I think he is talking about the bird trackers that come with receivers.
they don’t actually make a tone when your listening to them on ham like when
you use a special receiver.
My Walton tracker was easy to use with my scanner... but it didn’t actually
make a beep. more of a "tick" through the speaker from the signal.
The one thing about the RDFing with the telemetrum, is that you have to go
much slower than with bird trackers. The beep is a nice tone that is not
mistakable, but they are only every few seconds. Not chirping like bird
trackers do. The slower cadence of beeps means that you have to be more
methodic with the antenna for accuracy.
One of the things I also do to help get a "pointier direction" is if there
is vegetation, I will lower the antenna to the vegetation (or ground) until
the signal fades. Elevation of the antenna plays a big role, I have had
signal from 8'-0 where there was none at 6'-0 (in the corn...-my shoulder
got really really tired) Then sweep for a direction. when there is wheat, it
works great. Also you can turn the yagi from horizontal to vertical
elements, and this can assist to attenuate the signal, depending on how the
rocket is laying on the ground.
-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin Trojanowski
Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2015 8:13 AM
To: Altus Metrum
Subject: Re: [altusmetrum] DF with Yaesu VX-6R
You can do RDF with any 70cm handheld with a Tele* product. You don't need
to decode the packers for RDF
-Kevin
On Jun 2, 2015, at 7:44 AM, Kurt <[email protected]> wrote:
The ham stuff is only good with FM trackers only. Walston/Comspec use SSB
or CW modes that
perhaps a Kenwood F6A might be workable with. I've ground tested but not
done any range checking.
Arrow sells an offset attenuator and so does Marvin West:
http://www.west.net/~marvin/k0ov.htm
I've also have one of his 2 Meter beacons for fun:
http://www.west.net/~marvin/microhnt.htm
I thought Keith was using a VX-8GR and then went with an FT1DR for APRS
tracking. The -6R doesn't do APRS but could be used for FM RDF. Loop
antenna might not be as sensitive at range than a yagi.
A good offset attenuator like Marvin's helps very close so I don't think
you have to invest in a loop.
I've never seen anyone use a loop in six Midwest Powers I've attended.
Granted a loop is smaller and easier to carry. If you can get close
enough with a Yagi/attenuator, you should be able to find it.
Kurt KC9LDH
-------------------------------------------
On Mon, 6/1/15, Max McHatton <[email protected]> wrote:
Subject: Re: [altusmetrum] DF with Yaesu VX-6R
To: [email protected]
Date: Monday, June 1, 2015, 9:48 PM
Rob, Kevin stated correctly, that
you will need a directional antenna and attenuators or a
variable attenuator. An in-line analogue signal
strength meter is also very usefull. I used my VX-6R
last year, during my successful L-2 flight. I had a 3
element arrow yaggi antenna. I didn’t yet have
an attenuator. So I utilized a trick I learned when
DFing ELT’s. When I got close, I disconnected
the antenna. WARNING: Do Not Transmit without an
antenna. A loop antenna is more directional than a
yaggi; so I plan to buy one, and a set of in-line
attenuators. There are some other helpful tricks, like
body shadowing to determine if the signal is in front or
behind. Another trick I tried with limited success was
utilizing the top null of a whip. Most whip antennas
have a radiation pattern like a doughnut, with a null on
top. So theoretically, if you pan the HT horizontally,
you should have a null, when pointing the whip antenna
directly at the RF source. Max Mc in Medford
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