Field Marshall Tracking Receiver

Open the antenna

The yagi does not have full range, or a sharp pinpoint, until it is fully open.

1. Take the receiver out of the bag, holster, or case and point it away from you.

2. Push forward on the rear of the slide bar. The spring-loaded elements flip out at once. Keep them away from your face and from anyone standing close.

3. Lift the center elements out of their slots, one at a time, and let them spring open.

4. Pull the slide bar forward until the forward elements click into place.

5. To fold it, reverse the order. Slide the forward elements back toward the receiver. Rotate the center elements into their collapsed position. Rotate the two back elements and click them into the silver clips.

Turn it on and set the frequency

1. The volume knob is the power switch. Turn it left until it clicks to switch off.

2. Set the numbered switches to the frequency in kilohertz. The FM100 uses two switches. The other models use three.

3. The receiver is accurate to about 1 kilohertz, but the clearest tone is often 1 to 3 kilohertz above or below the number printed on the transmitter. A transmitter marked 216.025 may sound best anywhere from 216.022 to 216.028, sometimes further. If you hear nothing, walk the rightmost digit through its whole range.

4. On the FM4000, set the band switch to the megahertz band, for example 216, 217, 218, or 219. The FM1000 has 1000 frequency choices. The FM4000 has 4000.

5. Use fine tune to move less than 1 kilohertz. It is broad, not touchy. On a very weak signal, set it for the strongest pitch, about 700 to 800 hertz. For everyday tracking, set it where the tone sounds best to you.

Choose Far, Medium, or Near

The range switch tells you when to get out and walk.

Install the batteries

1. Use six AAA cells, 1.5 volts each.

2. Alkaline is the everyday choice. Lithium lasts longer and works better below about minus 7 degrees Celsius (20 degrees Fahrenheit). Do not use zinc-carbon cells.

3. Rest the receiver between uses. That extends battery life.

4. Polarity is marked on the lid. Negative on the two sides, positive in the middle.

5. The low-battery light tells you when to change the cells.

Alkaline	Typical life 10.5 hours. Cost per hour, as printed, 0.36 dollars.
Titanium	Typical life 11.5 hours. Cost per hour, as printed, 0.65 dollars.
Lithium	Typical life 14.0 hours. Cost per hour, as printed, 1.07 dollars.

Power, the handle, water, and headphones

1. External power. The jack takes a 12-volt negative-ground adapter, or any direct-current source from 7.5 to 14 volts that can supply 200 milliamps. This jack does not charge the cells inside.

2. Handle. Turn the thumbwheel and slide the handle out.

3. Water. The speakers are waterproof. Ordinary rain is fine if spray stays off the front panel. Water damage is not covered. If water gets in, switch off, take the batteries out at once, set the receiver front-panel-down to drain, and leave it off until it is dry.

4. Headphones. Use them for a weak signal in a noisy place.

Practice once before you need it

1. Put a transmitter about 100 yards away. Set the range switch to Medium, tune until the beep is clear, and set a comfortable volume.

2. Hold the receiver at eye level with the elements flat and turn your whole body in a circle. The beep peaks when the boom points at the transmitter. That peak is your bearing. It is not always a straight line to the animal. Bounces are covered below.

3. Point at the transmitter and rotate the elements from flat to straight up. One orientation is usually stronger. Do this at every new stop.

4. Have someone hide the transmitter, or hang it with the antenna straight up on wood or a string, and drive away. Do not set a transmitter on the ground. They perform poorly there.

5. Tune just before you release the bird or the dog, so you are not searching the dial in a hurry. Set the numbers to the frequency, then move the last digit for the loudest sound. Marshall transmitters do not need a retune after they reach outside temperature. Other brands can drift.

6. Do not tune with the transmitter on the car seat beside you. The signal is so strong that a neighboring channel can sound fine, then disappear in the field. Use Near when you tune close to a transmitter, and stand a short distance away.

How the signal behaves

1. The signal leaves from the sides of the transmitter antenna, not out of the tip. Match the yagi elements to the transmitter antenna.

2. A strong reading off a canyon wall may be the animal, or a bounce. Before you climb, rotate the yagi around the boom. A bounce barely changes strength as you rotate. A direct signal usually has one clear best orientation.

3. Every yagi has a weaker lobe 180 degrees from the peak. Scan the full horizon before you walk. Turn the volume down until only the peak remains.

4. For a long distance, a car-mounted 5-element or 7-element yagi reaches farther. While you drive between bearings, use an omni antenna, such as a magnetic whip in the center of the roof. A 5/8-wavelength whip is a little stronger than a 1/4-wave whip. When the omni fades, stop and take a yagi bearing.

5. If you lose the signal entirely, drive widening circles with the omni until you hear it.

6. A mountain face can send you toward a bounce. The animal is not at the reflecting surface.

7. Fences and wires can pick the signal up and send it out again, often horizontally, especially when the transmitter is next to the wire.

8. Close in, two paths can make the signal strong, then almost nothing a few feet later.

9. Woods, fog, cloud, snow, and rain weaken the signal. The band from 173 to 220 megahertz avoids the worse loss of higher frequencies.

10. The horizon blocks the signal. Height is the first remedy: a hill, a tower, the roof of the vehicle, or holding the antenna as high as you can. Some signal bends over a hill, a tree line, or a metal edge, so range runs a little past a clear line of sight, then fades.

Search

1. Before you start, check the transmitter antenna and the battery contacts. The battery is the part most likely to fail. Test the receiver batteries and carry spares. Turn the system on and confirm the channel.

2. At each stop, scan a full circle first. If the signal is weak, rotate the boom and compare straight up against flat. If both are about equal, suspect a bounce, or a signal bending over a hill.

3. Take a bearing and mark it with two landmarks, one beyond the signal and one behind you. Move to the side, take another bearing, and head for where the lines meet. Roads and high ground keep you off the direct line. That offset helps, because the next bearing crosses the first.

4. Close in, keep taking bearings. A bounce can put the real signal behind you once you pass the obstacle that was hiding it.

5. The longest reach in this guide is an airplane, circling with a yagi on the wing strut aimed down, good headphones, and a coax lead with the right connectors.

Warranty and service

Receivers are warranted against defects of workmanship and materials for three years from the date of purchase. Return the complete unit, transportation prepaid, to an authorized service center. Misuse and ordinary damage are not covered. Marshall Radio is not responsible for loss beyond the value of the receiver, including the loss of an animal or lost time.

United States and Canada	(800) 729-7123
Europe	Marshall Direct, United Kingdom. +44 161 870 6518
Elsewhere	Your distributor, or +1 801 936 9000