Okay here is our story From the start point, we took everybody's bearings and averaged them together, we got 135 degrees true. We threw out the bearings that seemed to point towards Catalina Island. This seemed to pass across the coastline at Del Mar in San Diego County. So off we went. Saw MI sitting at the reservoir taking bearings and had him pass us a bit farther down the road, while we took some more. Then on to Anaheim St., this we found was closed at the LA river and had to do some real cute U turns and short cuts to get us back on PCH through Long Beach. The signal was more gone than there so we just went as planned, down the 22 to the 405 then off to toll road 73 ($3.00), this reminds me of driving back east, where there is a toll booth just as you get back up to speed from the last one (keeps everyone driving at a reasonable speed). Got a great signal from just pass the toll booths, still 130 or so. Got onto the 5 freeway and passed Jippy at the viewpoint just after the Nuke power plant. I think he told us that he was there signing in at one of the five T's that he had heard. So of course we had to go back there to see if he was kidding, just kidding, who would believe Jippy on a all-day hunt anyway. We found out that he had really stopped to go pee, but couldn't because of all the other sight seers at the view point. So he came into the rest stop at a full run heading for the rest rooms (I tell you all this because our story isn't all that exciting and I need something to write about). After taking some bearings we ran into MI taking video of our every move. We all compared what kind of bearings we where getting from the rest stop and concluded that the T must be on a ship at sea. The bearings that I was getting from there was about 173.2 degrees, and that put it out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Well everyone left before us and we decided that since we couldn't launch a boat from that location, we would do the next best thing, and that was to go to San Diego and rent a boat there. On the way to San Diego, we found that the signal was starting to turn to our right a bit, so we got off the 5 at Cardiff-by-the-sea, this had the shortest exit from I5 to PCH (I'm going to cal it that since I don't know it's real name). Went south on that and lo and behold who do we see driving right next to us but VCR and team. So we called over to them to let them know that we where planning on following them, since they where in their neighborhood and would know all the short cuts. They just laughed and went through the next light leaving us at a red light. About this time we started to hear T2. This T seemed to be coming from about 90 degrees, so we decided that if the bearing didn't change that much, we would continue south down the coast route. As we passed the Del Mar race track the signal started to come up fast so we became most alert (I woke Steve up so he could help in finding the T). Well we got into some fast traffic and missed the turn off to the T and overshot the location by about .5 miles. Made a correction, saw Jippy's truck parked in a no parking area, and figured that Jippy was in the park looking for another rest room. The signal now was directly north of us. We followed it to the Metro Line parking lot, where I parked in a red zone, and put Steve in charge of the car, so I wouldn't get any tickets. I took my trusty sniffer and promptly went the wrong way to the beach. I then decided that the T must be in the motel. So I walked around the other side and caught VCR and crew trying to get away from the hidden T. But I saw it anyway. Signed in and left to get Steve. He had parked in the lot next to the motel and told me that there was the other T near by. So we took a bearing from the car and it pointed down at the beach. Got the trusty sniffer out again and headed out to the beach. When we got there we could not hear the second T anymore. So we spent several hours trying to figure out why the T could not be heard from the beach. I then remembered that the room number of the hunters was on the sign in sheet, so we went to their room to find out if our equipment had failed. We where told that several hours earlier VCR and crew had complained that the second T did not have a sign in sheet and should be turned off. I must explain that the hiders did not tell me it was VCR, but since they where the only ones to have found the T before us, I put two & two together and assumed that it was VCR & crew. Thanks! Guys. Now after resting for two more hours after that long time on the beach, we where ready to hunt again, oh! and thanks for the goodies from the hiders. Off we went, we where quite sure that the T we could hear was up on Black Mt., we had gotten several bearings towards that area. I had told my naviguesser that we needed gas, and don't let me start hunting until we got gas. Needless to say, Steve totally forgot to tell me, because of the excitement of the hunt. After we got out pass the places that sell gas I remembered that my gas gauge was sitting near empty. Steve told me not to worry, the T will be found before we run out of gas. So off we went hunting now two more T's that we could hear. Luckily we came to a brand new gas station that had the just right gas for my vehicle. So now we could hunt all night. Lets see, now where where we? Oh! Steve was consulting both the AAA maps and the electronic maps to see how to get over to Black Mt. without getting caught by all those almost roads that don't go anywhere. Well I must say that Steve (LAJ) did a great job, we got to the base of Black Mt. and found that we didn't seem to have a way up to the top. But! the signals seemed to be coming from up there somewhere! How to do this, that is the question. Well we decided to try to find a road around the back of the mountain. We saw a car up on a cut off road that seemed to go in the right direction, so off we went. We found that this cut off road went up on the side of the mountain, to where several people where learning to hang glide. So Steve and I stayed there for an hour or so watching the new flyers getting scraps on their knuckles. Then we decided we better get going on the hunt or it will soon be tomorrow. We stopped and asked a driver that was going down this dirt road if he knew of any roads going up the mountain. But all he knew was that there was a county park a bit farther on. This guy knew what we where doing, apparently he had worked for OAR the company that used to make commercial DF equipment. So we spent a good part of another hour talking with this guy about T hunting and such. Well to make a long story short (you must be asleep about now), we didn't find any hidden T's around that side of the hill, in fact, we didn't even hear any signal from there. So back we went. So not hearing anything on the back side of the hill, we started back to the front. On the way back we crossed paths with N6IDF, who was very interested in what we found on the back side of the hill. We told him the truth, "we found nothing except clear air on the back of the mountain", he promptly dismissed our help and continued around to the county park on the back side. It's interesting how when you try and help someone on a T hunt, they don't believe what you say. Oh well. So we come back to the front side, exploring every road that heads in the general direction of the hill, looking for the road up. After the 67th. dead end road, we pass by Dave again, gave him the both hands up sign, indicating that we still didn't know anything. Finally for the 4th time we where at the parking lot in front of T2 (still didn't know this), and we couldn't hear T3, how was this so, we was just getting it full scale? So very slowly we went back down the road and mercy be! there was the signal in front of us and to the left! So in a matter of minutes we had bagged T3, on the side of the road that we had passed at lease twice before. We checked in fast, because N6IDF was still in the area and drove off. I told Steve that I thought that having that mini T there, T2 must be close by, but my naviguesser felt that we must check the east side of the hill. So off we went around the south side to the back of the hill on the east. On the way we saw that the signal still pointed mostly at the hill, but kept going till we found ourselves on the back of the hill on the east side. No signal! nothing! nada! couldn't even hear the main T!. Now my naviguesser suggested that we go back to the area that we got the strongest signal. This was the road below the parking lot in which we where in before. We took a Bering on the signal, and started a long walk up the hillside (about .73mile). When we got into the area of the T, we saw VCR's group looking into a bush. Well what would two hunters be doing there looking into a bush? Well the next time the T came on, I had my answer. T2 was there! Holy Fractured Cow! Here was the T we had been looking for, for the most part of the afternoon. So as I checked in Steve, my great naviguesser took many pictures of the site and surrounding countryside. I must thank Deryl & Ray for making the hunt interesting and a bit frustrating in the last 2 miles. As we left Steve (LAJ) successfully navigated us out to the I15 and home. We got home at 9:00pm not bad for an all-day.

Don KF6GQ