Fullerton Hunt

February 21. 2009

This is supposed to be a beginner hunt that lasts an hour or two.  Such requirements call for a transmitter that is “hidden” in a car parked on a road although the “rules” say it can be up to 50 ft from a paved accessible public place. The other requirements request that the transmitted signal be continuous and that the starting antenna position and polarization not be changed during the hunt.

I wanted some trickery as a real “beginner” hunt doesn’t have any, so I added a slight route deception by choosing a spot that could easily lead to an error in route choice by the hunters. I chose Yorba Linda as the only transmitter I had that could run continuous was a little squawkbox at 50 mw and I had to be fairly close to the start.

The site I chose was at the end of Condor Ridge Road (N33 54.639 W117 45.683) in a cul-de-sac that had some parking room. At the start, I couldn’t be heard with the 50 mw into my 3 el thunt kit beam vertically polarized. I rolled down the hill for about 100 ft lower altitude to Fairmont just west of Condor Ridge Rd. and could just be heard at the start. I stayed here (N34 54.5086 W 117 45.8019) for the hunt duration although there was little parking.

The trick was that from the start, the hunters could not tell if I was up Carbon Canyon or not and there is no easy way to correct the mistake of going up Carbon Canyon without a serious mileage hit. It worked as three of the five hunters went up the canyon and not the ridge.