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1-5 of 5 messages
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Where to Buy a 2M 20 mW beacon?
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by KD7RMU on October 7, 2005
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Hi,
I've always wanted to try this but can't find anyone to participate.
So I have to do this alone. I want to get a 2 meter beacon thats 20 mW (the 20 mW was suggested by another person on eHam in another post).
I am just going to be doing this on foot in a park (& have a friend, who is not interested) at least hide the beacon for me.
Thanks in advance for your replies!
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RE: Where to Buy a 2M 20 mW beacon?
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Reply
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by WB6BYU on October 10, 2005
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Marvin KE6HTS has some small beacons designed for ARDF
that can be used in a number of ways:
http://www.rain.org/~marvin/
Another one is the N6BG "pocket fox":
http://www.byonics.com/pocketfox/
I've also used a standard HT on low power. On one old
crystal-controlled HT that I have, the low power switch
simply added a resistor to the circuit, so I replaced the
resistor with a trimpot that allows me to adjust the output
level.
You can reduce the power out of an HT by putting a dummy
load on the output - there will still be some radiation
from the case. If that isn't enough, put a BNC "T"
connector on the antenna jack with a dummy load on one
side and a short (6 inch) whip on the other.
If you are using an offset (or "active") attenuator, or
even a cardboard tube covered in tin foil, you should be
able to hunt a 1-watt transmitter up close enough to find
it when it isn't too well hidden.
Generally most hidden transmitters make use of a standard
HT connected to an external battery and some sort of
ID'er/controller/noisemaker, such as the PicCon from
N6BG (www.byonics.com). Personally I use the Montreal
Controller circuit from VE2EMM because I can build them
for about $15 each (which is important when I need a
set of 6 with backups.)
http://www.qsl.net/ve2emm/
Radio Shack carries (or used to, anyway) a voice recorder
chip that makes a simple ID'er, but I don't know of any
built commercially. Similiarly it isn't too difficult
to build a simple 2m crystal-controlled transmitter, but
often I can find old working HTs at a hamfest for $25
which makes it hardly worthwhile using anything else.
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RE: Where to Buy a 2M 20 mW beacon?
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by WA6BFH on October 31, 2005
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I think it is odd terminology to refer to this as “a beacon”.
A beacon transmitter is usually used for the intent and purpose of testing VHF, UHF, or SHF signal propagation. Power levels might be in the 10’s or hundreds of milliWatts for SHF stuff, but will be around 10 Watts or so for VHF and UHF. Antennas are usually omni-directional, but may have substantial gain.
Your little “beacon” sounds more like a “T-hunt” transmitter. Something used for what is often called a “foxhunt”.
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RE: Where to Buy a 2M 20 mW beacon?
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by K1LDS on January 31, 2006
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A radiobeacon is any radio transmitter which sends a signal to be used for navigation or to determine selected conditions at or near the transmission point, or between transmitter and receiver. Hidden Ts fit this just as much as prop beacons do, and in fact taken as a whole, worldwide, there are a few thousand "find me" beacons in use for each beacon used for propogation. Most aircraft in the US have such a beacon, as do an increasing number of boats, ORVs and hikers.
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