Don and Steve's Story
of the April 28th 2018
All Night
Note: This is long and boring, from the author.
Also this was written after talking with Deryl.
This hunt started out a bit confusing because of the lack of
any signal at the Pathfinder starting point (I wish that
N6AIN had started at the PV starting point so we could have
had a bearing from there). Finally N6ZHZ & Cathy sent a
bearing from the old Summit Inn starting point of 302
degrees. Then a few minutes later, WA6RJN sent his bearing
of 310 degrees. Both of these bearings went suspiciously
close to the 5 freeway, and the west end of Tehachapi. This
reminded us of the hunt that Paul & his brother YMI
(that's what Milt always referred to him as). At that time
they where hidden in the Los Padres National forest near
Sewart Mt.. Because of a ridge just in front of their
transmitter, they where able to bounce a signal off of the
Tehachapi Mountains, and not be heard anywhere in front. We
went directly to Tehachapi, because of Peter, Grand FAT
interest of railroad trains (the famous
Tehachapi “Loop” is near there). Of course when we got
to the area, we had signals off every hilltop, and the
signal was quite strong. After spending many hours (3+),
finally deciding there was no transmitter to be found in
Tehachapi! So this hunt we were not going to be fooled
by any fake signals coming from Tehachapi. I also let the
other hunters at Pathfinder not to be fooled by any
fake signals coming from there!
So off we went westward toward the 5 freeway. On the way
Steve and I had many heated discussions on the accuracy of
our decision to go this way! So we came up with a plan “B”,
this one would not harm our mileage too bad if we had to
deflect from our chosen path. We went up into Angeles
National forest on Angeles National Forest Hwy, to get to
Mill Creek Summit, a left turn up Mt. Gleason Rd. and we
will have a great view both west and north. Well it seems
since the last fire Mt. Gleason road is close! However, we
can hear a signal, but it's off a hillside in back of us. So
down to hwy 14 to the overlook and maybe we can get a
bearing from there! So here we are and yes we got a bearing,
310 degrees! So still no right way to go! Going back a bit,
Tom K6VCR set us up with a APRS app for the phone, so while
we where there we decided to look and find out where they
were (MI & VCR) , actually didn't know how to make it
work, but we clicked a couple of buttons and saw that they
where at same location as us! No! That got to be wrong, it
must be showing our location. Then on Steve's door came a
knock, there was Scott laughing at us as we tried to sort
things out! So they got fooled as we did, they are going
north on the 14 hwy. Wait there's ZHZ on the radio, he is
north of us also! Is everyone going the wrong way,
apparently so. Well we aren't fooled yet, but we will go as
far north as the 138, and see what the signal look like from
there, if it's to the west we can get there that way. The
last time we went west on 138 for about 10 miles, and at the
last second, we turned north across the desert to make the
best route to Tahachapi. At the 14/138 we got off and got up
on the overpass, and listened to the signal, or the lack of
a signal. When we heard anything, it was way down in the
noise! So much for a signal increase as one gets closer to
the signal! Time to make a decision, west or north? We got
fooled last time by a bit, well a lot more than that, 3+
hours and 147 miles mistake! Scott apparently passed under
us , as he mentioned on radio that he did. So he is still
going north, what fools, wait maybe it could be up there
this time! So with Steve my able naviguesser, saying we has
no reason to go north (only that the signal is coming from
there). Well if everybody is going north, we won't be in the
hole if everybody is wrong too. Off to Mojave we go! In
Mojave we decided to stop and replenish the fuel tank. As we
pull in to the pumps we spotted WA6RJN Doug also picking up
some gas. So it looks like everyone is up here. Doug
indicates that he has had a bad signal since he had left his
start location. We both agree that the next step is to go on
the 58 fwy west to Tehachapi! So off we go 80 mph! Trying to
keep up with Doug so we can follow him. He gets off on one
of the earlier exits in Tehachapi, we continue on hoping to
hear something from the loop area, but the only signals we
hear are in the direction of S.W. Tehachapi, so we get off
at the last exit in the city, Tucker Rd. Stopped at the high
spot at exit and took several bearings, we could hear T22, T
MI, and T3 covered bridge. No Astronaut T! Now as I had
mentioned before, several years ago we spent many hours
looking for Paul's T in these hills. So we knew the area a
bit. We took off in a general WSW direction, going on
main roads, we had focused on T22, because it seemed to be
the strongest. As we approached the area T MI was becoming
the strongest! So, we got both T's close by, how nice! Our
first effort up to T22 failed, we totally missed the
road that turns off to the T. We went pass the T location,
and we heard CYG Cathy radioing the mileage to Bob ZHZ, but
at this time we failed to hear T astronaut! So over to the
next high point at the end of Quail Dr. From here T MI was
an almost “You Are There” (YAT) , it pointed at a tree
about 100' down the side of the hill. After clambering down
to the tree, the signal was still pointing into the
distance. Now back to T22, we found a little drive that
circled around the hill, so we took that, no T but we could
see a building and water tank up on the hill where T22
should be. So back to the first hill, Jacks Hill I guess.
And found the little drive up the hill, then walked up to
the T site. No one has signed in yet! Took several bearings
from up there, we could hear a voice MI T, took note of
general direction, and T3. Now where is that T MI? The
bearings showed it across the valley up on a ridge almost
where on the other side would be the loop. So we thought
there must be a dirt road going up somewhere. So we went
down into the valley on Comanche Point rd. As we traversed
this road we noticed that now the signal was turning to the
west more, looked at map and then dreaded the fact that the
T might be down in the valley several miles away. Should we
go for it, or go back get the two T's we knew where going to
be local? We went for it, maybe 5-6 miles down this road
through a closed gate we found the T. A bit of a short story
here. As we where approaching the T going west we saw what
we thought where cows (everything was silhouetted against
the sun) so I didn't slow down too much, and we realized,
actually Steve did, that they where horses with riders, and
where at the T site! Boy where they mad as we
blew them some dust from passing. The next time the T came
on, we realized that we had passed it! Went back, the horse
people had left. Found 10-15 element antenna in tree, with a
hefty amplifier driving it! No one else had signed in! So
back to find T voice MI and T3. As we approached T voice MI,
I said to Steve, that I remembered this road from before,
and he said yea, and at the top of that hill we are going to
be stopped by a closed gate! Yes it was there, but the
signal was coming from the left, so we continued up to T
site in a branch of an oak tree. No one has signed in yet!
Where is everybody else? By now we had a good ides where T3
Covered Bridge T was, so we drove the outer most route to be
sure we didn't pass any other T's to get there. As we
arrived at covered bridge, there where many people hanging
around (wedding party) taking pictures, how long do we wait
before we sniff this T out? After about 5 minutes we decided
to go after it anyway. Steve was stealthy, by faking taking
pictures of all parts of bridge. Me on the other hand
started sniffing, and when asked, I told them we where
looking for a tagged squirrel (first thing that came to
mind)! Finally they left and we where able to locate the T.
Still no one has signed in! Where is everybody? The only
thing we could think of was there must be more T's! How come
we haven't heard any others? Time to call Paul. Paul tells
us there is one more T and it is to the North. Well we are
aware of GrandFAT and his affinity to railroads, so it must
be in the loop area. So that's where everyone else has been.
We drive up there and hear nothing until we are in line of
sight of the loop area. We are on the road that everyone
uses to see the loop from. Signal is getting strong, there
is a yard that appears to be private, but it has all kinds
of railroad gear, so against Steve's advice, we drive down
into the property. The signal is strong, but not a YAT
signal. No one came out with a shotgun to shoo us off,
interesting. Back up on road and we come to the side parking
area next to road, and see several people looking down over
the side of hill to the loop. Up against the hill is a
fence, with a closed cable across a drive. We considered
going anyway, but Steve was against it, saying that we
shouldn't be going onto private property without prier
instructions, or a sign that says it passable. Yes we have
done worse in the past, but we are getting older and faint
at heart. So we decided to pack it in with four of five T's
found. Later N6AIN confirmed that was the way into the
Astronaut T.
It was interesting that we where so convinced that the T,
T's couldn't be up in Tehachapi, that we almost went
out to Gorman! Thanks, Paul & Peter for the interesting
hide.
Don KF6GQ