Our Big Game Hunting event is scheduled for

March 10, 2024 – 13:00 to 15:00

This is a direction finding event – but without the driving and walking around.

Instead, we will have the Game somewhere within Sacramento County transmitting on a given frequency. Your mission is to provide observations and determine the location of the Game.

This is best done with directional antennas, but you can also participate with your omni-directional vertical antenna. Combining the observations and bearings from the directional antenna Hunters with the signal strength observations of the omni-directional Hunters, we may be able to track down the Game. And, you can do this from a comfortable location – such as your QTH or a nice park.

Every radio amateur is welcome to join in the Hunt – and honestly, the more the better.

The event will unfold as follows:

• The Game will pick a secret location within Sacramento County.
• We will start on N6ICW to coordinate and take roll of the stations participating.
• We will QSY to 146.565 MHz for the simplex transmission.
• Starting at 50+ watts PEP, the Game will transmit for a couple/three minutes.
• We will return to N6ICW to collect observations.
• We will then iterate on this pattern reducing the transmit power each time.

The antenna of choice would a directional antenna, but you can still make useful observations using a vertical omni-directional antenna. We will classify the antennas as follows:

• Directional would be types like Yagis, log periodics, directional loops, etc.
• Type 1 would be an omni-directional lower than your roofline – such as an HT.
• Type 2 would be an omni-directional at about roof level – 10-20 feet off the ground.
• Type 3 would be an omni-directional in clear space above local buildings – such as on a tower or about 30 feet high.

When recording and reporting observations, it will be important to bear in mind the type of antenna used.

To help you record your observations, here are a map and a table. You might want to print several of each and use a set for each iteration. The pins represent the general location of the stations who pre-registered for the event.