Ok, I will Write up what I did

Meathead 08/16/08

Here is the story I told my friend in NC about the experience…

Got a good bearing at the start and plotted it and worked the maps to get a good route and followed it to the next spot which was a saddle point between two good peaks in the Angeles Forest north of LA. The signal pointed north from there and not at either peak so I went on to the next well known measuring spot (Vista above Palmdale Res)  and here is where something went wrong. The bearing from the start was 20 degrees. The bearing here was 22 degrees, not enough different to plot. I don't know why but this was a bad bearing. It should have been closer to 30-33 degrees. The line-of-sight was clear and no possible reflections or other things and I had a direct look with about 20 dB of attenuator in the receiver. Had I got 30+ degrees and plotted it, it would have crossed north of Edwards AFB and saved me a lot of running around. (about 200 miles worth).

 I went past the transmitter (to Mojave) and it went away. I returned and tried to go back south toward the bounces off the mountains and eventually realized it must be north further than I had previously gone. I went North again and past it by 40 miles  or so (Randsburg) and returned south on a far more easterly route (Hwy 395) and now it was west and strong when I again got to the same latitude I had been at twice before. I found it in 30 minutes from there and then found the other two transmitters in another 20 minutes. I had a record 350 miles of desert driving. Had I got the 30+ bearing I could have nailed it in around 150-160 miles and been in contention.

Shudda, woulda, coulda...

I now wonder if my new compass had somehow forgot its declination when I had a minor power failure in the middle of the hunt. That would have made a 14 degree difference in the right direction. I will check that and see...

I am now getting ready for a "Free-for-All" hunt this weekend.

Jippy