August 25th 2012
Meathead
All Day Transmitter Hunt
Hider: Doug WA6RJN
About 10 or 15 years ago I was on a hunt that ended at the Halfmoon campground in the Los Padres National Forest to the south of Mt Pinos. The hider had simple added a 20 foot mast and yagi to compliment the camping gear. I kept this area in mind and checked it out again about 8 years ago. Unfortunately the devastating Day fire in 2006 followed a year or two later by massive thunder storms washed out the road and it wasn't rebuilt for several years.
Last May I checked it out for a hide but the road wasn't to re-open until the following month. This year I found myself hiding three out of the next four hunts. I decided now was the time to try my idea out. The idea was to hide as far south on forest road 7N03 as possible and run low power. This should cause the signal to disappear shortly after leaving the starting point. I was hoping I could draw the hunters up through Fillmore and north toward the Condor Observation site. This would be about as close to (as the crow flies) yet as far away (driving) from the T as possible.
I drove up on Saturday morning to the locked gate at the end of 7N03. After looking around a considerable amount of time for a suitable location that would conceal the antenna, I hurriedly set up the main T. As it was about 10 AM, I opted for using 35 watts into an 11 element beam pointed at the starting point to ensure the T would it be heard. Indeed it was - even on a handheld!
I proceeded to hide the remainder of the Ts. I was down in a canyon behind a ridge hiding T9 when my phone rang. How can I possibly be getting coverage here?? It was N6ZHZ/KD6CYG starting the hunt unofficially and wanted to know where to get a signal. As a side note, I found my phone was contacting 5 different cell towers scattered from Cuddy Valley to Pyramid Lake.
The hunters were off. Up interstate 5 to Castaic the signal was strong but a few more miles up the 5 the signal just disappears. WB6JPI continued up the 5 to Frazier Park. At Lake of the Woods he took Lockwood Valley Rd but still no signal. A weak signal to the south was finally heard leading him into the area to find the 7 Ts.
N6AIN/N6EKS and KF6GQ/KD6LAJ met up at the Condor Observation site on the other side of the Rose Valley. The plan was working. Taking separate routes, they met up again on Lockwood Valley Rd and came south on 7N03 to the hide area.
N6ZHZ/KD6CYG made a valiant effort exploring many interesting roads but none where the Ts were located.
The main T ran 35 watts into an 11 element beam pointed at the starting point. All other Ts were 50 mW into a vertical antenna except T7 which run 500 mW. T7 is the reborn Silver Peak T donated by N6MI.
Along the way I saw an interesting sight at the Johnson Ridge trailhead. If you are going hiking, why do you need special parking?
Results
WB6JPI T6 T4 T9 T7 T10 T5 T1
Winner 3:25 3:39 3:50 5:00 5:16 5:30 5:35
113 115 115 121 123 127 128
KF6GQ/KD6LAJ T6 T9 T4 T10 T1 T5 T7
6:22 6:33 7:07 7:40 7:47 8:10 8:33
203.6 203.9 208.4 210 210.3 210.3 212.1
N6AIN/N6EKS T6 T9 T4
6:25 6:31 7:05
224.0 224.5 225
N6ZHZ/KD6CYG DNF
Token Water Hazard
T1 Antenna in the trees T1 Transmitter and Battery
Bug T Bug T
Camping at Pine Springs campground. Doesn't everyone have a monitoring antenna on their tent?
Don's Story
Bob WB6JPI's Story
Ray's Story
Bob and Caty's Story
Meathead
All Day Transmitter Hunt
Hider: Doug WA6RJN
About 10 or 15 years ago I was on a hunt that ended at the Halfmoon campground in the Los Padres National Forest to the south of Mt Pinos. The hider had simple added a 20 foot mast and yagi to compliment the camping gear. I kept this area in mind and checked it out again about 8 years ago. Unfortunately the devastating Day fire in 2006 followed a year or two later by massive thunder storms washed out the road and it wasn't rebuilt for several years.
Last May I checked it out for a hide but the road wasn't to re-open until the following month. This year I found myself hiding three out of the next four hunts. I decided now was the time to try my idea out. The idea was to hide as far south on forest road 7N03 as possible and run low power. This should cause the signal to disappear shortly after leaving the starting point. I was hoping I could draw the hunters up through Fillmore and north toward the Condor Observation site. This would be about as close to (as the crow flies) yet as far away (driving) from the T as possible.
I drove up on Saturday morning to the locked gate at the end of 7N03. After looking around a considerable amount of time for a suitable location that would conceal the antenna, I hurriedly set up the main T. As it was about 10 AM, I opted for using 35 watts into an 11 element beam pointed at the starting point to ensure the T would it be heard. Indeed it was - even on a handheld!
I proceeded to hide the remainder of the Ts. I was down in a canyon behind a ridge hiding T9 when my phone rang. How can I possibly be getting coverage here?? It was N6ZHZ/KD6CYG starting the hunt unofficially and wanted to know where to get a signal. As a side note, I found my phone was contacting 5 different cell towers scattered from Cuddy Valley to Pyramid Lake.
The hunters were off. Up interstate 5 to Castaic the signal was strong but a few more miles up the 5 the signal just disappears. WB6JPI continued up the 5 to Frazier Park. At Lake of the Woods he took Lockwood Valley Rd but still no signal. A weak signal to the south was finally heard leading him into the area to find the 7 Ts.
N6AIN/N6EKS and KF6GQ/KD6LAJ met up at the Condor Observation site on the other side of the Rose Valley. The plan was working. Taking separate routes, they met up again on Lockwood Valley Rd and came south on 7N03 to the hide area.
N6ZHZ/KD6CYG made a valiant effort exploring many interesting roads but none where the Ts were located.
The main T ran 35 watts into an 11 element beam pointed at the starting point. All other Ts were 50 mW into a vertical antenna except T7 which run 500 mW. T7 is the reborn Silver Peak T donated by N6MI.
Along the way I saw an interesting sight at the Johnson Ridge trailhead. If you are going hiking, why do you need special parking?
Results
WB6JPI T6 T4 T9 T7 T10 T5 T1
Winner 3:25 3:39 3:50 5:00 5:16 5:30 5:35
113 115 115 121 123 127 128
KF6GQ/KD6LAJ T6 T9 T4 T10 T1 T5 T7
6:22 6:33 7:07 7:40 7:47 8:10 8:33
203.6 203.9 208.4 210 210.3 210.3 212.1
N6AIN/N6EKS T6 T9 T4
6:25 6:31 7:05
224.0 224.5 225
N6ZHZ/KD6CYG DNF
Token Water Hazard
T1 Antenna in the trees T1 Transmitter and Battery
Bug T Bug T
Camping at Pine Springs campground. Doesn't everyone have a monitoring antenna on their tent?
Don's Story
Bob WB6JPI's Story
Ray's Story
Bob and Caty's Story