The site for this hunt was chosen to maximize the opportunity for RF reflections. Since the line of sight distance from the start to the selected transmitter site was just over 2 miles, the hope was that the reflections combined with the confusing vehicular approach to Briarcrest Park next to the intersection of Interstates 8 and 125 would provide a moderate challenge to the hunters. A 5 watt signal feeding a 4 element yagi provided a reported very strong signal at the start. A pair of micro T's were hidden in the park and were intentionally RF attenuated to a level mostly copyable only in the park. The hunting teams descended on the general location of the park very quickly so during the hunt, the pointing direction of the yagi antenna was varied to obscure clean bearings to the exact park location. The teams were kept a bay for about a half an hour while they interpreted their equipment reading.
With all of the technical challenges presented to the hunters, the three hunt teams arrived very close to the same time at the park. Hunting the low power of the micro T's in the dark initially appeared to cause some confusion among the hunters but, again, the hunt concluded with all of the teams locating the last T at about the same time.
W6ZM arrived at the park at 5:43 PM follow immediately by K6VCR a couple of minutes later, and followed 5 minutes later by KI6RXX. As the teams converged on the last micro T, the discovery time difference shrunk down to a matter of seconds.
Again, team ZM was first to identify the location of the last transmitter and was declared the winner of the hunt.
We all adjourned to La Casa Blanca Mexican Restaurant to discuss T-hunting and other important world events.
I wish to thank Joe, N6SZO and Greg, W6BAF for their assistance in setting up, monitoring and tear down of the transmitter equipment. SZO also provided all of the photos taken for this hunt.
