October 27th 2018
All Day
Transmitter Hunt
Hider: Scot KA6UDZ
A total of 4 T's were in play:
T1 was an 8 mw continuous carrier with a modulated CW ID. T1
was in an ammo can with a rubber duck antenna. ID: KA6UDZ T1
T2 was an intermittent carrier with an MCW ID. Output power
was approximately 2 Watts feeding a 5-Element vertically
polarized yagi aimed at Mt. Baldy. ID: KD6LAJ T2
T6 was a 40 Watt transmitter controlled by a PicCon
controller. The PicCon played the factory default tone
sequence followed by an MCW ID for a total of 10 seconds on
a 60 second period. It fed a 7-Element horizontally
polarized yagi aimed at Avalon. Estimated ERP was just shy
of 400 Watts. ID: KA6UDZ T6
T9 was an intermittent carrier with an MCW ID feeding
approximately 1.5 Watts to a horizontally polarized, crossed
dipole antenna. ID: KD6LAJ T9
Transmitter Locations:
T1 was placed in a bush approximately 120 feet NNW of T6
T2 was located on a fence post 30 feet South of the North
entrance to the Panorama Nature Preserve. This is on the
South side of Bastanchury Road West of State College in
Fullerton. Lat/Lon: 33°53.892'N, 117°53.65'W
T6 was located on a bluff at Christmas Tree Cove on the
Southwestern side of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Lat/Lon:
33°45.805'N, 118°25.146'W
T9 was located in a tree at 22nd Street Park in San Pedro.
Lat/Lon: 33°43.574'N, 118°16.945'W
Transmitters 1, 2 and 9 were placed on timers scheduled to
begin transmitting at 10:00 am. Due to a malfunctioning
timer, T9 was manually activated and began transmitting at
approximately 9:00 am. Transmitters 1 and 2 began
transmitting at 10:00 am as scheduled.
Transmitter 6 was manually activated at approximately 10:05
am. A non-Amateur accomplice aided in confirming that a
reflection from Catalina was detectable on the mainland. He
used a SDR and non-resonant wire dipole. Initially he could
not detect the signal. Transmitter power was briefly
increased to 50 Watts (Est 500 Watts ERP). He again reported
no signal received. He ultimately determined that RFI from
his vehicle was swamping the SDR making reception of T6
impossible. After relocating the antenna away from the
vehicle, he reported an S9+ signal. Power was then reduced
to 40 Watts.
The hunt:
Three teams were hunting:
KD6LAJ/KF6GQ
N6AIN
WA6RJN
All three teams found T2:
KD6LAJ/KF6GQ at 10:50 am and 10.0 miles
WA6RJN at 10:51 am and 7.2 miles
N6AIN at 11:05 am and 8.1 miles
Only KD6LAJ/KF6GQ found T9. They signed in at 2:00 pm and
50.0 miles.
Only KD6LAJ/KF6GQ found T6. They signed in at 3:00 pm and
65.0 miles.
After returning to their vehicle KF6GQ determined that T1
was nearby and exited the vehicle with his sniffer. He
quickly found it in the bushes not far from T6.
One unnamed (WA6RJN) team traveled as far South as Camp
Pendleton only to turn around and travel beyond Malibu in
the opposite direction without locating T6.
Transmitter 6 remained on the air until 6:06 pm, local
sunset. No penalties were assessed by the hider as all teams
had retired by this time.
No protests or whining were recorded.
KD6LAJ/KF6GQ are the winners of the hunt.
Don and Steve's Story
