We had some technical difficulties at the beginning of the hunt.  
At first we tried a low power (100 mw) transmitter and it could not be
heard at the start location.  So we tried to switch to the same transmitter 
used in last week’s hide.  The controller box (that worked fine when tested 
earlier in the day) would not control anything.  We ended up using the Kenwood 742 
normally used in the car for general ham communications.  At first AB6PA 
was just jabbering into the microphone.  We’ll call it Glenn’s Golden Garbage.  
Ryan found some electrical tape and we used that to hold down the key on the mic. 
But that didn’t work consistently.  Then Bill found a Morse code practice program 
on his cell phone.  He programmed in my call and a T-ID.  Then we set his cell 
phone next to the microphone on the dash board of the car and held the key on 
the mic with tie wraps.  That seemed to work fine.  That eliminated the need 
for Glenn’s Golden Garbage.  The 742 would time out every three minutes and had 
to be un-keyed and the tie wraps re-applied.

The Morse code program would not repeat so it too had to be restarted occasionally.  
As hams usually do when necessary, with teamwork we improvised and came up with a
workable solution.  My apologies to the hunters for the late start.

 

Hunt Results:

Call(s)             Time                  Mileage
N6MJN               9:01 P.M.             19.7
N6AIN/WA6PYE        9:14 P.M.             21.8
N6ZHZ/KK6JDC        9:23 P.M.             19.1
WA6CYY             10:05 P.M.             23.0
WB6JPI             10:28 P.M.             49.0

P.S. Post mortem on the controller shows the Arduino board failed.  Applying a new 
Arduino board  loaded with the same program worked just fine this morning.

73, Glenn (AB6PA)