2005

January 2005   Real hunts

We had 8 hunts in December and 2 in January. After the success we will post results in the real hunts we page.

April 2005 Rest Area 5 hounds against 1 fox, 1hour 20 minutes!

The temp was 74degrees and that was unusual for April. Paul (N1PUA) and Tim (N1PTZ) had an easy site right in a rest area along side RT. 7 in Lenox. They had no vehicle so everyone drove right by them. When the hunt started we could not hear Paul on the input or the output. They had some antenna problems. Fortunately Dave (KB1EAA) and RoAnne(KB1EUH) climbed up on the roof of his house with a beam to hear Paul to the South West. Obie (N1QOV) was invaluable as well from his place in Pittsfield he could hear Paul to the South. Nobody else heard the fox! Without the help of two base stations this hunt would have had a very slow start. The early suggestion was Lenox so off we went! I, (KE3HT), went down RT. 7 (the center). Dave and RoAnne went down the East (East Street) and George (KB2SAE) and John (WA1ZHM) went down the west side (RT 41) of the area. We had the area blanketed. I went in to the center of Lenox and lost the signal. Everyone was starting to get hungry as most hounds do. As their battery wore down the fox lowered his power just like a real jammer or downed aircraft would do. Pat and Joe (N1LZH and W1SZ) joined in the hunt a little behind the start but managed pretty well. Everyone was in the area but everyone was confused by reflections in the hills. My Dop Scan did a circle as I passed them on RT. 7. I knew I was close but missed them as I had gone a full circle. I assumed a reflection and started around in reverse when I saw them sitting at a picnic table in the rest area of RT. 7. The first hound arrived at 7:20 and the hunt was over at 7:30. One and a half hours. Some of the humors things that happened included Dave and RoAnne finding Paul’s Son Ben at a basketball area. I pulled into a small road to turn around and found N1PUA's car in front of his house (weak signal there though). We had a great hunt! We NEED base stations to help! Please feel free to add your comments during any hunt.

May 2005 - June 2, 2005 Hunting, over and over again!

As many have heard we had a nice weather day for a hunt but the MAY hunt was over almost before it started. Myself, Tim KE3HT was the fox and I decided to play the reflection game against Paul's N1PUA dop scan. Well the fox failed miserably! The hounds decided to team up and that defeated me in about 10 minutes! They got a bearing to the north and split up. N1PUA was on his way to his assigned spot and drove right into me. This was not much fun since the hunt was over way to fast. Maybe the fox should have called for a restart but the fox just asked N1PUA to stop transmitting for a short time and let the others have some fun. Just goes to show that when we act as a team things go real fast and the fox doesn't stand a chance. I figure there is an additional lesson to be learned here as well since the VERY NEXT hunt N1PUA and N1PTZ decided to hide the in the EXACT SAME PLACE. How many times does that happen? Well this is the first time I had ever seen this done in two back to back hunts! I saw the signal in a direction I recognized but assumed it was a reflection because it could not have come from the same place. N1PUA couldn't do that could he? We I went out on a limb, drove way north of him and triangulated. There he was! We also had a visit from KB1EPP now a resident of Florida and his wife, KI4JYS who seemed to enjoy the hunt. In fact they WON the hunt! What a team they made. Reminds my of Dave and RoAnne who were quite a team as well. Our club president and former president N1LZH, PAT, and Joe W1BS came in second.  N1XHR was in on this hunt as well but did not do as well as he has in the past. From home we had N1QOV, WA1ZHM and KB2SAE all helping out although John seemed to think N1PUA was in South County for awhile!
We have some picture on the Hounds web site if you want to see who all was there! http://www.nobarc.org/hounds/pictures/

If any one has info on the two hunts missing here just send me a note with details and I will add them here.

Nov 5, 2005 70 degrees and Sunny! (is this November?)

I wonderful day for a hunt. This hunt took about an hour and a half. Paul (N1PUA) was the fox. George KB2SAE, Joe (W1BS) & Pat(N1LZH) and Tim (KE3HT) were the hounds.  Bradlees was the starting spot and we could not hear the fox at the start. So we spread out in different directions on high spots to see if we could hear him anywhere. I did hear him at the GAA and had him WNW on the Beam. Nobody else heard him. The next time I heard the fox it was on the mobile antenna while I was on RT 7 by Zuchinni's. Then I heard him again from the upper parking lot at Pontusac lake, again towards the west. Others came in from the south and west and heard him as well. Nobody heard him strong. Elusive this fox was. Lesson: when approaching a hill and the fox is on the other side the signal strength should drop. If he is on this side it should get stronger. Why then did it stay the same even over 10 miles? REFLECTIONS! The signal was bouncing off of the Mountain in Pittsfield State Forest!  As this played out Pat&Joe were south of me and George was to the SE. Pat&Joe headed down RT41 and the fox suddenly got stronger! We all started heading down RT41. Pat&Joe  got there first with Tim getting there second. I used 16 miles of that expensive Gas but it was worth the fun. From home MR. ESP (John WA1ZHM) seemed to figure on a 90degree angle from Pittsfield state forest and the GAA and he was right. He named Richmond Furnace and again he was right. John could not even hear the signal from his home. He just listened to what we were reporting and deduced it based on the terrain.

 NO EXPERIANCE NECESSARY! All you need is an HT and a map to participate. if your not sure you can do it, ask anyone of our hounds and I am SURE they will help. Its a great bunch of Hams we have.

Please listen to the NoBarc New Comers round table at 7:30pm on Tuesdays for an announcement for the next hunt. We also run a very informal News List for the NoBarc hounds. To subscribe send e-mail to "majordomo@ke3ht.org" and in the body of the e-mail put "subscribe hounds".  After you are subscribed you can send e-mail to hounds@nobarc.org. This way you will hear up to the minute info on the next hunt as well as some of the challenges and bantering we partake in. We also have some info at http://www.nobarc.org/hounds.
 
 

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