning / navigation system available, but ya want to go back to RF direction finding??? might be fun, but I just think its kinda weird

[Guest Mike_Teague]

I think the whole idea is a step backwards compared to GPS...

 

We have the most sophisticated, most accurate positioning / navigation system available, but ya want to go back to RF direction finding??? might be fun, but I just think its kinda weird

[Guest jeremy]

I suppose the excitement would be like the offset stash. You kind of "begin" your quest once you reach a specific coordinate. That way the challenge factor would be a bit higher. Some letterboxes are like this (though I've never actually gone out to find one).

[Guest Richard Amirault]

Originally posted by Mike_Teague:

 

Although I think the whole idea is a step backwards compared to GPS...

 

We have the most sophisticated, most accurate positioning / navigation system available, but ya want to go back to RF direction finding??? might be fun, but I just think its kinda weird

 

---------------------------

 

It sure is more of a challenge, and it sure takes more *skill* to find something by RF direction finding. When I first heard about GeoCaching I was not impressed. Heck, you know *exactly* where it is you're going (not necessarily *how* to get there, but you know *where* you want to be) For all the challenge involved you might as well put the cache in your backyard and publish your street address.

 

Finding something by "fox hunting" is different. You only have a general idea of the location, usually miles away, and you need to use your equipment (including the equipment between your ears) to lead you closer, and closer, and closer to your target.

 

However putting some sort of transmitter in a GeoCache would necessitate a vist every week or so to replace/recharge the battery.

 

Now, having said all that, let me say that so far I've found SIX GeoCaches in the last few weeks, and have plans to start creating a few of my own!

 

Richard in Boston, MA

[Guest Richard Amirault]

Originally posted by Mike_Teague:

 

Although I think the whole idea is a step backwards compared to GPS...

 

We have the most sophisticated, most accurate positioning / navigation system available, but ya want to go back to RF direction finding??? might be fun, but I just think its kinda weird

 

---------------------------

 

It sure is more of a challenge, and it sure takes more *skill* to find something by RF direction finding. When I first heard about GeoCaching I was not impressed. Heck, you know *exactly* where it is you're going (not necessarily *how* to get there, but you know *where* you want to be) For all the challenge involved you might as well put the cache in your backyard and publish your street address.

 

Finding something by "fox hunting" is different. You only have a general idea of the location, usually miles away, and you need to use your equipment (including the equipment between your ears) to lead you closer, and closer, and closer to your target.

 

However putting some sort of transmitter in a GeoCache would necessitate a vist every week or so to replace/recharge the battery.

 

Now, having said all that, let me say that so far I've found SIX GeoCaches in the last few weeks, and have plans to start creating a few of my own!

 

Richard in Boston, MA

[Guest zeta]

quote:

---

It sure is more of a challenge, and it sure takes more *skill* to find something by RF direction finding. When I first heard about GeoCaching I was not impressed. Heck, you know *exactly* where it is you're going (not necessarily *how* to get there, but you know *where* you want to be) For all the challenge involved you might as well put the cache in your backyard and publish your street address.

---

 

I can't speak for anyone else, but wrt to the quote, part of the challenge and fun is actually getting to the spot. GPS is great at giving directions as the crow flies, but when it comes to real navigation (unless you've mapped the hunt from beginning to end as a route) to the target, roads, trails, paths, etc don't always cooperate.

 

Admittedly, the foxhunting combined with the GPS does sound intriguing and fun.

 

Another option would be to hide the transmitter/cache at a tower site (get permission so others can enter the property) but post a spot "in the vicinity".

 

Or, leave lat/lon for where the frequency is left, then use an existing signal from a tower site that would be hunted, and at that site would be a final set of lat/lon in the area where the actual cache was.

 

Of course these are getting more complicated and turning into mini-expeditions.

[Guest zeta]

quote:

---

It sure is more of a challenge, and it sure takes more *skill* to find something by RF direction finding. When I first heard about GeoCaching I was not impressed. Heck, you know *exactly* where it is you're going (not necessarily *how* to get there, but you know *where* you want to be) For all the challenge involved you might as well put the cache in your backyard and publish your street address.

---

 

I can't speak for anyone else, but wrt to the quote, part of the challenge and fun is actually getting to the spot. GPS is great at giving directions as the crow flies, but when it comes to real navigation (unless you've mapped the hunt from beginning to end as a route) to the target, roads, trails, paths, etc don't always cooperate.

 

Admittedly, the foxhunting combined with the GPS does sound intriguing and fun.

 

Another option would be to hide the transmitter/cache at a tower site (get permission so others can enter the property) but post a spot "in the vicinity".

 

Or, leave lat/lon for where the frequency is left, then use an existing signal from a tower site that would be hunted, and at that site would be a final set of lat/lon in the area where the actual cache was.

 

Of course these are getting more complicated and turning into mini-expeditions.

[Guest jeremy]

Now I know this sounds a bit odd, but I do have an FM transmitter I built a while back. It would be pretty cool to rig up some kind of timer that would have it broadcast a hint every 5 minutes or so on an FM channel giving you hints to where the cache is. You could then hide the transmitter so no one would plunder it if the cache was plundered.

 

This one wouldn't involve any special equipment at all except to arrive at a particular spot and wait till 05 10 15 etc for the special broadcast. And FM transmitters are short range so you aren't breaking any laws - and you have to make it to the coordinate first.

 

I suppose if you insulated the transmitter the battery wouldn't freeze? That's the only issue I could come up with.

 

Jeremy

 

[This message has been edited by jeremy (edited 12-30-2000).]

[Guest Richard Amirault]

Insulating the battery won't help it from freezing. If there is no heat source to be 'contained' by the insulation then it won't be long before the temp inside falls to the same as outside.

 

And the lower the temp the less effective the chemical process that most batteries use.

 

Bottom line, if you're not prepared to replace/recharge the battery on a constant basis don't try this .... do you want folks getting to your site and NOT hearing any radio transmissions because you didn't keep the battery up?

[Guest jeremy]

Makes sense.

 

Hmm.. definitely less hi-tech, but placing laminated tags directing people along a route would definitely work.

[Guest Charles]

I live in CA, so freezing battery is not a problem for me. How long do you think I will need to replace the battery? I was thinking about placing a solar charger on top of a tree or something like that.

[Guest Richard Amirault]

There is no way to tell because there are *so* many variables involved.

 

How much current does your transmitter use when it transmitts?

 

How often does it transmit?

 

How much current does it take on "standby" (between transmissions ... you need *some* circuritry to time the transmit intervals)

 

How big is the battery?

 

How big is the solar cell?

 

How much sun hits the solar cell? (shadows of tree brances, etc)

 

How many cloudy days versus sunny days will you have?

 

Richard

Boston, MA, USA

[Guest john]

Ok, variation on the theme. Once apon a time I had a keychain that when I whisled the keychain would respond with a series of beeps. This could be used when we wish to plant a cache in a location with lots of traffic and high potenial for destuction. Does anyone know where to get these? The only downside of course is that those folks that could be be interested in the sport that might stumble across the cache without a GPS are less likely to be introduced to the sport. Which begs the question has anyone ever found a cache first and then went on to further participate in the sport. Or is it more likely that the "casual" finder destroys and/or confiscates the cache?

[Guest jeremy]

A majority of hikers that accidentally find the caches actually write in the logbook and sometimes even contribute. This greatly restores my faith in humanity. Don't know if anyone who found the caches actually join in on the sport though.

[+Corp Of Discovery]

An interesting older thread. Has anybody done this? If so was it recently?

 

Remember, wherever you go- there you are!

[martmann]

Hard enough to be inconspicuous with a GPS receiver in your hand, a big antenna would draw an awful lot of attention. I think with Fox hunting the transmitter is removed after the hunt. A cache might be too. just not by a cacher. Plus, if a plain ammo can be mistaken for a bomb, one with an antenna might have more of a problem.

 

(yes I know this is an old thread).

 

___________________________________________________________

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Well, maybe if they screamed all the time, for no reason.

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[+EScout]

I have done Fox Hunting with my radio club. Its a lot of fun. We hide a transmitter on the 2 meter band and use those 3-element yagis made from steel tape measures. We use our 2-meter HTs and attenuators to receive. You need a license to set the transmitter on this band. I think the battery and risk of losing expensive equipment are the main problems.

[+Cadence]

EScout,

Do you have a link for those tape measure Yagis?

 

Cadence

(OddTodd-K7PKT and CheleBell-XYL)

[+minstrelcat]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Corp Of Discovery:

An interesting older thread. Has anybody done this? If so was it recently?

---

 

Its done in the UK fairly regularly - this is a good example.

 

Lisa

[Pluckers]

The battery problem can be eliminated if the seekers are instructed to supply it themselves. The trick is getting the power from the place where the seekers plug it in, to the hidden cache.

 

Getting to the plug-in site would be the GPS part of the hunt.

 

Can a lantern battery effectively power a small FM transmitter 100 yards away with a buried cable?

 

Another question: how easily would it be to make something common like an fm walkman at least minimally directional?

 

To make this workable, you need to construct/buy a small FM transmitter/ping device, buy 100 yards of transmitting cable, setup a plug-in site, bury/hide the cable for 100 yards (staying within the rules of gc.com, meaning it would probably have to be private land with permission), and post the cache page with instructions for making fm walkman's and such directional. Oh, and accept the risk of it all being plundered

[Pluckers]

Oh wait, better idea, at least for a hammie with the ability to construct such a thing:

 

Waypoint 1 brings you to a spot within range of an FM transmitter that is always broadcasting the waypoint 2 coords, in morse code!

 

You need 3 things:

-a normal cache setup for #2

-the fm transmitter/morse code generator setup

-a cool place to put #1, probably not your front yard.

[+Corp Of Discovery]

quote:

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Originally posted by Adam & Lisa:

Its done in the UK fairly regularly - Geocache Children in Need Fox Hunt. is a good example.

 

Lisa

---

That sounds very interesting. Has anyone here in the states done this?

 

Remember, wherever you go- there you are!

[+GIDEON-X]

quote:

---

Originally posted by EScout:

I have done Fox Hunting with my radio club. Its a lot of fun. We hide a transmitter on the 2 meter band and use those 3-element yagis made from steel tape measures. We use our 2-meter HTs and attenuators to receive. You need a license to set the transmitter on this band. I think the battery and risk of losing expensive equipment are the main problems.

---

 

Myself being old from the "Dark-Ages" we did this (Fox Hunting / Hound and Hare) ~~~ what ever using CB's. Burned a lot of gas and hours, but had a lot of fun. ~~~ We moved on.

 

~~~ "And now where" ~~~