From Robert, N9SCD
In my plan, I was going to transmit a strong signal and bounce off of a building or something. My initial location was at the industrial area southeast of the Carrol Road exit off of I15. Testing with Bill (KM6ORF) indicated that will not work. I had to find something else. Two days of searching found Helmer Lane. It is one of those streets that has houses only on one side for part of it. Fortunately, It’s high with a clear view of the southeast. I was still setup for a bounce shot with 50 W available. I didn’t have time for a test. I just set it up and tested at the start of the hunt. Tested good. Initial contact with only 5 W. The point to point distance is only 8 miles. The locations are on opposite sides of Miramar open space. The road distance it over 16 miles if you go clockwise. You can ask Bill & Michael how far it is the other way.
The weather was overcast during the setup and start of the hunt. It went down hill after that. By the time hunters arrived, it was a light sprinkle. That was about 5:35. Two teams arrived together. As seen on APRS, they were in sight of each other for some time. The only team missing was Bill and Michael. Remember, they went counter clockwise around the Miramar open space.
The main was a 3 element yagi mounted vertical and pointed directly at Grossmont. It was driven by a Yaesu FT2200 set to low power (5 W). There were also 3 micros hidden close by, a SQBX, a MicroFox 2, and a MicroFox 15S. The SQBX seemed to fail during the hunt. It was transmitting with no modulation. Tom K6VCR insisted that I shut it down because it was covering up one of the other micros. I did and he went on to find his last micro. Unfortunately, Greg (W6BAF) already had.
Still no sign of Bill and Michael. APRS had them approaching from the east. They looked like they were headed for the main. However, they went right past the end of the street and down the hill chasing a reflection. Since they were the only hunters left, we gave them a hint to bring them in. Once they arrived, they found the micros quickly. It was a steady rain by then.
There were 3 teams hunting:
- Bill W6ZM, Greg W6BAF
- Tom K6VCR, Tim AJ6XP
- Bill KM6ORF, Michael KK6RWK
In order of completion.
I was recommending “On The Border” Mexican in Mira Mesa. Nobody was interested in going to eat. They all had other things that needed attention, or something about a Baseball game.
I failed to accurately track time and events after the first group of hunters arrived. My memory is also failing. If I write it down, I can’t read my own hand writing later.
Thanks,
Robert N9SCD