Amateur radio direction finding is hide-and-seek played over the air: one device transmits from a hiding place; everyone else carries a receiver that reports how strong the signal is, but not which way. Radio amateurs call it a fox hunt. I have built a version for two BBC micro:bits – the hidden board is the Treasure and the receiver is the Hound. I’ve released it, free to use, in time for National Coding Week, 14 to 20 September.
You’ll need two or more micro:bit V2 boards with battery packs, a computer preferably with Chrome or Edge, a USB data cable, and a space about 20 m across. Copying the game onto a board takes about half a minute for the first and seconds for each after, with nothing to install and no account. You need one Treasure and one Hound per group; the Hounds only listen, so any number can hunt the same Treasure at once. The boards may already be in your cupboard: Nominet funded 675,000 micro:bits for UK primary schools, delivered with the BBC and the Micro:bit Educational Foundation in 2023-24.
We also provide a 90-minute lesson plan for Upper Key Stage 2 (or two 45-minute sessions), a pupil worksheet that runs it as a measurement investigation, and a one-side-of-A4 hunt card for a 20-minute game where the goal is just to find it.
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