[FoxHunt] Albuquerque T-Hunt Report -- March 3

[Brian Mileshosky]

Hunt report from March 3, 2007

Fellow fox hunters, and other interested hams --

We've officially kicked off fox hunting and ARDF in the Albuquerque area 
for 2007!  This hunt was hosted by Brian N5ZGT and Jerry Boyd WB8WFK. 
It's been in the works since December, when we first announced the hunt 
but we had to postpone due to a few feet of local snow on the ground. 
Between folks on travel, tending to other engagements and a few additional 
feet of snow falling we had to postpone a few more times -- until today. 
And we hope everyone enjoyed themselves.

First, we'd like to welcome Vance WV5L and his 15 year old son Hunter 
KE5KBN, who joined us for their very first fox hunt.  They both reside in 
Rio Rancho and we hope they become regular additions to the group!  They 
learned a great bunch today.

I (N5ZGT) would also like to recognize and thank Jerry WB8WFK.  The 
original hunt in December was planned on a date he wanted to host an ARDF 
practice meet.  He was amenable to merging his meet with mine, and I think 
it added a bunch of additional fun to the hunt.

Now for the details!

The fox was hidden in the vicinity of 528 and Northern in Rio Rancho in a 
large arroyo.  The specific coordinates were

N 35.25685 degrees
W 106.63161 degrees (WGS-84).

Here's an aerial map of the area:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=&ie=UTF8&t=h&om=1&z=17&ll=35.256694,-106.631477&spn=0.004091,0.009398

Brian found this site while driving in the area one day -- it looked 
appealing because there was a large hill to the south (Angel Road kinda 
follows its contour) which was a guaranteed shield from Albuquerque's 
view.  With the addition of the infamous Binford Beam (courtesy of Ed 
James KA8JMW, the master of disguise) a guaranteed bounce off the Sandias 
was served.

Scott KC5VVB and Mike K5ATM participated this morning, along with our 
visitors.  Mike generously provided Vance WV5L and Hunter KE5KBN a ride to 
show them the ropes of fox hunting.

With the Binford Beam, all 14 elements of it, pointed at the Shield in the 
Sandias, the fox went on the air at about 11:15am and transmitted 500-mW 
(effective radiated power of approximately 20 watts!!).  Everyone was 
immediately led, as designed, to the Sandias along Tramway thinking the 
fox was in that area.  It wasn't until then when the real signal became 
apparent from the west for the first time.

A little after 2:15pm Scott showed up and found the fox.  Around 15 
minutes later Mike, Vance and Hunter arrived and also found it.  Both 
reported that the fox was extremely weak while driving on 528 to the 
site -- that's what you call front-to-back ratio, baby!

Jerry added a second element to this hunt by planting 5 of his newly 
designed 80-meter ARDF mini-transmitters, all of which fit in Altoid tins 
along with their 9-volt batteries.  Slick transmitters!  Scott and Mike 
were instructed which of the five transmitters they had to find according 
to their age category.  An additional bonus was added, in that for every 
80-meter transmitter they found, that number of miles would be deducted 
from their final hunt mileage.

Scott and Mike both found two of the 80-meter transmitters with Jerry's 
new FoxFinder 80 receiver, while Vance and Hunter practiced sniffing a 
secondary 2 meter transmitter.  The 80-meter transmitters proved to be 
challenging since they didn't emit much power, but they added a great 
twist to the afternoon!  Thanks for organizing it, Jerry.

RESULTS:
Mike K5ATM, Vance WV5L and Hunter KE5KBN: 26.3 miles
Scott KC5VVB: 31.5 miles

Mike reluctantly needed a hint, but despite his lower mileage Scott is the 
winner of today's hunt.  He'll hide the fox next time!

After cleaning up the area Mike, Vance, Hunter, Scott, Brian (as well as 
his wife Katelyn, and new daughter Audrey) enjoyed some pizza and 
refreshments at Dion's to chat about the hunt, heckle each other and 
relax.

Thank you for everyone's time this weekend!  You were all great sports 
despite the difficult hunt.  It was fun, and we hope that 2007 proves to 
be a fantastic year of fox hunts and ARDF meets.

73,
Brian N5ZGT and Jerry WB8WFK