Meathead
All Day Hunt
Hiders: Bob N6ZHZ and Cathy KD6CYG
Well, we said it was a Meathead, folks! Too bad nobody found the last two T's, which were at great geological sites. But more of that later.
The weekend prior to the hunt, Bob and I went to several sites at least halfway to our intended destination and ran several tests with Deryl, N6AIN, just to see if he could hear anything at the start point. He couldn't. This not only meant he didn't have a clue as to what direction we wanted to hide, but it also meant we had to find a location where we could be heard at the start point. We begged and borrowed various T's, amps, cables and antennas. As we intended this to be a true Meathead, lasting at least until Sunday morning, we headed out on Friday towards our destination. ZHZ was concerned that our "jump-off" T on Hwy 243 from Banning might not be heard at the start point, so we set up a T at our house in Rubidoux. Honest, folks, we didn't intend for it to come on, and certainly not as a continuous T (carrier as it apparently was by Sat.). But somehow the ZAV Box activated itself and by start time on Sat., it had become an interference T -- and a nuisance. It was only supposed to be activated by the Hunters if they couldn't hear any other T. So go the plans of mice and T-hiders.
Friday was spent fixing T's, planting T's and hiding T's. We had dinner at Chiriaco Summit and continued east to hide the final T's. The moonrise over Joshua Tree National Monument was as orange as a Halloween pumpkin, and the weather was pleasant.
We spent Friday night at the site of one of the final T's, near the Opal Hill Mine in the Mule Mountains, and Saturday's sunrise was one of the most spectacular we'd seen. Bob got right to work setting up the 15 elephant beam, and I got right to work looking for interesting rocks, which were in abundence. The road was a very fine road.
Meanwhile, Steve N6XFC and family were headed our way and graciously started the T on Hwy 243 for us.
By the time we finished setting up and tying down the big beam and were back out on the main dirt road, XFC and family had met up with us, and we went on to the final destination -- which shall remain completely nameless because we may want to lure you folks out into some a-maze-ing and extremely fine 4WD territory again. Y'all missed some of the best roads and rocks in the desert, as well as a neat meteor shower on Saturday night.
We were sorry that no T-hunters joined us for homemade chili verde burritos, T-hunt cookies and various other snacks, or breakfast on Sunday morning.
So! Here are the statistics, locations and some photos.
T11 of at least 4 (Not supposed to have come on, but since it did, it's now a legal T)3100 Muriel Drive, Rubidoux, CA
T1 of at least 6 (Reminding hunters to "Don't Dawdle!")
33 54.064 x 116 52.064
Hwy 243 a little above the 3,000 ft. level, just off a small turnout. Whip antenna on small ammo can, 2 Watts. Nice View.
T2 of at least 8 (Don't Dawdle!)
33 51.286 x 116 26.193
Edison Hill, ammo can, 2 Watts, whip antenna. Lots of sand. Good view.
T3 of at least 10 (Get Gas! Lots of Gas!)
33 38.205 x 115 48.569
Orocopia Mountains T, a reasonably well-travelled dirt road, 11 element beam and 30 watts out, pointing toward the Banning Pass.
T4 of way too many (And you thought this was a close-in hunt.)
33 40.215 x 115 43.289
Chiriaco Summit, approx. 30 ft. south of the Joshua Tree National Monument border. Froggy T (GQ mini-T) on 3-element beam. Fantastic moonrise.
T5 of several. (Is it Sunday yet?)
33 42.385 x 115 27.078
Eagle Mountain Road T. Mini T with a whip antenna. The sand had fluorescent green and orange bits under a black light at night. Really cool.
T6 of a bunch (Good fluorescent rocks found here!)
33 26.945 x 114 52.341
Not far from the Opal Hill Mine, Mule Mountains. 100 watts through a 15 element beam. Pointed toward the Banning Pass.
Lots of desert rose, chalcedony and carnelian, California opalite and basalt.
T7 of at least 7 (We said this was a Meathead!)
Sorry, no coordinates. We may want to lure y'all here again. But it was a great spot with lots of fine roads.
5 watts on a 4 element beam pointed at the Mule Mountains.
TEAMS:
5 T's: WA6RJN -- WINNER! Total of 235.4 Miles, with the final comment of "Where is everyone?"
3 T's: KF6GQ and KD6LAJ -- Total of 155.1 miles.
KC6TNJ and WA6TQQ -- Total of 171.6 miles
N6MI -- Unofficial with negative 342.7 miles.
2 T's: N6AIN -- Total of 128.2 miles
WB6JPI -- Unofficial
Where Are The Hunters?
Doug's Story
