At 10:00 am there was a weak but hearable signal coming from about 345 deg or so. I had received an envelope from Scott N6MI on Monday, with Instructions on the tape covering the seal. It’s to be opened at 10:15 am. However Scott, now on the cell phone, said to ignore the envelope and hunt the hearable T. The hunt will be a 1 transmitter hunt. Curiosity got the better of us though, and I opened the envelope anyway. All it said was that if the 146.565 T could not be heard by10:30 am it was to be a 2 transmitter hunt and to tune to 147.585 and listen for another T. Hunt the 7.585 first and then 6.565 second. No help there.

Steve and I decided to go to the 405 and north. We got off at Mulholland to see if we could hear something. We did hear on sideband the 146.565 T and it still is north and a little west. We must decide whether to go up the 5 or out the 14 through Lancaster.

Back on the 405 we continue north to the 5 and just before we get to the 14 cutoff we get a short burst from the T. It’s still north so we decide to head up the 5. Steve is on the cell phone with David N6IDF and they have taken the 14 and headed out that way. We assume he is lying (he’s good at that) and they are really somewhere in front of us, so Steve lies too, says we are also going out that way.

Through the Ridge Route, from time to time, we hear the T on sideband. As we break out with a view to the north its full scale and we have to put attenuation in.

We stop at the bottom and have lunch at Jack N the Box with Wayne and wife and RJN and KZF. We take a few bearings and head on northward.

Just north of Bakersfield, we cut off on 65 and see an Arco station with regular gas for $1.99 9/10 per gal so stop to top off. Wayne is here too. We have a chat and take some more bearing. Still haven’t changed much. On north we go with TNJ in front and leaving us in the dust. Steve decides we shouldn’t have gotten off the 99 so we turn west on Lerdo Hwy and catch the 99 north again.

In Kingsburg we get off 99 and get lost in the small streets. Finally we find Academy ave and head north again. Up through Sanger to Tollhouse Rd (168) and up to where all the bearings have been pointing.

At Shaver Lake we pull into a parking lot for a short break and take some bearings. The strongest one is east right at this big rock of a mountain. Since the signal isn’t very strong I am convinced it’s a bounce from the T witch is to the north and east of us, probably MT Tom Lookout 9018 feet back behind Huntington Lake, beyond Kaiser Pass. So on to Huntington Lake and beyond. Hours later, as the sun is getting low in the west, we finally get to the top of Toms lookout.

Very disappointing. It isn’t here. Mater of fact, it’s weaker than it was at the bottom of the Grapevine Grade, 165 miles away. I don’t want to have to drive down the narrow road in the dark so we leave quickly.

Back over Kaiser Pass and to Shaver Lake we go. Gas is getting low and we don’t see any open stations. Steve also has to be somewhere at 12:00 pm on Sunday so we decide to pack it in and go home. It’s about 8:30 pm.

2:00 am I get home. We had a good time. Went some where I have never been before. Wish we could have found something.
Deryl N6AIN