Fall 2005 Issue

Practice Makes Proficiency:
Learn RDF and Have Fun

 By Joe Moell, KØOV

You have probably heard the old joke about the musician standing in front of a New York hotel with his instrument case. A passer-by asks, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” The musician answers, “Practice!”

As I write this, hams from around the country, including some from here in southern California, are helping victims and agencies in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. No doubt each of them is thankful for the preparedness that prior drills and training have provided.

Are radio direction finding (RDF) skills being used by hams after the hurricane? My guess is they are, and I’m eager to get any such reports. I know that transmitter hunters have served the public in disasters near me, as the following example shows.

De-jamming the Sheriff
In 1994, JaMi Smith, KK6CU, was a District Communications Officer for the Los Angeles Disaster Communications Service (DCS). Right after the Northridge earthquake that devastated parts of Los Angeles and vicinity in January of that year, he took charge of the RACES room at the Sheriff’s Communications Center (SCC) and the county’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in East Los Angeles. Thirteen hours after arriving, JaMi was taking a short break from his volunteer DCS duties when a county employee, also on break, mentioned that a steady carrier had appeared on a county-wide law-enforcement frequency.

At the time, KK6CU was a regular participant in mobile T-hunts. He used a unique motorized VHF/UHF quad and storage oscilloscope display unit on three ham bands. However, he had traveled by motorcycle to the EOC, leaving his gear at home in Pasadena. Besides, the stuck transmitter was near 482 MHz, out of range for his UHF RDF quad. Figuring that he could hunt the carrier with a beam and his extended-range hand-held, he asked if a Yagi for 482 MHz was available. The answer was negative.
 

McKenzi Garlitz, KE7DRD, of West Jordan, Utah is excited after finding her first hidden transmitter at the beginner’s hunt of the Utah Hamfest. (All photos by Joe Moell KØOV)
 

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