We located the main transmitter at 3998 feet altitude in a turnout on a paved one-lane road which leads from Los Pinos Fire Camp to a Hot-Shot fire camp higher up the mountain. We put up a 13B2 Yagi, horizontally polarized fed by my ICOM 706MkII. Power output was 20 watts. The antenna was pointed directly towards the start point. The signal was bounced along the Main Divide of the Cleveland National Forest, bouncing from Modjeska, Santiago, and Sierra Peaks. Audio was provided by a .wav file of submarine dive klaxons and sonar beeps. T-2 was placed about a 100ft walk from T-1. T-2 was a 330mw PicCon/Alinco DJ-S11, horizontally polarized 3 element yagi, pointed towards south county.
From the hiding spot we could see the marine layer coming in and stopping at the ridgeline. This might account for some of the weirdness reported by ZHZ/CYG. Considering our beam angle we were most likely bouncing a VERY strong signal off the marine layer directly on top of the Rancho Santa Margarita area. This might be why the Doppler teams spent allot of time in that area hunting an omnipresent signal, which would essentially be coming from above. These possible weather effects were unplanned, but I will say I was pleased with the results.
Hunter Comments:
ZHZ/CYG- "How did you train your signal to be stronger on flatlands and non-existent at altitude?"
AIN/PYE- "this was a hunt!"
Identity Deleted - "IT SUCKED!"
Identity Deleted - "YOU SUCK!"
Identity Deleted - "@&*%^#%!)+*#^^... and you SUCK too!"