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Re: [Sbarc-list] Collaborative transmitter back on the air
by Jay Hennigan 12 Mar '14

12 Mar '14

On 3/9/14 9:03 PM, Marvin Johnston wrote: > Levi, I think you have the tape measure beam with the 4 MHz offset. So > with a transmitter frequency of 146.565 MHz, you will need to set your > receiver to either 142.565 MHz or 150.565 MHz. And just remember to keep > increasing the attenuation as you hunt so the signal is always in the > noise. It's a fairly weak transmitter. Depending on where you are you might want to first start with the beam connected directly to the receiver tuned to 146.565. If you hear it try to get a bearing. Then travel to a high spot in that direction, see if it's louder. If you can't hear it at all, then travel to a high spot and have a listen. When it gets to the point where it's full-quieting and/or pushing the S-meter where you can't get a bearing, then use the attenuator as Marvin described. -- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay(a)impulse.net Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV

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Re: [Sbarc-list] Collaborative transmitter back on the air
by Jay Hennigan 10 Mar '14

10 Mar '14

On 3/9/14 6:43 PM, Levi C. Maaia wrote: > Jay, > > Can you send details for those of us for which this is new? I have DF > gear from Marvin but I don’t know which frequency this transmitter is on. Absolutely! It's on 146.565 MHz. It transmits for four seconds every minute except every tenth transmission is 20 seconds long including my callsign at the end. If you have a GPS or NTP-synced clock or a WWV receiver, as of now it comes on about 44 seconds after each minute, but this can and will drift over time. Here's the full story: A collaborative transmitter hunt in Santa Barbara: Amateur radio transmitter hunting is typically a competition. There’s a scheduled start time, people gather on foot or in vehicles, the fox goes on the air and the hounds are off! This sharpens people’s skills in a competitive environment, but the knowledge they gain is limited to their own experience. Techniques learned are guarded as secret tricks of the trade to be used against the competition on the next hunt. Locating the source of a signal has applications other than fun competition. Tracking down interference, hunting an ELT or EPIRB, isolating a spur or noise source all require some knowledge of direction finding. Working in parallel, these problems are solved faster than in a competitive environment and everyone participating gets some knowledge. With that principle in mind, I’ve begun to conduct an experiment. This is based on the adventures of WB6JPI [1] and others[2]. Let the (non-competitive) games begin! There’s a hidden transmitter somewhere in the Santa Barbara area. It’s on the T-hunt frequency of 146.565 and transmits for four seconds about once a minute. Every tenth transmission is 20 seconds in length and includes CW identification. It runs 24/7 so feel free to listen, observe, and hunt at any time. Collaboration is encouraged. Negative reports such as “Can’t hear it from my QTH” are useful as well as reports that you’ve heard it. Discuss your ideas, signal strength, bearings, etc. on the various local nets as appropriate, as well as on the SBARC mailing list. When you decide to venture out to find it, take others with you as part of a divide-and-conquer strategy. With the transmitter is a logbook. Enter your name, date and time, and callsign if any. Take a picture and send it to wb6rdv(a)sbarc.org. After people have had a good opportunity to locate the transmitter we’ll move it to a new location and let the fun start all over again. [1] http://www.thunter.org/geothunt/ [2] http://home.comcast.net/~foxbw/site/?/page/FOXRADIO/ -- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay(a)impulse.net Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV

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Collaborative transmitter back on the air
by Jay Hennigan 09 Mar '14

09 Mar '14

The collaborative hidden transmitter is back in the air from a new location. Now that we're on daylight time, there's more of a chance for folks to look for it after work during the week. -- -- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay(a)impulse.net Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV

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Next So Cal ARDF session at Santa Fe Dam on March 22
by Marvin Johnston 06 Mar '14

06 Mar '14

Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area in Irwindale will be the site of our next session of on-foot radio direction finding on Saturday, March 22, 2014.? It is sponsored by the Fullerton Radio Club.? A ham radio license and knowledge of radio equipment are not required. If you have never done on-foot RDF before, there will be some entry-level two-meter fox transmitters set by Joe Moell K0OV.? Once you're proficient at finding these nearby foxes, try the 5-fox two-meter international-rules course, set by Marvin Johnston KE6HTS.? It is also suitable for beginner to intermediate hunters.? One or two optional 80-meter fox transmitters may also be on the air nearby. If you have receivers, scanners, directional antennas, attenuators, or other equipment suitable for on-foot RDF, be sure to bring it.? Make sure all batteries are fresh.? A limited amount of RDF gear will be available for loan. For those who want to build antennas and attenuators for use with their two-meter hand-held radios or scanners, we will have tools and soldering stations available.? If you're not an electronic technician, don't worry because there will be experts to help you.? Please note that our permit does not allow sales of parts kits within the park, so bring your own parts with you or purchase kits in advance.? Send e-mail to KE6HTS (marvin(a)west.net) for more information about kits. If it takes place, the antenna building session will start at 9:30 AM.? Please be prompt.? Beginner transmitters will be on the air at that time.? The main 5-fox hunt will start about 10:30 AM.? Hunters may start the courses at any time until 1 PM.? Courses close at 3 PM. All ages are welcome, but young children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.? If you will be using your handi-talkie as a RDF receiver, please make sure that you are familiar with programming it, so you can tune to the offset attenuator frequencies.? Bring the manual with you if you're not sure. Santa Fe Dam Recreational Area is in the city of Irwindale near the intersection of the 605 and 210 freeways.? From 605 northbound, take the Live Oak Avenue exit and go east.? From 605 southbound, take Arrow Highway exit and go east.? In both cases, you will merge into Arrow Highway eastbound.? The park entrance will be on your left, opposite Azusa Canyon Road.? Alternately, from the 210 freeway, exit at Irwindale Avenue, go south to Arrow Highway, turn right (west) and look for the park entrance on your right opposite Azusa Canyon Road. Vehicular entrance and parking costs $10 per vehicle.? After the entry kiosk, continue to the first stop sign, turn left and go southwest along the dam.? Look for the signs for Parking Lot 2 on your right.? Our gathering point will be close to the entrance to this lot.? Look for the orange and white orienteering flag.? Talk-in is on 146.52 MHz simplex. A map to help you find the park is at www.homingin.com.? If heavy rain is forecasted, check that site for news of possible cancellation. 73, Joe Moell K0OV

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Fathers Day Weekend Santa Maria Swapfest
by Darryl Widman 06 Mar '14

06 Mar '14

Santa Maria Swapfest Once again, the Satellite Amateur Radio Club is having their annual Fathers Day weekend Swapfest and Barbecue. Here is a link to the flyer for this years upcoming swapfest event. Please include it in your calender of events and pass it around as much as possible. http://satellitearc.com/swapflyer.pdf Y'all come and bring the family with you for a day of fun, food, prizes and activities!! Dave Evernham President SARC KI6ZAP / AFA9AT

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Collaborative transmitter removed for relocation
by Jay Hennigan 02 Mar '14

02 Mar '14

During today's break in the storms I went to check on and retrieve the hidden transmitter. Both the transmitter and its logbook survived the rain. There were four entries in the log: Wb6OBB - Dennis N6CPN - Chuck HE6HTS - Marvin W6CGE - Les The hidden T was on more Mesa in a eucalyptus tree near Mockingbird Lane. 34^ 25' 28" N 119^ 47' 21" W It will be back on the air at a new location some time this week. -- -- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay(a)impulse.net Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV

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Amateur Radio/Video News - ARDF
by Marvin Johnston 27 Feb '14

27 Feb '14

This episode is a documentary of the 2006 US ARDF Championships held near Raleigh, NC. Formerly released only on a paid DVD, Gary, KN4AQ, he has just released it as Ham Radio Now episode 134: http://arvideonews.com/hrn/ While free to watch, he does appreciate donations that help him to continue producing these types of programs. Since at least Jay and I have the DVD, this might be the program that was presented many years ago at an SBARC meeting.

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A Collaborative Transmitter Hunt in Santa Barbara
by Jay Hennigan 10 Feb '14

10 Feb '14

Amateur radio transmitter hunting is typically a competition. There’s a scheduled start time, people gather on foot or in vehicles, the fox goes on the air and the hounds are off! This sharpens people’s skills in a competitive environment, but the knowledge they gain is limited to their own experience. Techniques learned are guarded as secret tricks of the trade to be used against the competition on the next hunt. Locating the source of a signal has applications other than fun competition. Tracking down interference, hunting an ELT or EPIRB, isolating a spur or noise source all require some knowledge of direction finding. Working in parallel, these problems are solved faster than in a competitive environment and everyone participating gets some knowledge. With that principle in mind, I’ve begun to conduct an experiment. This is based on the adventures of WB6JPI [1] and others[2]. Let the (non-competitive) games begin! There’s a hidden transmitter somewhere in the Santa Barbara area. It’s on the T-hunt frequency of 146.565 and transmits for four seconds about once a minute. Every tenth transmission is 20 seconds in length and includes CW identification. It runs 24/7 so feel free to listen, observe, and hunt at any time. Collaboration is encouraged. Negative reports such as “Can’t hear it from my QTH” are useful as well as reports that you’ve heard it. Discuss your ideas, signal strength, bearings, etc. on the various local nets as appropriate, as well as on the SBARC mailing list. When you decide to venture out to find it, take others with you as part of a divide-and-conquer strategy. With the transmitter is a logbook. Enter your name, date and time, and callsign if any. Take a picture and send it to wb6rdv(a)sbarc.org. After people have had a good opportunity to locate the transmitter we’ll move it to a new location and let the fun start all over again. [1] http://www.thunter.org/geothunt/ [2] http://home.comcast.net/~foxbw/site/?/page/FOXRADIO/ -- -- Jay Hennigan - CCIE #7880 - Network Engineering - jay(a)impulse.net Impulse Internet Service - http://www.impulse.net/ Your local telephone and internet company - 805 884-6323 - WB6RDV

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Topanga ARDF Results
by Marvin Johnston 27 Jan '14

27 Jan '14

Results and photos of the Topanga Park ARDF session of last Saturday are now on the Web. Also Marvin has written some course notes that will help you understand how experienced radio-orienteers achieve good results on a course such as this. http://www.homingin.com/joemoell/ardfinla.html The next session will be on the campus of Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo on Saturday, February 22. More information will be in the Web site soon. 73, Joe Moell K0OV www.homingin.com

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Topanage State Park ARDF Practice This Saturday
by Marvin Johnston 23 Jan '14

23 Jan '14

Everything is GO for the on-foot transmitter hunting session at Topanga State Park on Saturday, January 25. Marvin Johnston KE6HTS will have kits for measuring-tape yagis and active attenuators, but you must send e-mail to him (marvin(a)west.net) to pre-register if you want to build a kit. If you already have equipment and just want to hunt transmitters, you don't need to pre-register -- just show up. The building session will start at 9:30 AM. Please be prompt. Beginner transmitters will be on the air at that time. The main 5- fox hunt will start about 10:30 AM. Hunters may start the courses at any time until 1 PM. Courses close at 3 PM. For the advanced 2-meter course, electronic scoring will be used. If you have an "e-stick," be sure to bring it. An optional $5 donation is requested for the advanced course to cover expenses related to the use of Los Angeles Orienteering Club's e-punch equipment and maps. The beginner course and the 80-meter transmitter hunt are free of charge and e-punch is not required for them. Trails are primitive in some areas of the park, so wear sturdy shoes. All ages are welcome, but young children must be accompanied by an adult at all times. Dogs are not allowed on the park trails, fire roads, or in the back country. Topanga State Park is in the Santa Monica Mountains. From Highway 101 in Woodland Hills, go south on Topanga Canyon Boulevard (Highway 27) about 8 miles. From Pacific Coast Highway, go north on Topanga Canyon Boulevard to just past Old Topanga Canyon Road. Either way, watch for a "Topanga State Park" sign and turn east onto Entrada Road. (This is a dangerous corner.) Go about a mile, bearing left at the fork. We will gather at the end of the parking lot in the shaded picnic area. Look for the orange and white orienteering flag. Talk-in is on 146.52 MHz simplex. The state day-use fee for entry and parking is $10 per vehicle. A map showing the site location is at www.homingin.com. 73, Joe Moell K0OV

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