All Day Transmitter Hunt
10/22/22
WA6RJN
After the last 2 or 3 hunts I thought I would give the hunters a break and hide an easier hunt. I picked one
of the scenarios I had on hand and finished developing it. This one would be gas friendly and should be
good for dopplers. The area was around hwy 395 a little north of Adelanto.
The main T1 was running 35W into a 15-element beam pointed toward Mt Baldy. I decided not to hide the
T on top of Silver Pk but off to the west of Silver Pk on Shadow Mountain Rd where I was hoping it would
be shielded to the east. One hunter went up to Silver Pk and reported no signal. Nearby was T11 in
Shadow Mountain Village. Another T was to be south of T1 on Mountain Rd but time did not allowed me
to hide it.
The first T to find was on El Mirage Rd to the west of 395. T2 was a 3-watt T into a tape measure beam
pointed toward 395.
The next T was to be down El Mirage and up Mountain View Rd then off of Serria Rd but the area had
been turned into a pay park - El Mirage Dry Lake Off-Highway Recreation Area – so no T there.
Up 395 at Torosa Rd, T10 was to the west of 395 on a hill. It was the next T you would come to after T2
but all except GQ/LAJ drove past it and had to backtrack to it.
T4 was on a hill to the east of 395 off of Shadow Mountain Rd. T9 was in the same area to the south.
As expected, the hunters were in the area very quickly.
Once at home I discovered that the sign-in sheet for T2 has been lost. Everyone found it and will be given
credit for finding it.
What is very interesting is how 3 teams took different routes to their final transmitter and all three ended
with 136 miles! Two teams end within a mile of each other at 107!
Now, plotting the locations of all the Ts and the 2 that didn’t get hidden will show the letter “V”, thus a “V”
hunt.
Results
T2 T10 T4 T9 T1 T11
KF6GX/KD6LAJ ?? 2:03 2:47 3:01 3:33 3:46
Winners ! ?? 83 95 96 107 108
T2 T9 T4 T1 T11 T10
N6MI/AF6O 12:25 1:33 1:53 2:30 2:55 4:52
82 95 97 108 109 136
T2 T1 T11 T10 T4 T9
KI6RXX ?? 2:45 3:03 5:16 5:46 6:29
?? 93 94 119 129 136
T2 T11 T1 T4 T10
K6VCR 12:59 3:45 3:59 4:47 5:35
72 116 117 121 136
T2 T1 T11
KA6UDZ ?? 4:18 4:40
?? 101 107
T2 T1 T11
WB6MGT ?? 7:05 7:40
?? 110 112
Transmitter "V" Hunt Story.
KF6GQ / KD6LAJ
As most of the hunters we got an original bearing of about 20 degrees. I think
this pointed pretty much at T1. The only time the bearing changed much was
when going thru Cajon Pass. I was surprised as how narrow the bearing was
most of the time. Because of this, we were considering that the T must be up on
route 2 near Wrightwood! As we approached the top of Cajon Pass the signal
pointed at the back of Baldy, but as we turned off to go to the "top of pass take
bearing place", we got a strong bearing right up the 395! We went right by El
Mirage dry lake road. We got off at next road going west, and met KI6RXX.
We ended up following the high tension power lines back through the desert
until we came upon El Mirage Rd. Followed RXX to T2. We checked in fourth
after MI, VCR, and RXX at about 1:15. We left first to head for T1, I couldn't
believe the dust storm that we had to go through adjacent to the fenced off
development! When we cleared that we resumed our trek towards T1. As we
continued on the road (now has gotten very bumpy), we veered onto a parallel
path which was way smother, and VCR came by us doing 50+ mph! Tom
,doesn’t your back hurt after that? We stopped a short distance further up the
road and Gregg (RXX) passed us by. They also stopped up ahead of us. We
took out any attenuation we had been using and heard T10, which was back out
towards 395, but still north of us, so we went back east on the best trail we
could find, towards T10. We got back on 395 and headed north, but turned off
at next dirt road because the signal from T10 was now at 270 degrees from our
vehicle. We found T10 up against a wire fence, and we were the first to sign in!
Where was N6MI and Jim, they should of been here before us! Well, back to
finding T1. Back up on 395 going north, we turned left on Shadow Mountain
road (knowing that it was a good dirt road). As we turned we saw N6MI and
Jim coming out of Shadow Mountain Road from the right (East). What are they
doing coming from there? They pulled up beside us and told us, among other
lies, that there was nothing to be found on the east side of hwy 395! Okay, so
we wait till they are gone, then take attenuation out again, and listen, wow!
Two more T’s T4 and T9, thanks guys, if we hadn’t met you at that
intersection, we would have had to come all the way back to find them, oh!,
wait a minute, we could of not finished first if that happened!! Too bad. So we
went and found T4 and T9. Due to my naviguesser wrong directions, found us
on a parallel dirt trail than T4. Steve thought we could follow the trail we
where on, and still get to T4, even though the signal was getting behind us!
Enough of that! Against better judgment, I went cross country, until WA6RJN
Doug called us on cell phone, and told us that going cross country was not
necessary! We did find the road that T4 was on. Followed the road till we got to T4 and signed in. Then went back south down road, crossed Shadow Mt.
Road and went directly to T9. Now back to finding T1. Went west on Shadow
Mt. Rd. forever, stopped when the T seemed to be at 90 degrees to us, and Tom
VCR drove up beside us, to let us know that he had been up in those hills and
found nothing. Well, we weren't born yesterday, so we threw that helpful hint
into trash can. We followed the only road that seemed to go towards T1 signal,
and after a bit, we came upon T1! So VCR lied to us! When we signed in, VCR
hadn’t signed in, so he hadn't been lying, I have to apologize to him next time I
see him. Himm, only one T to find, T11 and it is straight down the same road
we just came up on. South across Shadow Mt. Rd. and maybe half mile we
come upon Tom VCR signing in to T11, we then signed in also. Someone had
told us there was 6 transmitters to find, and by our count we had found them
all.
Thank you, Doug for the fine hide, only I really think that you should have
penalized those teams that have more than one member on the team! It’s only
fair.
KF6GQ and KD6LAJ
