Welcome to the Frederick Amateur Radio Club!

We hope you can join us for an Amateur Radio Fox Hunt at Cunningham Falls Manor Area ($3 MD admission, $5 out of state) on September 12, 2026 starting at 10:00AM (weather permitting). We will have both walking and driving foxes (hidden transmitters) in place for you to use your radio Direction Finding (DFing) skills to find. The park is located off US 15 Southwest of the Catoctin Wildlife Preserve, at 6179 Cunningham Falls Park Rd., Thurmont, MD 21788. We will meet at a picnic table between the Manor Area Playground and the Visitor Center (bear to the left after you enter the park). Just look for the fox hunt signs or look for vehicles with extra antennas!

An Amateur Radio Fox Hunt is a practice drill to find hidden or lost radio transmitters using RF Direction Finding techniques. This is a receive only drill, so you do not have to be licensed to participate in this event. All you need to participate is a receiver or scanner capable of listening to signals between 144MHz and 148MHz, and an antenna. There will be extra equipment at the site for you to use. All our foxes will be on the 2M band (144 to 148MHz). We’ll have multiple fox hunts set up and running at the same time.

1. For the walking hunt, we’ll have a few low power (10mw) foxes located around the park for you to find while honing your DFing skills and enjoying a walk in the park! If you are a “DF expert”
you might hop in the car to find the fox located a few miles away. At the walking hunt there will be assistance for those new to fox hunting.

2. For more of a challenge, there will be a driving hunt using a 1W fox located within six miles of the park for you to find. The K3KMA 448.025M (PL 103.5) repeater will be used to coordinate
this hunt. At the beginning we’ll announce the fox frequency and take check-ins on the repeater so we know who is hunting. When you find the fox don’t tell everyone where you are, in case
you are the first. Just let us know you found it.

Hope you can join us for the walk in the beautiful park!

You can find the full flyer with maps and frequencies here: Fall 2026 Foxhunt

On Monday August 17^th at 7PM, it’s the Frederick Amateur Radio Club’s “bring your power supply to meeting day”. At the July meeting we heard a great overview of using an oscilloscope in a ham shack and this month we’ll get a hands-on look at various devices, including YOUR power supply, and what these devices may be unintentionally emitting.

The social hour begins at 6PM and we meet in the social hall of the Independent Hose (fire) Company, at 310 Baughmans Lane in Frederick. Parking and entrance are in the rear of the building. We wholeheartedly welcome any member of the community who has even a tiny interest in radio (or oscilloscopes). As always, joining in person is best, but if you just can’t, the next best option is via Zoom using this link: FARC Zoom 2026.

We hope to see you there!

One of the goals in our club five year plan is to restart our Volunteer Examiner (VE) team.  If you’d like to participate in any capacity, please fill out this form: FARC VE Roster.  No VE experience is required, however you must have a General, Extra or Advanced license.

Questions? Send an email to my call sign @arrl.net

Thanks and 73!
Mike K3MMM

On SUNDAY August 2^nd, the Frederick Amateur Radio Club will be supporting the Shed Enduro mountain cycling event. A few fun facts:

• Approximately 240 cyclists will complete up to eight electronically-timed downhill courses.

• The event is staged in the greater Frederick Watershed, from Thorpewood and south, mostly along the eastern-facing side of the ridge

• There are four rider “levels” or course options – expert, pro, sport and sprint.

• Cyclists begin at Thorpewood at 7:30am. Upon reaching Gate #1, cyclists will be released down the hill in 30-second intervals

• After Gate #1 downhill race, the course diverges, as riders head to different gates, depending on their level.

• Radio operators will staff and marshal starting gates and higher-risk course locations.

• The first spots will open at 6:30am and the event will complete in the mid to late afternoon.

• The course start gates have rolling opening times. For example, staffing at Gate 1 begins at 7am and Gate 8 staff needs to be in place just before noon.

• We’ll be working with Austere Medical Professionals, an all-volunteer medic team, who will be on-hand to assist with any injuries.

• While most of the terrain is handheld-friendly, there are a few spots that might require an enhanced antenna. We will likely deploy at least one cross-band radio to support one very un-repeater-friendly spot.

• Please don’t allow lack of equipment to prevent you from volunteering – we have loaner radios for all occasions!

• Some, but not all of the operating locations have nearby parking. The event folks will provide All Terrain Vehicle (ATV)-based transportation to any of the radio operator locations – however this might require earlier arrival, as the transport folks will be very busy all over the course. This event will likely require at least some amount of walking.

So, if this sounds like something you’d like to help with, please click here to fill out a quick form: Shed Enduro 2026 Volunteer Form

As always, if there are questions, please send me a note using my call sign @arrl.net

73!
Mike