Tracking the Last Hundred Yards

[mIcahel]

I have the problem where my beeline transmitter is too powerful and/or home made Yagi is not directional enough to get a good bearing once within a certain range of rocket. Others have described a method of placing HT against chest and turning until signal disappears/ weakens (transmitter at 6 o'clock).

This made me think of the slotted cylinder device pictured. You will have to imagine it made of an RF opaque material. Are there reasons that this solution or similar would not work or be impractical?

 

[Adrian A]

I have the problem where my beeline transmitter is too powerful and/or home made Yagi is not directional enough to get a good bearing once within a certain range of rocket. Others have described a method of placing HT against chest and turning until signal disappears/ weakens (transmitter at 6 o'clock).

This made me think of the slotted cylinder device pictured. You will have to imagine it made of an RF opaque material. Are there reasons that this solution or similar would not work or be impractical?

If the dimensions of the cylinder are smaller than the wavelength of RF you're looking for (and maybe even it it isn't) you might get some non-intuitive effects in the beam pattern. But it just might work. Wrap your cylinder in heavy Al foil, give it a try, and let us know how it works.

By the way, I and others have a similar issue with a commercially-made Yagi. For small targets I have had to make a circle of about 100 yards and look for the intersection of the apparent signal from different directions.

 

[jderimig]

Use one of these.

https://www.arrowantennas.com/main/4ofha.html

Nat in our club has one and you get perfect directionality as close as 3 feet away.

 

[mIcahel]

Use one of these.

https://www.arrowantennas.com/main/4ofha.html

Nat in our club has one and you get perfect directionality as close as 3 feet away.

Will likely end up with one of those. My M.O. calls for me to flail aound with a DIYer solution first

 

[mIcahel]

If the dimensions of the cylinder are smaller than the wavelength of RF you're looking for (and maybe even it it isn't) you might get some non-intuitive effects in the beam pattern. But it just might work. Wrap your cylinder in heavy Al foil, give it a try, and let us know how it works.

By the way, I and others have a similar issue with a commercially-made Yagi. For small targets I have had to make a circle of about 100 yards and look for the intersection of the apparent signal from different directions.

Alright, I am making a little test.

 

[DaveHein]

For the last 100 yards I replace the antenna with a BNC connector with a short piece of the center conductor sticking out. This attenuates the signal to the point where the body-shield method works quite well. I also have to wrap my receiver in aluminum foil to shield it because it will pick up the signal quite well even without an antenna.