Transmitter Tracking Results

Wilson Park, Carrboro, NC
January 27, 2001
At last beautiful fox hunting weather coincided with a scheduled fox hunt! The hunt was held in conjunction with the Saturday morning Orange County ARES net (9:30 AM, Chapel Hill repeater 442.15(+) 131.8 PL). Check-ins to the net were requested to report the fox signal's strength at their locations. Following the net they were all invited to commence hunting from wherever they happened to be. Those who wanted to borrow hunting equipment were directed to the Orange County Radio Amateurs' breakfast (Bojangles Restaurant on Churton Street, in Hillsborough), where antennas and attenuators were made available.

Eight hunters, comprising four teams, actively hunted. Many more provided useful signal information that helped the hunters zero in on the fox in short order. I regret that I was not able to record the calls of those who provided signal reports. (I'll try to do so in future hunts.) Thank you to everyone who participated in this exercise. Your participation is greatly appreciated and gratefully acknowledged.

This hunt was intended to be for fun and practice, rather than competition. So no times or mileages were recorded. However, each hunt team's unique contribution to the hunt was noted, and fitting titles are bestowed as shown in the table below.
 
Results
Team or Individual Call Club Awarded Title
Joanie Johnson
Greg Johnson		 KG4IYW
KG4AWG		 RARS Mount Mitchell
Team
Dave Snyder
Mary Ann Sides		 W4SAR
KG4EKK		 OCRA Trail Blazers
Dee Ramm
Chris Pope		 KU4GC
KG4CFX		 DFMA
OCRA		 Plott Hounds
Ted Hodges
Thomas Hodges		 KE4NBB
no call		 OCRA Tar Heels
Mount Mitchell Team: the title of North Carolina's highest peak is  bestowed upon the team that showed the highest level of skill in pinpointing the transmitter(s).
Trail Blazers: awarded to the team that first arrives in the immediate vicinity of the transmitter(s).
Plott Hounds: the moniker of the noble NC state dog is bestowed upon the team exemplifying great tenacity and spirit in the chase.
Tar Heels: the NC state nickname is applied to the team that showed stick-to-itiveness and a game attitude during a challenging hunt.
Transmitter hunts are frequently dubbed "fox hunts" because the hider-of-transmitters generally has some crafty tricks to play on the hunters. I did my best to make this hunt worthy of the fox hunt title. It started out straightforward enough. A single transmitter transmitting on 146.565 MHz put a signal on the air for 15 of every 30 seconds. 

But when the hunters converged on the transmitter in the woods of Wilson Park in Carrboro, they found a tag attached to it reading, "Surprise! You have two more transmitters to find. Tune to 147.50 MHz". The other two transmitters were also located in the Wilson Park woods, within walking distance of the first transmitter. Even though all the transmitters were generously coated with a thick layer of pine needles and leaves, making them virtually invisible, the hunters did an impressive job of uncovering them all.

Congratulations to all the teams, and again, thank you to everyone who helped make this hunt a success. Let's do it again soon.

UPDATE:

WINNER DETERMINATION: The winner will be chosen at random from the list of those participating.
PRIZE: Something fantabulous. I'll figure out what it is by Saturday. Any suggestions?

I was reminded of this little part of the announcement for yesterday's hunt. It seems that I failed to figure out what fantabulous prize to award in time for yesterday's fox hunt. Fortunately for me, I did not say in the announcement exactly which Saturday I'd figure it out by.

After the hunt, Karen, N7SRO, helped me choose a hunt participant at random. And the winner is...

Dee Ramm, KU4GC !
And the fantabulous prize? 

A Bojangles gift certificate worth $5, sufficient for a hardy fox hunter's meal at a future Saturday morning OCRA breakfast.

Congratulations Dee!

73,
Charles
NZ0I
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