I Love Interference Stories

Guest Contributor Claude Chafin, NØFMO

I love interference stories. I was Licensed in 1977...It was about 35 years ago I found myself in an interference problem I think it was on the 146.82 repeater...someone had left their mic keyed up for some reason. Who knew? The repeater was timing out constantly and was a big annoyance. I decided to do something about it.

So on the auto patch 146.91 repeater...I called my friend Al NØFOT (now Sk)..."Hey Al, turn your Stacked 16 element 2 meter beam around and get a bearing on this signal....."Due West" from his Northern Roeland Park Location He said.... Al was quite apathetic—"just let the radio burn up who cares" he said.

But, I took it as a challenge.

So, armed with just an Icom 2AT (2 meter HT) I decided to get another bearing....I traveled west out to Shawnee and stopped in a park near Shawnee City Hall, off Johnson Drive for my next bearing. Using my hand and arm as a shield to the rubber duck antenna, I picked up a null to the Northeast that made me think the signal was somewhere near the county line. So, I ventured into the Wyandotte County area in the Highland Crest area for another bearing. This time the bearing was due South. So, now I have it narrowed down to a few square blocks. As I moved into that area, the signal was really strong and my technique no longer worked, because I was getting saturation in the signal. At this point I removed the antenna and resorted back to the original technique. As I drove up and down a couple of blocks I realized the signal was not easy to pin down. Finally I turned down a dead end cul-de- sac… And there was this monster-sized tower. Looks like a ham to me, I thought.

Foxhunting in North Carolina

Photo From http://www.salisburypost.com

Quoted from the article posted on Salisbury.com, be sure and read the whole article from their site. I post this so that some of you that are new to Amateur Radio and those that do not know much about "Foxhunting". Hopefully in 2014, SEKARC can develop a simlar activity!

SALISBURY — Every month, members of the Rowan Amateur Radio Society, plus anybody else who wants to go along for the ride, meet up in town and go fox hunting.

It’s not what you think. This “fox” doesn’t run, for starters.

Ralph Brown, member of the Rowan Amateur Radio Society, holds up his antenna, ready to take a bearing at the start of the monthly fox hunt. Ralph Brown, member of the Rowan Amateur Radio Society, holds up his antenna, ready to take a bearing at the start of the monthly fox hunt.

The ‘fox’ in the Rowan Amateur Radio Society’s monthly fox hunt is this 5-watt radio transmitter, mounted in an old ammunition can. The monthly hidden transmitter hunts help amateur radio operators hone their skills — and no license is required to go hunting. The ‘fox’ in the Rowan Amateur Radio Society’s monthly fox hunt is this 5-watt radio transmitter, mounted in an old ammunition can. The monthly hidden transmitter hunts help amateur radio operators hone their skills — and no license is required to go hunting.

It’s a 5-watt radio transmitter, packed into an old ammunition can.

The object of the game is to find the transmitter, which a member hides somewhere in Rowan County.

Members meet at a central location. Once the “fox” goes live, they get their bearings, then take off in cars and trucks.

It’s a race against time, but it’s also a test of skill to see who can find the “fox.”

And, in an emergency, those skills can count.

Amateur radio volunteers can use those triangulation skills to find illegal transmitters or sources of interference — even to locate radio beacons on downed aircraft.

(SEE MORE HERE)