Doug's Story of the
May 23rd 2020
All Day Transmitter Hunt

Scott, N6MI, said the transmitters would be on starting the night before. I like getting an early start so I enjoy MI’s start anywhere anytime hunts. At 6:30AM I left to find the Ts. I did not hear anything all the way to the starting point. Nothing at the starting point either. I have also had many hides that didn’t go as planned.

MI advised heading east on the 60. I heard a faint signal at the 15 that pointed east. I arrived in Beaumont and by then the AF6O Ts had come to life. Now I had a signal to follow.

Taking the 10 to the 330/210 the signal pointed up toward Lake Arrowhead. On the way up I heard several other Ts I assumed I would find once I reached the top on Hwy 18. Once on Hwy 18, the signals from the other Ts had all disappeared except for the N6MI T143 talking T.

On Hwy 18 I heard the two AF6O Ts and found them. In the process the “bonus” N6MI T found me! It was Scott driving around in his truck. The only other T I heard on Hwy 18 was the N6MI T143 and it kept pointing toward Hwy 330. I then began to realize that MI had hid his Ts on the way up the hill on Hwy 330.

I started down the hill and my guess was correct. I drove by T29, circled back and found it. Then down to T143 going almost turn-out by turn-out. A bit of circling later and I had T9. Finally, I found the N6MI T. Scott then informed be I missed T22 which I never heard with any strength.

Hungry and in need of fuel, I went to the bottom of the hill listening for T22. I went all the way back up the hill and no T22. Coming down again, I stopped at the turn-out for the talking T143 where HPW and MI had stopped. I heard T22. It was weak and pointed to the other end of the turn-out. I moved there and had a direction that pointed up a trail on that side. The signal was weak. I still had the preamp on.

I starting sniffing anyway thinking it might be around the other side of the small hill that was there. I had only hiked about 50 feet on a straight path when I saw T22 in the stubble grass. The reason it was so weak was that it had fallen over and the rubber duckie antenna was laying on the ground. Once it was vertical again it had a much better signal.

No one had heard the third AF6O T so I decided it was time to head home having found 2 AF6O Ts and 6 N6MI Ts.

Thanks to the team of AF6O and N6MI for a very enjoyable hunt in great weather.

 

WA6RJN