ALL DAY T-HUNT
REPORT BY:
WB6JPI
AUGUST 22, 2015
It was a fine day for an All Day T-hunt and a unique
way to turn my nice Sea-Green Prius to a Fluffy Brown. It
turns out to be a day I shall remember as being one of the
biggest goofs in T-hunting history. And it is all Don and
Steve’s fault (the hiders). They made me do it.
Of course it started normally, I had time to load the car
on Friday afternoon and didn’t forget anything major and got
up on time on Saturday and left the house with time to spare.
Got to the Pathfinder Start point first, checked out the car
mounted video camera (my newest toy for T-hunting) and got it
mostly all right.
Got a solid bearing on two of the single transmitters
promised for this hunt and logged them in a T3 and the louder
T7. The bearing pointed right at Holcomb Valley, a place where
Don hides in every 5-7 years and it was due. I predicted that
to all that would listen. I set my computer navigator to route
at Fawnskin by the fastest route. Daylight is more important
in these multi transmitter hunts as the mileage doesn’t matter
if you can’t find them all. and I don’t want to be off-road in
the dark. 57 to 210 to 330 to 18 and along the way all
bearings pointed that way.
Found “snake” T on 18 and T9 at the Moose Lodge in
Fawnskin and ran into Deryl/Ray and decided to have lunch.
Don/Steve showed up (I think they were lurking near by) and we
ate at the little restaurant in Fawnskin across the street of
T9. There was to be a Pizza dinner at the Moose Lodge (a black
tie affair) later.
After lunch I went west on Rim-of-the-world toward Butler
Peak and Coxey road and found T3 on the road to Butler
peak. It was a hike to get to requiring about a ¼ mile
of rough up and down terrain and I did it twice as I gave up
along the way once. My legs were scratched, my body wringing
wet with sweat and my shoes filled up with dirt. By the time I
got back to the car I was pooped and exhausted. I logged in T3
(FtSI…First to Sign In) and went on hunting.
Now here is where the fantasy begins. I got about ½ mile
away from T3 and it occurred to me that that wasn’t T3 that I
had just found but it was T7. I stopped and took a bearing as
it was still very strong. Sure enough the signal was T7.and
the bearing checked with where I had found it. So I changed my
log to indicate that it was T7 and continued on.
Now I was focused on finding T3 which was strong. This is
a situation that kept me busy for the next 5 hours.
I ran into Deryl/Ray and they indicated that the
had found T7, and T17 and I described my finding T7 and they
did not even try to hint that I was in error. I ran into then
twice more as they were also looking for T3 and again they did
not correct my misconception that I had found T7.
In my travels I heard a voice T iding KF6GQ, T11, T17,
T3. This is while I was rumbling around listening to T2/7 with
80 dB of attenuator in. It was not at all clear on Sunday
afternoon, while I am writing this as 80 dB is often
considered to be a YOU ARE HERE signal—stop and sniff. My mind
was all rubber at this time.
Finally I got to go back to where I had found T3 and
there was Deryl’s SUV and it was T3. He and Ray were off
hiking the torture trail but, I considered letting the air out
of a couple of tires…
I went seeking T7 but it was too late and I was too
tired. It looked like it was up a road that I didn’t want to
take the Prius and Glenn came out of it and said it wasn’t at
all nice in there. Doug showed up and he had come in from the
North through Green Valley and hadn’t found anything I had.
Glenn had found T3 cum 7 but it was too late as I already knew
it was T3.
I found T12 but it was getting dark, I was hungry for
Pizza and still pooped. I headed back to Fawnskin and the
Moose lodge.. It was 7:30 when I got there and the Pizza was
all gone at 5:10 so I went down the hill to Rialto and had a
very good Lemon Chicken at what is becoming one of my
many favorite Chinese places.
I slept 7 hours (I normally sleep 5 or maybe 6) and am
all fresh and lively today.
My car turned brown….took off the antenna and ran to the
car was as I couldn’t touch it anywhere with requiring a
shower myself.
The new video camera is a miniature windshield mounted
wide angle HD at 60 FPS (I had is set at 1250/720/60fps to get
7 hrs of loop time in 32 GB). It records what it sees along
with a date time stamp, GPS coordinates and velocity. It
turns on when the car starts and turns off when the car
stops but will also turn on for a few minutes if
the car is bumped. I had it set to turn off if nothing is
moving in the scene for 15 seconds (I will get this shut off).
It seemed to have time stamped some time that was
near GMT but not. I think I know what I did wrong there. The
videos are clear and the main issue seems to be glare off the
windshield and reflections of the dash. I will work on
it. It records on a 32GB micro stick in 5 minute or less files
(178 of them in this hunt). Now who wants 7 hrs of a T-hunt
video to watch??
Good hunt once you get the dust off..
Bob, WB6JPI