[FoxHunt] DF 27 MHz.

[KD7JYK]

What I am hearing is a telemetry signal that repeats every eight seconds on
27.255 MHz.  The transmission is roughly 2.5 seconds length.  I listen to it
in USB because it is pleasant to my ears and it is easier to home in one,
but it is a very steady signal in FM.

I first heard the signal November 2006.  I suspected it was coming from the
east and drove fourty six miles to Fallon, NV where I actually found what I
had heard.  I spent about two hours circling in on the source switching in
about 117dB of my available 131dB.  I found that I could only hear the
signal near one building or in the parking lot behind it and only on the
same side of the street, of any street around the building.  I could drive
the opposite direction, only 20' further away and not hear the signal.  The
building is a fire department.

One day while driving west along Hwy 50, towards Carson Ciy, NV, I heard the
signal again, this time I zeroed in on a building in Mound House.  This
building was only 15 miles from my house, most likely the signal I heard
originally came from Mound House.  I managed to use enough attenuation that
I only heard the signal in the area in front of the building just between
the building and the highway.  Moving twenty or thirty feet in any direciton
caused the signal to drop off.  I went inside and talked to the owner who
was very interested, he even told me about his alarm system, fire reporting
system and showed me various vehicles on the property with antennas, no
luck.  Interestingly, there was a fire department about 1/4 miles behind
this building, but the signal rapidly dropped off as I got near the fire
department.  Even more interestingly, there is a 1/4 wave CB antenna on the
fire department.  Just what I was looking for.

I spoke to the Battalion Chief, he was no help.  I spoke to three or four
members of the department, one who even showed me his 400W linear connected
to a CB in his truck, depending on who I spoke with, the antenna was either
disconnected or connected to a scanner.  I was unable to see the radio end
of the co-ax.

Thinking this may be a Fire Department related signal, I spoke to a woman at
the front desk who was very interested in what I was hearing and gave me the
locations of fire departments within a 50 or so mile radius.  In my checking
around, the signal does not appear to be associated with fire departments.
I have heard four other signals in three counties.

I hear one signal near a vacant K-Mart building in Carson City.  I hear two
near Dayton, NV and one in Carson City near Baskin Robbins Ice Cream.

With most signals, I can zero in on an area, one even out in the open and
not see anything!

The equipment I am using is an Icom IC-706 MKII, a Kay 101dB attenuator and
a 30dB fixed attenuator.  My antenna is a 24" CB whip mag-mounted in the
center of a Toyota 4Runner.

I have switched in about 117dB at which point even one or two dB more will
cut out the signal completely.  Disconnecting the co-ax, even with no
attenuation, I receive nothing, even at the focal point of the signal, the
radio is tight, well grounded and surrounded by metal.

I am not concerned with array size, I can set up tripods, masts, whatever
out in the field and take bearings.  What about something like TDOA with a
display to show when the phase is EXACT so I can sight 90º and dead center
of the array and hopefully see only one building?

For anyone interested in what I am hearing, I have a recording, about 1 MB
in size, I will be more than happy to send it.

Kurt