The Clovis Amateur Radio Pioneers (CARP) held another successful transmitter hunt on Saturday, June 13, 2026. The hunt began at 10:00 AM from Letterman Park, with Rob, AE6GE, serving as the fox.

This month's hunt was conducted entirely on foot. The transmitter was hidden just outside the park in a nearby parking lot, concealed in a flowerbed behind a tree. While the hiding location was relatively close to the starting point, finding the exact location still required careful direction-finding and persistence.

The hunt area presented additional challenges due to the numerous chain-link fences and nearby metal buildings. These structures caused signal reflections and multipath effects, making it more difficult for hunters to accurately determine the fox's location and requiring them to carefully evaluate signal bearings as they closed in on the transmitter.

Three hunters participated in the event:

Guy, KN6WET
Joerg, KN6YGA
Wyatt, KO6BZX

The fox transmitter was operating at approximately 5 watts and was originally configured for a one-minute transmission followed by a 15-second off period. Unfortunately, after only a few minutes of operation, the timer malfunctioned, and the transmitter began sending only short 15-second bursts every 15 seconds.

The unexpected change made tracking the signal more challenging, especially due to signal reflections from surrounding fences and buildings. Despite these obstacles, all three participants successfully tracked down the fox.

Final results were:

Guy, KN6WET - Found the fox in just 36 minutes
Joerg, KN6YGA
Wyatt, KO6BZX

Congratulations to Guy for taking first place and to all of the hunters for a great effort. The transmitter malfunction and challenging RF environment added an extra level of difficulty to the hunt, but everyone adapted and demonstrated excellent radio direction-finding skills.

Thank you to all who participated, and we look forward to seeing everyone at the next CARP transmitter hunt.

Rob AE6GE

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