Meathead
Transmitter Hunt
Hider: Doug WA6RJN
Where: the hills south of Apple Valley.
I was planning to hide in another location but during the week my plans changed. There was another site I had in mind but I had not been there in 15 years.
Leaving early in the morning, I headed for the area. I had identified two other places to hide Ts along the way. I arrived near the first site but decided it was too late to set up and headed instead for the main T area near Rattlesnake Mountain south of Apple Valley. I remember that finding the road that went up the mountain had always been a challenge, especially in the dark. It was now 9 AM and I looked around for a place to put the T. The recent fires had cleared the brush and the new growth was only a foot or two tall. Driving down a side road I found a place that had some taller vegetation. I placed the beam in the branches of a falling tree. It was gray and matched the color of the 11 element beam. This would be T1 running 4W and got it on the air right at 10AM.
On the way down I dropped off the VW bug T (50mW). It would announce "Look for something green that travels along the ground .... squish ..... never mind".
I started to head toward the locations I had picked to hide two other Ts but decided it was too late and the plan changed again. I decided to stay closer to the T1 area. I wanted a place that was on the other side of the railroad spur track making it more interesting by having to find a way to cross the track. To the east was Milpas Dr that ascended a hill. I found a road that went to the west side of the hill. This is where T2 (3W) was placed behind a 2 foot tall bush. It had a great view to the west and would be strong at the entrance to the T1 road. This would hopefully distract the hunters from going up the road to T1.
It seems that most hunts have a talking T so I hid a "token talking T", T4 (50mW). I had driven down the hill from T2 and crossed the spur track. The track makes a 90 degree curve at this point and at the opposite end of the curve was a bridge that crossed over a sandy road. Out of the several roads that went into this area I found the one that went under the bridge. My mag mount antennas just touched the bridge. The road led up a hill on the other side. I had intended to hide the T toward the top of the hill but part way up the road turned bad and I decided to hide the T closer to the bridge. I found a place that was just higher that the track and would be a short walk from the bridge.
That made four Ts but I wanted one more. I decided to put another one near T1 so it was back up the 9 mile road. I hide T10 (50 mW) in the burned out section of a Joshua tree a little farther down the road from the turn off to T1.
Now I just had to wait for the hunters to find them. Three of the four hunter teams found all the Ts. I heard that WB6JPI was looking for T4 and forgot to duck going under the bridge. This resulted in a modification to his directional tracking device. After looking at the mileages, it seems to have affected his odometer as well.
When the hunters were heading for home I started my journey to retrieved the Ts.
Doug
WA6RJN
Results:
Click to see Jippys Story
Where: the hills south of Apple Valley.
I was planning to hide in another location but during the week my plans changed. There was another site I had in mind but I had not been there in 15 years.
Leaving early in the morning, I headed for the area. I had identified two other places to hide Ts along the way. I arrived near the first site but decided it was too late to set up and headed instead for the main T area near Rattlesnake Mountain south of Apple Valley. I remember that finding the road that went up the mountain had always been a challenge, especially in the dark. It was now 9 AM and I looked around for a place to put the T. The recent fires had cleared the brush and the new growth was only a foot or two tall. Driving down a side road I found a place that had some taller vegetation. I placed the beam in the branches of a falling tree. It was gray and matched the color of the 11 element beam. This would be T1 running 4W and got it on the air right at 10AM.
On the way down I dropped off the VW bug T (50mW). It would announce "Look for something green that travels along the ground .... squish ..... never mind".
I started to head toward the locations I had picked to hide two other Ts but decided it was too late and the plan changed again. I decided to stay closer to the T1 area. I wanted a place that was on the other side of the railroad spur track making it more interesting by having to find a way to cross the track. To the east was Milpas Dr that ascended a hill. I found a road that went to the west side of the hill. This is where T2 (3W) was placed behind a 2 foot tall bush. It had a great view to the west and would be strong at the entrance to the T1 road. This would hopefully distract the hunters from going up the road to T1.
It seems that most hunts have a talking T so I hid a "token talking T", T4 (50mW). I had driven down the hill from T2 and crossed the spur track. The track makes a 90 degree curve at this point and at the opposite end of the curve was a bridge that crossed over a sandy road. Out of the several roads that went into this area I found the one that went under the bridge. My mag mount antennas just touched the bridge. The road led up a hill on the other side. I had intended to hide the T toward the top of the hill but part way up the road turned bad and I decided to hide the T closer to the bridge. I found a place that was just higher that the track and would be a short walk from the bridge.
That made four Ts but I wanted one more. I decided to put another one near T1 so it was back up the 9 mile road. I hide T10 (50 mW) in the burned out section of a Joshua tree a little farther down the road from the turn off to T1.
Now I just had to wait for the hunters to find them. Three of the four hunter teams found all the Ts. I heard that WB6JPI was looking for T4 and forgot to duck going under the bridge. This resulted in a modification to his directional tracking device. After looking at the mileages, it seems to have affected his odometer as well.
When the hunters were heading for home I started my journey to retrieved the Ts.
Doug
WA6RJN
Results:
Click to see Jippys Story