Fall 2005 Issue

For over 40 years, hidden transmitter hunters have prowled the streets in search of the elusive sources of unusual signals. Equipment has evolved, but the adventure and intrigue remain the same.

By Joe Moell,* KØOV

To me, the best thing about ham radio is that it’s not just one thing. Our hobby offers a myriad of bands, modes, and activities, each with its own group of dedicated followers and proponents. I’ve tried most of them and they all are a blast. However, to me, nothing can compare with the excitement of hidden-transmitter hunting.
When you set out on a mobile transmitter hunt (which southern California hams call a “T-hunt”), you never know where you’ll end up and you never know what you’ll find there. What surprise awaits today? On-foot hunts are an equal challenge, where you can improve your physical conditioning and perhaps win medals in international competitions.

Transmitter hunting is far from new in amateur radio. QST magazines of the 1930s tell of on-foot hunts at ARRL conventions, where hams used rudimentary equipment—just a galena crystal across the terminals of an earphone—to “sniff” out a signal source.
The heyday of T-hunting began a half-century ago, when gasoline was cheap and the open road beckoned. A ham would take a portable transmitter to an unlikely location and put it on the air. The hunters, usually all starting from the same location, would try to see who was best at radio direction finding (RDF). Each hunt was a test of construction skills as well as tracking abilities, for no commercial RDF gear was available.

I went on my first T-hunt as a 12-year-old Novice. On the rolling plains of Nebraska where I lived, the not sensitive 2-meter rigs of the day could hardly talk from one town to the next. Therefore, our Novice 2-meter voice privileges went unused. Local hams kept track of one another on the 75-meter phone band. Some of them had upgraded to the latest in ham technology—single sideband. The natural place for a transmitter hunt was right there on 75.
 

Getting back into the game, David Pepper, WA6TWA, sniffs out a hidden transmitter using a state-of-the-art 2-meter RDF set from Australia. (All photos by Joe Moell, KØOV)

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