Results of the
August 28th
All Night
Transmitter Hunt
Hiders: Mike K6SNE and David N6IDF
Location: North and west of Santa Barbara
N6XFC Steve'sStory
WB6JPI Bob's Story
N6EKS Ray and N6AIN Deryl's Story
KF6GQ Don and KA6LAH Steve's Story
Any other Storys to be told?



K6SNE Blue Moon Madness (Well, It was Blue in Australia!)
The Fates conspired and prompted a last minute change of Hide locations. As you can imagine, this upset the burro.  He was really looking forward to meeting those that survived the trip.
I went north for this hide. David, N6IDF, and his wife Melanie, KF6GWV, accompanied me. I decided on hiding several transmitters centered on the Gaviota Pass area.  There were seven transmitters in all.
The Main transmitter,  ID'ing as T-1, was located on Santa Ynez Peak, just northeast of Santa Barbara.  It was a 25-watt PicCon controlled box feeding an old Ringo Ranger on a 10-foot mast.  The whole rig was propped-up in a tree.  This T was heard in the darnedest of places.  Access to this T was by either Refugio Road from the 101 or by dirt roads from the Santa Ynez valley/Solvang area.  The hill is at approximately 3900 ft altitude.
The Second transmitter, "one of many" was a Squawk Box.  It was placed in a hole in the canyon wall of a creek crossing on Refugio Road.  You could hear this T from several parts of the Santa Ynez access road when at altitude. 

The third transmitter was placed near the train trestle at Gaviota St. Beach.  This also was a Squawk Box…. attached to a 3 element yagi.  This T could be  heard from Santa Ynez Peak and along the coast.
The Fourth transmitter was placed at a trailhead next to hwy 101.  To get to this T however you had to drive north to hwy 1 and then south on an access road. This was the "Lion" T.
 
The fifth transmitter was placed on Jalama Rd. just south of hwy 1. This T could also be heard from Santa Ynez Peak…albeit VERY weakly. It was 300mw and a 5/8-wave antenna.

The sixth transmitter was placed at a bridge about 3 miles from the coast on Jalama Rd.  Which was right in the middle of the 24,000 acre Jalama Ranch, and on the edge of one of the last remaining Oak forests in California. It was another Squawk Box and would only have been found by those who were traveling to the seventh T…. The hardest one of the hide.

The seventh transmitter was placed on the coast at Jalama Beach. This T was running about 15 watts into a 5/8-wave antenna.  This T could only be heard from the top of Santa Ynez Peak. This was planned. The Jalama beach cove is completely blocked from the south by Pt. Concepcion, the coastal mountains to the east, and Vandenberg AFB to the North.  This location had a direct line of sight to Santa Ynez Peak, and when the path was tested early in the morning, both the first and last Ts could hear each other. Later that morning a very thick cloud layer pushed up against the coast. Near as we can figure the layer played hell with the signal and made the T, to say the least, nearly impossible to hear. Most teams missed it. It was heard however by the hiders just before 1pm after listening for several minutes.



I hope everyone had as much fun hunting as I did hiding.

The Results:


    Call/s                  No. Ts   Mileage

1- Deryl N6AIN & Ray N6EKS   7 Ts    204.2 miles Winners

2- WA6RJN & KG6KZK           7 Ts    237.6 miles

3- N6XFC                     7 Ts    256.7 miles

4- KC6TNJ & XYL              5 Ts    181.0 miles

5- K6VCR & N6MI              5 Ts    188.9 miles

6- WB6JPI                    4 Ts    223.6 miles

7- N6ZHZ & KD6CYG            3 Ts    184.7 miles

8- N6JF & KG6TES             2 Ts    225.1 miles

9- KF6GQ & KD6LAJ            1 T     145.4 miles







73!  de K6SNE