Does anyone know anything about this radio for radio direction tracking? Does it have a operational signal strength meter unlike the Baofeng?
Yaesu VX-177 Beacon tracker receiver?
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Page 20 of manual discusses rf squelch. I suspect it's a true signal strength meter. If it costs more than a Baofeng the meter likely works. Incidentally if one has a Kenwood D-74a they can track anything amateur radio. A D72a and th-F6a combo can do the same thing. Can't do the 900mhz stuff though. Kurt
Random Flying Object
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Are you planning on using this radio with an attenuator and yagi?
Yes. I have the Yagi and a Baofeng now. I still need to get the attenuator. The Baofeng signal meter is all on or off even though it has several segments.
Random Flying Object
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Built in S meters rarely perform well. Have you considered using a good pair of headphones vs. depending on the S meter? Back to your original question. Just about any good HT, Kenwood, Yaseu, etc will have a better S meter than a Baofeng. The attenuator will help with the pegged out S meter.
There are extensive resources for RDF/fox hunting in the HAM world, a quick Google search will get you plenty of info.
DaveW6DPS
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The Yaesu VX-177 works fine for ARDF. An S-meter is secondary to using yours ears and a good attenuator.
Incidentally, one of the things Bao Feng and similar radios are not good for is ARDF. Their receivers just don't hold up.
You should look into ARDF activities near you. There are some skills that you need to be successful in tracking a transmitter. At an ARDF meet you can get a lot of advice (most of it good) and see what the serious direction finders use.
More info at https://homingin.com
Incidentally, one of the things Bao Feng and similar radios are not good for is ARDF. Their receivers just don't hold up.
You should look into ARDF activities near you. There are some skills that you need to be successful in tracking a transmitter. At an ARDF meet you can get a lot of advice (most of it good) and see what the serious direction finders use.
More info at https://homingin.com
UhClem
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It depends on the signal. If the transmitter is FM, then you need a good signal strength meter because the audio level depends on the frequency deviation and not signal strength.
For an AM signal then your ears are the best tool.
For an AM signal then your ears are the best tool.
GrouchoDuke
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For just receiving, you could also use a handheld scanner. There are quite a few fox hunting sites where people say they like using old Radio Shack or Uniden scanners. I looked recently on Craigslist here & saw several in the sub-$40 range.
(I haven’t tried those though, so research the exact model & make sure it has a good S meter.)
(I haven’t tried those though, so research the exact model & make sure it has a good S meter.)
RocketDestroyer
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You don't have to use an S-Meter for FM. Instead of listening for max volume as you would on AM, you listen for maximum quieting of the signal. FM detectors are very noisy in the absence of a signal and the noise level will drop to almost zero for a strong signal. In the past I have used this technique to peak up my antennas on distant weak stations on 2M.
DaveW6DPS
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You have to be careful with scanners, also. I have a Bearcat (by Uniden) handheld scanner that works well for ARDF, but some of the low end scanners have very poor selectivity and do not perform well at all. An S meter is not all that important. Use with an attenuator and listen for full quieting as you attenuate. In actual ARDF I never look at the S meter.
Sorry I didn’t say what my beacon is. I have a big red bee 70cm beacon. So I am getting a beep tone. Normally I can always hear the tone. The problem with the Baofeng (Ksaves warned me about this) is the S meter doesn’t give you a signal strength proportional readout. It’s 4 bars or no bars.
DaveW6DPS
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For a Big Red Bee beacon I use either a Yeasu or Kenwood handheld, 6 element homebrew yagi, and an offset attenuator. By attenuating the signal as you get close, you can hear a definite peak in signal strength (quieting). The attenuator I use works great on 2 meters, 1-1/4 meters, and 70 centimeters.
You can get more info on the attenuator, including where to order kits or assembled units, here:
https://www.homingin.com/joek0ov/offatten.html
There are also some important comments on using Bao Feng, and similar receivers. Serious ARDF folks avoid them.
There is some additional info on rocket tracking and building stuff to do it on my web page:
https://www.qsl.net/w6dps/HamProjects.html
Thanks Dave. The reason I went for the Baofeng was I only got my amateur radio license for rocket tracking. I don’t have any desire to use my radio for communication. So I want to keep the expenses low. I have an arrow 3 element 70cm antenna. I found the VX-177 used for about a $100. I also have since found a Yaesu FR-65R. It’s dual band so if I ever get another wavelength transmitter I could use that.
I like building things. I have built a bunch of controllers for my other hobby of computer controlled Christmas lights. I will have to get the parts to build that attenuator.
I like building things. I have built a bunch of controllers for my other hobby of computer controlled Christmas lights. I will have to get the parts to build that attenuator.
DaveW6DPS
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Getting the kit from Marvin is very easy and fairly inexpensive. If you like building and have built any kits it goes together quickly. You might also want to want to look at my projects page for an Arduino controlled beacon that is not nearly as bulky or heavy as the BRB. Of course it is only about 7mW, but is great for small rockets.
https://www.west.net/~marvin/k0ov.htm
Ditto that on Marvin's attenuator. You should inactivate the push to talk switch because it will dork the attenuator if you transmit through it. On higher quality H/T's that's selectable in the menu. You'd be surprised how you can accidentally pop the push to talk by mistake while tracking. Kurt
