looks almost like ham foxhunt. we do this, measuring signal strength till we find the transmitter...

That's exactly what it is, and why it has to be a vixen.

I'll also admit that, yes, your previous picture with the antenna attached to your horn was part of my inspiration for this. I haven't been particularly active on the Ham radio bands in years now; sadly, I have more interests than I have time for.

(It's a bit of a family thing. My grandfather managed to get a two letter call sign at one point.)

Obviosly you're a ham. I understand putting the radios down, I should turn mine on again, I mostly have handhelds and mobiles, Dad had a base system, and it's still there, but dad's shop is so cluttered that I can't get to it. further he is in a nursing home at the moment, and he has forgotten anything he has set up... I may have to just throw everythng out and replace it with stuff I know works. the big challenge is the big radio mast he set up in the front yard...

My father had an 80/40/20m tri-band inverted V dipole at one point, though that got taken down years back and a greenhouse put in instead. My grandfather actually had a 20/15/10m tri-band steerable quad antenna that we all helped put up... the thing looked like a cubical spider web, and was about as manoeuvrable when it got windy.

There's a ham joke I heard years back: "What does a quad do when nobody's looking? .... It stands up."

Thanks again!