Sprint Fox Items
Each of the ten fox locations requires the following items
- Striped Pole with SI Station
- FlexFox Transmitter
- Short (2m tall) Antenna
The beacon locations (finish and spectator) require the follow items:
- Flag with SI Box
- FlexFox Transmitter
- Long Antenna
- Corridor flagging
It is a lot of equipment to carry all at once, so it is recommended to set up one sprint loop at a time, carrying only what you need to set up a single loop and perhaps a beacon.
A ski bag is available for holding all the items. Since most skis are longer that 1 meter, the bag is a bit lengthy, but can be folded into itself to make it more manageable.
Setting Up Foxes
Setting the Fox Antenna
Fox antennas are equipped with long straps that allow them to be securely attached to trees, shrubs, or posts with a variety of diameters. Finding a suitable Sprint antenna support is generally very easy.
Sprint antennas are marked with small orange or blue dots indicating which foxes they should be used for. The orange-dotted antennas should be used with the slow foxes and the blue-dotted antennas with the fast foxes.
The fox antennas have separate top and bottom pieces that attach together using a screw connection. The metal screw connection is responsible for connecting the two halves together both mechanically and electrically.
Follow these steps to assemble the antenna:
- Locate and unwrap the two velcro cable wraps holding the antenna halves together. Don’t undo the velcro wrap holding the long nylon strap yet!
- Take the top half of the antenna (the section without the coaxial cable and antenna connector) and screw it onto the bottom half. This will go quickly and easily if you have left the long nylon strap secured to the upper antenna half.
- Now unwrap the velcro cable tie securing the long nylon strap. Lean the antenna against a support (a tree, bush, or any non-metallic object tall and strong enough to support the antenna leaning against it) and secure it there with the nylon strap.
Whew! Antenna deployed!
Placing the Fox Transmitter
The transmitter should be placed near the base of the antenna, as close to the support as feasible, to prevent it from getting stepped on by passing runners.
Be sure to power on the transmitter using the switch on the battery. Once powered on, you will see LEDs blinking under its clear top. (The LEDs time out after a few minutes, so don’t be concerned if the LEDs go dark shortly after powering the transmitter.)
Plug the antenna’s 5-pin connector firmly into the transmitter’s antenna jack. Slide the connector in completely until you can feel the plug is fully seated in the jack. The green LED should light up, indicating that the antenna has been detected. (The LEDs time out after a few minutes, so don’t be concerned if the LEDs go dark shortly after powering the transmitter.)
Place the transmitter gently inside its dry bag and set it near the base of the antenna. Route the coaxial cable to a corner of the bag’s opening, then fold the top, rolling it only once, and secure it closed with the closure clips.
Set the striped Pole
A striped pole should be placed within 1 meter of the fox antenna. Make sure that the SI Station is labeled with the fox number corresponding to the fox being placed! Try to place the striped pole in a location that is easily visible from most directions of approach. This will help reduce the role that luck plays in how quickly competitors notice the pole.
The striped poles have a foot step at their base designed to help you press them into the ground with your weight on one foot. Poke the spade at the base into the ground and press down gently, at first, to check for stones or roots that will prevent the spade from entering the ground successfully. After probing around and locating a suitable spot, insert the blade into the soil by pressing down with your foot, keeping the pole vertical. Press the spade into the soil far enough to hold the pole securely when competitors jostle it in their rush to record their times.
Setting Up Beacons
Beacon setup is no different from Classic fox transmitters. See Deploying an 80m Classic Fox for instructions.
Setting the Corridor
Once the beacon transmitter is in place, hang its flag and SI registration box at the entry to the corridor. The beacon’s orange-and-white orienteering flag should be within ~4 meters of the transmitter, and more importantly, at the entry to the corridor. The flag should make it obvious where a competitor enters the corridor.
Use flagging to mark at least one side of the corridor. If a spectator corridor or start corridor is used, it should run in a direction that provides no clues as to where competitors should go to locate the foxes. For instance, it should not run in the direction of the ideal first fox. It also shouldn’t run in the opposite direction from the course and its transmitters, since that would force competitors to double back toward the beacon, possibly alerting other competitors to the direction of the foxes.
Collection
Collecting foxes is easier than deploying them, but care needs to be taken to avoid knots and tangles that will make the equipment difficult to deploy at the next event. For the beacon(s) see Deploying an 80m Classic Fox for collection instructions.
For the sprint foxes, take the ski bag with you and a master map or a receiver if the foxes are still transmitting. Upon reaching a fox, pull the striped pole out of the ground, taking care not to damage the cloth stripes. Prying or pulling straight up from the base of the pole works best, if you can manage it. Pulling on the SI Box holder on top should be avoided if possible, as it will loosen the SI Box holder over time. Once freed from the soil, place the pole into the ski bag.
Open the dry bag containing the fox and disconnect the antenna from the transmitter by pulling the antenna plug from the transmitter’s antenna jack. (Don’t pull on the antenna wire or coaxial cable.)
The steps for dismantling a fox antenna are in the reverse order of the steps to deploy it.
- Always start by removing the strap from the tree or bush that supports the antenna. Then roll the strap around an open hand to make a neat little bundle that can be secured tightly with the velcro cable wrap to the upper antenna element next to where the strap attaches to the antenna.
- With the strap out of the way you can readily unscrew the top half of the antenna to remove it from the bottom half.
- Place the top and bottom halves of the antenna together with their tops and bottoms next to one another.
- Lift up the coaxial cable by the connector and use the cable wrap to attach it and the two antenna halves together.
- Locate the other velcro cable wrap near the bottom of the antenna halves and use it to secure the coax and antenna halves together.
Place the transmitter into its dry bag, then place the dry bag and antenna into the ski bag. Lather, rinse and repeat until all foxes have been collected.