| The last time a transmitter hunt was held at Schenck Forest the leaves
were orange and yellow, and a cool breeze filled the forest. This time
the leaves were green, and a hint of approaching summer was in the air.
Several changes were apparent in the difficulty of the course, and the
setup of the transmitters as well.
Like all Backwoods Orienteering Klub sponsored transmitter hunt events,
the hunt format was similar to an international-style Amateur Radio Direction
Finding competition. At 254 acres, Schenck Forest is a little small for
holding a regulation transmitter hunt. But the transmitters' placements
took advantage of much of Schenck's real estate, and the full course covered
more than two miles if a straight line was followed between each transmitter.
Overall, this was the most challenging course ever set up for a BOK radio
orienteering event.
No decoys or other distractions were placed on the course, however,
the usual number of big friendly dog obstacles were present along most
of the park's trails. Transmitters one, two, and three were placed near
trails, and could be reached without serious off-trail tramping. Transmitter
four was about fifty meters from a trail, but its flag was visible from
a major trail. Transmitter five was off by itself, up a thickly wooded
hill, more than 100 meters from the nearest trail, and its flag was obscured
by trees until a hunter approached within 20 meters or so. Interestingly,
only transmitter number four was found by none of the hunters. Though transmitter
four was not hidden especially well, it was farther from the starting point
than any of the other transmitters.
For the first time at a BOK-sponsored hunt, each transmitter was provided
with its own flag, independent and visibly different (with a blue stripe)
from the orange-and-white control marks of the orienteering courses. The
transmitters were the same Alinco DJ-S11 HTs, with Montreal Fox Controllers
used during previous hunts, and they identified with a voice ID. Rather
than being placed in ammo cans along the forest floor, the transmitters
were located inside the control mark flags, and were hung high in trees.
This helped improve the transmitting range, and prevented the flags and
transmitters from being tampered with by all but the most observant and
determined tamperers.
This was the first time that the Australian Ron Graham Electronics RX1/ANT1-144
hunting equipment was used at the Schenck Forest location. Unfortunately,
the proximity of the forest to Raleigh amateur radio repeater sites rendered
the Australian sniffers unusable. The RX1 receivers were not selective
enough to allow hunting a 146.565 MHz fox while a strong 146.64 MHz repeater
output was active. So most of the loaner hunting equipment was unavailable
for this hunt.
Because the radio orienteering course was separate from all the regular
orienteering courses, there were no "beginner" maps provided. Every hunter
used a regular forest map that had none of the transmitters' positions
indicated. The hunters relied entirely on their maps, compasses, and radio
direction finding equipment.
Three teams, comprised of seven individuals, participated in the hunt.
The results are given below, and have been posted to the BOK
web site. Given the difficulty of the course, and the unusual equipment
difficulties, everyone did very well. |