It was a quarter century ago when CQ Communications, Inc. embraced the idea of a yearly weekend when hidden transmitter hunting activities would be promoted and encouraged. Originally named the CQ National Foxhunting Weekend, it was expanded in 2007 to become the CQ World Wide Foxhunting Weekend. In most years, Foxhunting Weekend has been the second weekend of May to ensure warm weather throughout the country, but any time when hams get together can be a good time for a radio direction finding (RDF) contest.
The 25th annual CQ Foxhunting Weekend was May 14-15, 2022, but the fun began early in the year with the traditional New Year’s Day foxhunt on the Box Mountain repeater in Connecticut. Hunters assembled to start at a schoolyard in South Windsor. Organizer Paul Gibson, N1TUP, was waiting somewhere within a 20-mile radius with his rig and tailgate treats.
Transmitter hunt participation in the Nutmeg State has grown in recent years with several hams regularly deploying unattended foxboxes during the pandemic for others to activate and safely locate at their leisure. Frequent Sunday afternoon start-from-anywhere hunts in the Wallingford area now feature multiple low-power transmitters for hunters to track down on foot and in vehicles.
It has become an annual tradition to have hidden transmitter hunting on foot at the Yuma Hamfest in Arizona on Presidents’ Day weekend. Marvin Johnston, KE6HTS, gave a presentation on the sport and hosted a building session for measuring-tape Yagis and offset attenuators in the early afternoon of February 19,
