T-Hunting group wanted

T-Hunting group wanted

Hi everyone.

Lately I've been addicted to the hobby of radio direction finding (T-Hunting)with CB radios. The T stands for transmission. Transmission Hunting.

Have you ever hid something from a friend or sibling and told them to find it? And, along the way you'd say, "hot, hotter, really hot, oops cold!!" Basically this is what T-Hunting is, but your CB radio tells you if you're hot or cold. T Hunting requires at least 2 people/cars. One car hides, and the others seek. I'll get into more detail on the rules.

I know a lot of TRD members come from all over the US, and maybe you've heard of this, well I want to get something started in Southern California, more specifically with the import/sport compact cars. I'll explain in more detail later why I want more small cars to participate.

To start t hunting, you need a CB radio like the one shown here:

The CB radio must have a signal strength meter. When the needle is high you're close, but if it's down and to the left side, you're far from the hider.

Your CB needs to have an RF gain knob. When you begin the hunt for the hider (also known as the "hidden T"), you'll want the RF gain turned up as high as possible. As you get closer to the hidden T, you'll want to turn down your RF gain to limit your choices when you hunt and get closer.

The SWR Calibratior is important. If you're hiding, you want your CB radio to safely transmit a good signal at all times. Your CB needs to be in tune with your antenna, and if you CB's SWR isn't calibrated correctly you will transmit a poor signal and slowly burn out your radio.

Lastly, you need an antenna. General rule, the higher up in the sky your antenna is, the better you will receive and transmit off your radio. Antennas can be permanently mounted to your car and grounded to the frame, or you can buy magnetic mounts for temporary usage. For my Honda Civic, I sport a magnet mount.

Your antenna will be mounted on the center of your trunk lid. If you have a 3 door/hatchback place the antenna as far back as possible

So how do you T hunt?

1. Meet at an open parking lot (usually at night) Meet where the elevation isn't too high, or too low, or where the buildings aren't too tall. This will be the designated meeting area between each seek.

1a. All teams must decide which channel to be on. Select an empty channel.
1b. Calibrate your SWR.

2 You'll need at least 2 teams/cars. All cars must be equipped with a CB radio with a signal strength meter, swr calibration, rf gain, and an antenna. You'll definitely need a friend in your car to hold the CB and read the signal strength meter for you if you decide you do not want to permanently mount your CB to the dash or glove box. Or else the CB will just toss and move all over the place while you're driving.

3 Assuming there are three teams, one of the teams decides who will be the hidden T, and the other 2 to be T hunters.

4. Give the hidden T time to hide. You can choose how long the hidden T has to hide. 30 minutes is usually enough time. The teams can decide on more or less, but 30 minutes is usually more than enough. You can't go too far with a CB radio. If you go too far, you won't be able to reach anyone.

5. After 30 minutes, the hidden T calls the T hunters on the radio and checks if everyone is getting some kind of incoming signal. If there's hardly or no incoming signal at all, the hidden T is too far and either must get closer to the T hunters, or must call the T hunters on his/her cell phone and give a clue in which direction to head.

6. Assuming everything from 1-5 is okay, the Hidden T must now press down and TRANSMIT. This is known as "LOCKING IT DOWN" The hidden T must lock it down until a t hunter finds the hidden T.

7. Once the Hidden T is locked down, the T hunters must begin doing DONUTS at the parkinglot with their RF gain at the highest setting. NO BURNOUTS!!! SIMPLY go around in circles slowly. While slowly going around in circles at the designated meeting place/parking lot, observe where the signal is the strongest. For example while doing your donut, you notice the signal strength meter go up everytime you face south. Well, chances are the hidden T is south of the meeting lot. PROCEED SOUTH!!

8. You begin to proceed south. You notice your signal getting stronger and stronger. You continue to head south, and all of a sudden your signal strength meter starts to go down. You've passed the hidden T! You need to do another DONUT. Perform your DONUT. This time you notice the Signal Meter at it's strongest when you face west. GO WEST.

9. At this point, after a few donuts, and attempts to triangulate the signal around the hiddden T, your signal strenth is really high. No matter where you turn, or which direction you face, your signal strength meter is high. This is when you need to turn down your RF gain knob. This is also a sign you're getting close. Turn down the RF gain until you see the needle go down slightly and perform another DONUT in a safe location. With your RF gain down, the next time you perform a DONUT, the needle in the signal strength meter should be more responsive.

10. Keep repeating steps 7-9 until you find the hidden T.

11. When you find the hidden T, get out of your car and tag the hidden T's car.

12. Once the hidden T has been tagged the hidden T must announce that he/she has been tagged. Or call the T hunters on the cell phone. The Hidden T will unkey the cb radio microphone and head back to the designated parking lot.

13. The T hunter who finds the hidden T now has 30 minutes to hide. The new Hidden T cannot be too far that he/she cannot reach the parking lot with the CB.

14. Everyone including the previous hidden T heads back to the parking lot, while the new hidden T has 30 minutes to hide. Repeat steps 5-13.

This can be repeated as long as you desire. I've been in T hunts that start at 9pm and last till 3am. Usually, the last person to tag at the end of the night is the first person to hide the next time everyone meets.

RULES
The only big rule in T hunting is you cannot hide behind locked gates/private gated neighborhoods or gated communities or in a garage. You will not be found. This makes hunts take forever!

If you're the Hidden T, you can say anything you want! In my experience T hunting, the Hidden T usually tapes or straps down the button on the microphone to keep it locked down, and the hidden T turns on the radio. Some hidden Ts like to rant, and speak their mind. Some hidden T's watch a DVD in their SUV or truck. Some hidden Ts like to screw with the T hunters and fool the Hidden Ts that they're getting close. There's no rule on what you can say while locked down other than that the only rule is, Never believe what the hidden T says.

T hunt at your own risk, follow all traffic and driving laws. In my experiences T hunting, I've seen T hunters reach speeds of 80mph in 45mph zones.




Here's the reason why I want to start my own T hunting group. The T hunters I T-hunt with all have off-road vehicles. Jeeps, 4x4s, raised trucks, with giant dirt/mud tires. The people who hide and tag usually go off road. These trucks are cool 'n all, but my honda civic can't go off road. Although I get really really close to the hidden T, I have to get out of my car and hike on the trails just to find the hidden T, while the others with their off road trucks and jeeps take the trails. Besides, driving on the fire roads or the trails is trespassing in California. The T hunters I T-hunt with all have lock pick tools to open gates in the mountains and hillsides. That's crossing the line for me, and I don't want to get fined or go to jail for being somewhere I shouldn't be. I prefer on-road t hunting without the trespassing. I'll never be able to tag a hidden T if they all go off road. There are plenty of streets and areas to hide in where I live. There are plenty of physical obstacles to alter a CB signal enhancing the challenge. This can be fun on-road.

So, I'm calling all drivers who are interested in T hunting. It doesn't matter what kind of car or truck you drive just as long as you can agree to t-hunt without trespassing. If you live near the San Fernando Valley, Ventura County, Newhall area, and you're interested in T hunting, email me at jcrwzr@gmail.com and I can help you get set up with your radio and antenna. The more the merrier! Feel free to ask questions as well!

It's about time this thread surfaced.

sounds like fun! but i aint going over there to play