[Boatanchors] Hamfest Stories

[Glen Zook]

At the 1961 Central Division ARRL Convention in Springfield, Illinois, was held a 6-meter transmitter hunt.  I was going to be a senior in high school the next month and K9LHC was going to be a sophomore at Purdue University.  The only equipment that we had was a Heath HW-29A "Sixer" and the quarter-wave whip mounted on K9LHC's station wagon while most of the other "hunters" had various hand held yagis, attenuators, and so forth to assist them in finding the hidden transmitter.

Before the hunt began there was a local Springfield Novice Class operator about our age who was looking for someone with whom he could "tag along".  Now K9LHC and I were from northwestern Indiana and had absolutely no knowledge of the area so we decided to take him along.  The only way we had of telling the direction of the hidden transmitter was to drive around in a circle.  The quarter-wave whip was mounted on the corner of the back bumper so by driving the car in a circle we could get some idea as to the direction of the transmitter.

The transmitter was operated for a minute while everyone took an initial bearing and everyone headed out in the direction which they thought the transmission was coming.  Next came a silent period.  Then the transmitter started transmitting again and we took another bearing.  Again, a silent period.  After a couple more transmissions we got a little better sense of the direction of the signal.  Of course, with the "Sixer" we didn't even have an "S" meter.  Then, the Novice Class operator who was riding with us said that he had an idea as to where the hidden transmitter was located.  There was an abandoned rock quarry that would make a very good place to hide the transmitter.  So, we followed his directions.

As we drove onto the property we noticed an abandoned pickup truck and as we drove closer we noticed someone sitting in the vehicle.  In the vehicle was a Gonset Communicator III with the operator.  We collected the indicator that showed we were the first to find the transmitter and then drove back to the convention center.  It was about a half-hour later before the next person found the transmitter.  When it was time to collect the prize everyone wanted to know what equipment we were using.  When we showed them the "Sixer" with the quarter-wave whip the disbelief was even greater.  Finally, we just told the others that we had just "honed" our transmitter hunting skill to a point where finding the hidden transmitter was "just a piece of cake"!

We never did reveal our "secret weapon" which was the Novice Class operator that we had taken along.  Had some other hunter offered the guy a ride they probably would have been the first to find the hidden transmitter.

Glen, K9STH

Website:  http://k9sth.com