Hider: Doug WA6RJN
Location: El Paso Mountains, Burro Summit, Schmidt Tunnel area



Hider's Story

The short version: I hid some Ts. They were found.

The long version:

Well, there was a little more than that. I wanted a location that could be used in case of rain. This usually means the desert. I had been on a hunt years ago that ended at the entrance to Burro Schmidts’ tunnel. This was back in the days when only one T was hid that ran continuously with the hider near by. I had always wanted to hide a T at the other one of the mine. Burro Schmidts’ tunnel is located in the El Paso mountains which is east of Red Rock cyn off of Hwy 14 and north east of Mojave. I had acquired 4 new 50mW Ts and wanted to try them out. I also had built a new 4 W T box.

The previous Saturday I drove out to the area to check the propagation and the amount of power I would need to reach the starting point. To my surprise I could key up the Palos Verdes repeater with just my hand held. After getting some ideas about where to put the higher power Ts I went home. By checking the area out on Saturday I wouldn’t need to come up on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. On Friday I packed up the 4 Runner. I would have plenty of time if I left home by 5:30 AM Saturday.

The first sign of trouble was I forgot to turn on the alarm clock. I hurriedly got ready and left around 6:30 AM. Near the entrance to the El Paso mountains I hide T8 (a new 50mW, vertical wire dipole) off of Saltdale Rd. I drove up Mesquite Cyn and then took the road to a couple of 5000 foot peaks to the east. I dropped off T4 (3W into a vertical whip) and T1 (4W into a whip).

The next stop was above the tunnel. I arrived just before 10 AM and hid T5. T5 is a new 4W T I just finished to replace another transmitter box I build in college 30 years ago. I stuck a whip one it also. I sure could have used that hour back that I slept through. I tried to contact someone at the starting point and after trying several cell phones I finally got through. T1 and T5 could be heard. What happened to T4? T4,and T1 were on timers. The affect I was after was to have as many Ts heard at the starting point as possible to make it seem I was closer that I was. I proceeded west on the ridge to a place I had found on the map to set up T2 (300mW into a 3 element beam pointed at the starting point). I went down the hill and returned to the tunnel. The place was quite busy with people visiting the area. I had to find a place that was near the tunnel but also where it wouldn’t be easily found by the casual hiker. I found a bush up on a hill from the tunnel and hide T3 (50Mw, vertical). I grabbed a couple of flashlights, a T and took a hike through the tunnel. I hid T6 on the other side. T6 had a voice ID saying “Mine your own business” (not “mind”).

Three Ts to go. I wanted a T a little to the north and I found a place past some campers whose camp site looked more like a military installation. I hid T11 (a new 50mW, vertical).

T4 was still not working so I decided to go up a fix it. Going down the road that lead to it I decided to hide T9 (a new 50mW, horiz) in a bush just off a side road. I reached T4. Must have been tired when I set the timer. The on time was correct but the clock was 12 hours off. Does AM/PM make a difference? I turned T4 on and headed back down the mountain. On the way back out Mesquite Cyn I hid T11 (a new 50mW, vertical).

I was quite surprised at the propagation of some of the Ts. T6 (Mine-your-own-business) could be heard at the entrance to tunnel ! T8 (south side of mountains) could be heard on the way to the tunnel. T2 couldn’t be heard much at all.

The next day I picked up the Ts. Up on top of the mountain I collected T1 and T4. I had trouble walking because of the wind (40 – 50 MPH ??). The temp was 33°. The same was true at T5 and T2. I also had the pleasure of walking through the tunnel a second time to collect T6. I arrived back at my car only to find I was missing the sign in sheet. Must have dropped it in the tunnel. I got to visit the tunnel a third time!

I had fun. Guess I went a little crazy with my new toys. Next time I'll hide a few less Ts. I hope the hunters enjoyed the hunt and the tunnel.

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