Winders, Stooges And Retrieval Systems

Retrieval systems

For many years the radio direction finding system sold by Jim Walston was the gold standard retrieval system for free flight planes. A small transmitter attached to the plane sent a series of beeps and the pilot found the bearing to the plane using a directional antenna on a UHF receiver. Walston no longer supplies these systems, but they are still available according to an NFFS forum. Apparently, Walston got his systems from a supplier to Falconry hobbyists ( radiotracking.com). Systems are also available from wildlifematerials.com. Falconry transmitters weighing as little as 4 grams are available from merlinsystems.com.
The transmitters are tuned to channels about 10 KHz wide in a HAM Radio band near 220 MHz. Walston systems used a WMI TRX-3S receiver with a frequency range of 148 to 222 MHz, which can be tuned to 3 channels.

Remote Dethermalizer Activation by Radio

In addition to on board Clockwork or Electronic Timers and fuses, it is now possible to activate a dethermalizer (DT), such as a pop-up stabilizer, from the ground via radio control. While for the biggest planes a battery, receiver and servo might weigh in excess of 20 grams using normal R/C plane gear, recently lighter gear based on garage door opener technology is becoming available. One source in the UK has a system to burn through a rubber band to activate the DT https://bmks.co.uk/ Eagles are testing this system for activation range. A longer range transmitter is also becoming available.