What is Fox and Hound Mode in Amateur Radio?


I have heard of Fox Hunt or Amateur Radio Direction Finding long back. But it was only today that I came across Fox and Hound Mode in a Twitter (X) post, which prompted me to read up and find a nice detailed article by KE8FMJ. The mode shown as Fox/Hound or F/H and is also known as DXpedition mode, a special operating feature which provides for FT8 contacts at very high rates. In fact, the post which I saw mentioned that 3G0YA, the Easter Island DXpedition which is going on, responded to 10 ‘Hounds’ in the same transmission! Calling stations are called ‘Hounds” and DXpedition station is the ‘Fox’. Fox/Hound mode could allow up to 500 contacts per hour for DXpedition stations under ideal conditions. This is in sharp contrast to usual FT8 contacts which need two minutes for completion. Simple step by step description of how to use the mode has been given by KE8FMJ.