10/17/1998
Hi all,
Mark, N8DEF and Cary, KC8JKA were
hiding in a park near Grand Ledge Sat.
Mark fell and got a pretty good gash on the top of his head. As of
late
Sat. afternoon I spoke with Mark's mom, who said he was not doing
well,
(which is why I didn't go into
detail on the radio). Mark came over to
my house on Sunday afternoon and
was doing fine. He figured he didn't
need stitches or medical
attention. I called the hunt off when they
reported he was injured, and
offered to come and help, but they wouldn't
disclose where they were. Guess
Mark was willing to go to his grave if
necessary rather than disclose
the hiding spot! Now there is a real fox
hunter for ya!
Rog, kc8cgh and I were working
together, and were the only hunters. We
got close (after 4 hours) and
probably would have found them had we not
called the hunt. By the way Cary,
we were on the right side of the river!
And if you'd been able to
transmit when the fox died, we might have found
you before sundown! then
again...
I called Mark again Sunday night
and he told me the
unmarked park they were at. (road
isn't even on the map :-), and we also
discussed the bearings I took.
(some were quite bizarre!) Apparently
there is a large mineral deposit
that runs through Lansing, giving
reflections. I shot the first
bearing high and in the clear from Lake
Lansing road, 1/2 mile w of 127,
and was off by 90~, then got the 2nd
reading at Theios, and was off by
same amount. What fun. 3rd bearing
was high and in the clear at
Grand river park (Lansing rd), and was
accurate, so I we looked N. of
Lansing mall where the lines crossed (big
mistake) ;-)
(turns out w8bqd shot the same
initial bearings I got, (SW v/s NW) using
his umpteen element beam at 60
feet. I curious what bearings kb8zqz took
from MSU ) It sure would have
saved time and miles to get the correct
bearing initially. I wonder if
the Granger land fill was blocking a
direct shot on the signal, or if
a river valley had some effect.
Eventually we got into Grand
Ledge, and were always on the wrong side of
the river. The iron deposits the
ledges are on give dandy reflections,
and according to Mark, royally
screw up compasses.... By the time
we got on the right side of the
river and had a shot at finding them, the
fox xmtr had problems and Mark
was injured. Quite frustrating, but
a learning experience. Glad to
report that Mark is ok.
Thanks to Mark and Cary for
hiding this one. Nice job choosing the
location! If you guys are
willing, you can hide the next one.
(and I'll stop thinking nasty
thoughts in your direction) Of course if
you'd prefer to get more
experience hunting, we could draw straws or
something to see who hides. In
other hunts its usually the 1st finder
that hides, and guys will fall
all over each other not to be the first!
One last note, I got the
following URL for a doppler kit thats
available, if you want to wimp out and do it the 'easy' way
:-)
http://www.wenet.net/~ahha/
Haven't looked at it myself, but
w8bqd's son Glen passes it along.
So, when's the next hunt?
John AA8LF
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