TARC Fox Hunt

Sly Fox (yes that is his name) is on the run.

He is leaving a trail of audio disruption everywhere he has been. Traveling from city to city finding just the right ham radio club repeater to utilize.

Sly AKA Beethoven (labeled by repeater administrators) has said he is going to target the Tulsa Amateur Radio Club W5IAS 145.170 repeater on September 26, 2026 from 10AM – 12PM.

He is daring all Tulsa area hams to “Just try and find his hidden transmitter, Ha! Ha! Ha!”

Known Information on the Fox:

The transmitter will be broadcasting a 20 second version (poor at best) of Beethovens Ode To Joy from the 9th Symphony. That is how Sly got the nickname Beethoven. The following call sign in CW K1RFG followed by approximately 35 seconds of silence. This is then repeated on and on for two hours.

Power: 1 watt

TX Frequency: 144.57000 PL 88.5

Hunters:

You must hunt for the Fox (Beethoven) on 144.57000.

Testing has confirmed Beethoven (fox transmitter) can  be heard with a 2M YAGI at three miles. If you are not hearing it, you are not within 3 miles.

Beethoven can be heard on  a signal stick at 2 miles.

Only use 145.170 Repeater to confirm Beethoven is transmitting. Don’t forget  that the cycle is 1 minute. Transmits for 25 seconds followed by a 35 second  pause. If you hunt on 145.170 you will only locate the repeater not the fox.

It is recommend that you use a directional antenna like a YAGI.

Once you get very close it could be handy to use an attenuator to reduce the  incoming signal making it easier to isolate direction.

Resources:

The ARRL has a lot of good information on fox hunting.

https://www.arrl.org/direction-finding

rain or shine.