MISSISSIPPI RADIO DIRECTION FINDING ASSOCIATION'S FIRST T-HUNT

MISSISSIPPI RADIO DIRECTION FINDING ASSOCIATION'S FIRST T-HUNT

On Saturday, February 20, 2021 Mississippi Radio Direction Finding held its very first T-Hunt.

After a week of freezing (and sub-freezing) temperatures, ice and snow, Saturday turned out to be a spectacularly beautiful day, with sunny clear skies and spring-like temperatures in the mid 50s.

In Scott County the ice and snow had almost all melted and the roads were clear and dry making it easy to drive.

After a week of being cooped up in the house it was a perfect day to get out an enjoy a T-Hunt.

At 7:30 am K1REZ hid the transmitter in a tree within the public right of way along a rural county road and turned it it. It began transmitting a series of dashes and dits which was Morse Code for MOE, the typical name of the first (or only) transmitter in a T-Hunt. After 30 seconds it transmitted K1REZ’s callsign ID, then went silent for 15 seconds before repeating the cycle. This continued until the end of the hunt time limit at 8:00 pm.

The transmitter K1REZ used was the 15 mW MicroFox15 transmitter made and sold by Byonics.com

K1REZ had initially placed a compact vertical on the transmitter when testing out the boundary range earlier in the week. However, on the morning of the hunt, he decided to use a horizontally polarized miniature dipole antenna. The dipole measured 37 inches long and was made out of piano wire. This antenna added about 2 miles to the already 1-2 mile range of the vertical antenna.

With the dipole antenna, the transmitter signal could now be heard along both interstate 20 and highway 80 from the town of Pelahatchie to the town of Morton. This provided many locations for taking bearings on the transmitter, which was hidden in a rural area between the two highways and the two towns.

Sometime during the morning, KI5HGX and his wife left their ice-laden neighborhood in Rankin County and headed to ice-free Morton to begin their hunt. They used an interesting mix of home brewed equipment and were the first to find the transmitter. After signing the logbook, they grabbed the 1st place medal and the grand prize, which was the $60 ARRL Handbook for Amateur Radio Communications, and left the scene with smiles on their faces. They also will be receiving a free membership in Mississippi Radio Direction Finding, and participation points toward MSRDF certificates.

After the T-Hunt time limit ended, K1REZ retrieved the transmitter and the T-Hunt box, and noted that no one else had signed the log sheet, or retrieved the 2nd and 3rd place medals. We are not yet sure if that means that several others hunted for the transmitter and were not able to find it, or if KI5HGX and his wife were the only hunters that day. However, K1REZ monitored the T-Hunt frequency from 8:00 am until 8:00 pm and they were the only hunters he heard from.

If you missed this event, kick yourself, because you would have had a great time on a beautiful, sunny day in the country. We have plenty more radio direction finding events planned for you to enjoy, so check out our calendar.