Hidden Transmitter Hunt Tacoma Sept 12, 2009

Fox Hunt... Sept 12, 2009

Fort Steilacoom Park, Lakewood, WA

About the hunt: This hunt was hosted by Alan N7OMS, Chuck AC7QN, and Rich KR7W. At this hunt, transmitters (Ts) 1 thru 6 were hidden by Alan and Chuck (usually Rich hides them) to give Rich a chance to do some hunting. Rich hid T #s 7 & 8.

Of the 8 Ts hidden... 1 to 5 were IARU low power one minute on, 4 minutes off, around in a circle. 6 thru 8 were Ammo can style transmitters and were on different frequencies... approx 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off. #6 had a voice recording of Bugs Bunny cartoon show audio... i.e. "What's up Doc?... Hmmmm Wabbit Twacks" and other quips for 30 seconds (plus a fast Morse ID of "de kr7w").

The goal: The object of this hunt was to find the icon attached to the antenna, not the actual transmitter. The icon was marked with a three digit secret code ( a ham radio Q signal) to be jotted down on the hunter's score sheet as well as the time of the find. The winner is determined by finding the most transmitters in the least time.

Trickery: There was a prize offered for the hunter who found T #8 in the shortest amount of time. T #8 was intended to fool hunters as it's antenna was a 4 element Yagi pointed at a large chain link fence baseball diamond backstop. Broadside to the Yagi was the direction of the start area. The idea was to get hunters to head toward reflected signals and have a hard time getting the correct bearing. This idea tricked some hunters but not all. At least two hunters found #8 right away and another hunter fixed on a reflection from a water tank off the back side of the beam. There was lots of talk about this transmitter and it's quirkiness.

UPDATE !!

9/15/09

T #8

Winner

Neil WA7NBF

The judges, in a SWARC Double Secret Probation Meeting, have determined that...

Neil WA7NBF

...is the winner of finding T #8. Neil's time was 12 minutes... an all time course record!

Because it was so hot on the day of the hunt and Neil had a long drive back to Port Angeles...he will be receiving an electrolyte replenishment kit courtesy of the South Wahkiakum Amateur Radio Club.

Reflections: More reflection issues came about due to a large fenced in dog walking area inside of the park. The fence is made from metal and caused multi-path interference that affected some hunters. There did not seem to be any issues with the lake causing reflections... but wait until next time. dit dit dit dit dit dit.

You'll really come back? A couple of the hunters were out for the first time and a few didn't find any transmitters... but they say that they will be back.

Drink Up! It was an unseasonably warm day for September in the Pacific Northwest. My car said it was 86 degrees. A lot of bottled water was consumed and a lot of time was spent in the shade of the pop-up shelter donated by Al AC7BU (credit where credit is due... thanks, Al).

On the above map of the park... the highlighted area shows the approx boundary of the park and the hunt area.
This park offers easy and difficult terrain to hide wabbits. The DOG AREA is surrounded with a 5 ft high wooden fence lined with thick metal farm fabric.

This is transmitter #7 posing for the camera.

For the hunt... the ammo box was buried in the leaves, but the antenna and the bunny icon were in plain sight. This bunny's eyes are LEDs and blinked off/on alternately. A copy of the amateur radio operators license is taped to the box.

So far, no one other than hidden T hunters have found a transmitter. I used to secure them with a chain and padlock. There have been no issues... and besides, the chain weighs another 5 pounds.

This transmitter outputs about one watt and was hidden about 1/4 mile due south from the start location to make it easy to find with a lossy active attenuator.

Rich KR7W (on left) gets Rick KE7EMW (a new hunter) started with Yagi, active attenuator, and handy talkie. Each hunter was provided a map and DIY clipboard (from the cardboard recycle bin). Rick began by hunting for Bugs Bunny, T #6. Bugs was hidden pretty well on the side of a hill and there did not seem to be any reflections to deal with.

Here's Jim KE6WHN who was excited to join us... as he was a hidden T hunter in California 10 years or so ago. Jim uses a passive attenuator with his TM Yagi and older style handy talkie.

Here's Art Jury KF7GD... who came from Seattle. Art's son, Arthur Jr, did not make it this time like he did in 2008. Art is a seasoned hidden T hunter and admitted that he had some trouble with transmitter #8. Art arrived late but found 6 out of 8 Ts before Alan closed the course down at 4:30 PM. It's hard to get a front shot foto of Art... as he moves pretty fast.

Tom KE7LDC and Joe K7AWJ, both first time hunters, paired up to find T #7. On the right Joe gets a bearing in the bushes.

Alan N7OMS (one of the hunt organizers on the left) and Neil WA7NBF who traveled 2 1/2 hours from Port Angeles, stopped hunting to share a humorous moment. Neil is a seasoned hunter who has participated in nationals competition. Both Alan and Neil use VK sniffers to hunt with. Neil found all 8 transmitters in a very short time. He said that #8 was pretty easy.

Here's Bob Jameson, KE7WPK, a first time hunter out to successfully find T #7 Following behind (orange T shirt) is JIm KE6WHN.

Chuck AC7QN, one of the organizers and T hiders, tries out Rich's VK sniffer to find T #7.
On the right Rich KR7W is caught on the path around the lake off to find Bugs Bunny T #6.

See you in the funnies...

Fotos taken by Pat WT7N, Chuck AC7QN, Joe K7AWJ, and Rich KR7W.

That's all folks. Everyone who came seemed to have a good time and promised to come back.

Stay tuned on the nwrdf yahoo group for upcoming hunt announcements.

There is a rumor that Art KF7GD will be organizing a hunt in the Seattle area the near future.

Thanks... Rich KR7W.

Email Rich KR7W
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