CFMC FOX HUNTS ARE EVERY 3RD SATURDAY OF THE MONTH
Starting Point Is Centennial Park Off Rowling Rd Just South Of Lake St In Addison IL
Starting Time Is About 8 PM
CONTACT MIKE-WA9FTS
There Are Also Hunts Every Saturday Night. For Information On The Other Hunts, Take A Look At This Link ----> Saturday Night Hunts
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Saturday Night Foxhunt Schedule - Chicago Area -
The link will also lead you to foxhunting activities and infomation from around the country.- www.geletka.com/foxhunt/
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt - January 2012
6 Cars (No particular order)
K9TOW = Troy (Unofficial hunt)
AA9CC = Tony & KC9QQY = Joan
KB9DIM = Charlie & N9VRA = Alexis
W9RA = Don
WA9FTS + N9LXF = Mike + Paul
N9CBA + WD9EXW = Tom + John
After Months of begging, I finally got my twin brother to come out on a hunt. We are both UPS drivers and I had asked him if he knew a spot on his route inBolingbrookwhere we could hide. We had originally planned to hide in a snow pile but the snow was not conducive to building a tunnel. So with time running out we decided to hide in my truck between two semi trailers (41.663383, -88.115719). With my radio set at 10 watts using a 1/4 wave omni, the hunters reported they all could hear me. The hunt began at 8:04pm. AA9CC was first on the scene at 8:40pm. W9RA finished second at 8:42pm . N9CBA & WD9EXW scored third at 8:47pm along with K9TOW who was hunting unofficially. KB9DIM was fourth at 8:52pm. WA9FTS & N9LXF finished Fifth at 9:12 pm. We had munchies at Chili's on the southeast corner of Weber and Boughton. Now that my Brother,Chad, has seen what it is like to be the fox he sounds a little anxious to be the hunter.
The Fox,
KC9SEM
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CFMC Foxhunt Report, December 2011
I parked the car near Highland and Butterfield. It was to be a short
hunt, since I was suppose to be at my boss's Christmas party. All 3
hunters had a direction and were off at 8:07. Power was 10 watts to a
5/8 magmount. Hunters got to the area about the same time, they all
overshot Butterfield on 355. It takes about 10 minutes to drive around
from the east due to the 6 stop lights.
Google Arial Map:
http://g.co/maps/xdezj
Results CFMC Hunt, December 17,2011
1) KC9SEM with WD9EXW
2) WA9FTS with N9LXF
3) W9RA
Fox: AA9CC
By Tony Levand, AA9CC.
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt
October 15, 2011
by Mike WA9FTS
Fall has, indeed, arrived but it was a cool and nice night for a foxhunt. Paul, Carol and I drove out to Lombard and found an unfinished gated community north of Butterfield Rd and east of Meyer Rd. We took Renaissance Rd north off Butterfield to the end and parked there facing south. Several hunters were a little late and the hunt was started at 8:12 PM. We were surprised to see a flashlight approach us and it was Matt on foot. He parked on Royce Blvd to the SE and walked into the woods and west to Renaissance to us for the win. About 9 minutes later Tony (without a flashlight) arrived on foot also and claimed 2nd place. Eight minutes later Don arrived in his van and told me I was not making the repeater. I could not open my window and then realized I kept the heater on and drained the battery. We quickly grabbed the jumper cables out of the back of the van as Don told Tom and John what was happening. We got the engine started and I continued to transmit on time. Twenty three minutes after Don scored for 3rd, Janet drove up with John and Tom to end the hunt. We met at TGI Friday a mile west on Butterfield Rd. Results:
1 - Matt KC9SEM, Patty, Jacob 8:39:20
2 - Tony AA9CC, Joan KC9QQY 8:48:50
3 - Don W9RA 8:56:20
4 - Tom N9CBA, John WD9EXW, Janet 9:19:20
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt
Sept 17th, 2011
by Tom N9CBA
The foxes, John WD9EXW and Tom N9CBA hid just south of Golf road and east of I294 among light vegetation. The 3-element vertical Yagi was up 18 feet and powered by the 30-watt transceiver power setting.
Everybody had a good signal at the starting point. Nobody took the expressways. The area was tricky in some ways. The first hunter spotted by the foxes was Don. He parked for a reading just north of Golf. He decided to drive around to the south of the location.
Mike and Paul parked on the shoulder on the south side of Golf. They got out on foot and Paul scored followed independently by Mike. Matt and Patty saw Mike's car parked, but decided to go to the south at the apartments south of the lake. Matt got out, and began walking counterclockwise around the lake. In the mean time, Don drove around back north and parked on the Golf Road shoulder. He walked in for second. Matt scored third after his long walk.
Munch was at the Omega Restaurant on Golf Road, about 1/2 mile west of the hiding spot.
The release transmission started at 8:12.
1. Mike WA9FTS and Paul N9LXF 9:10
2. Don W9RA 9:19
3. Matt KC9SEM, Patty and Jacob 9:30
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=42.053,-87.8657&hl=en&sll=42.053642,-87.865734&sspn=0.007568,0.01472&vpsrc=0&t=h&z=16
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt
Aug 20th, 2011
by Mike WA9FTS
Tony AA9CC and Joan KC9QQY were expected to be hiding south of the starting point. They did not disappoint! Tony did, however, have a very weak signal but it did indicate they were directly south. He was running 5w to a beam pointed to the starting point. Most of the hunters took I-355 south and got off at 159th St. Don got off much earlier. Paul and I went east to Gaugar Rd and south to find Tom and John parked on the I-355 overpass. We continued south to 167th St and west. “Wait! Turn around and go back to that gravel road just west of I-355”, I said to Paul. It did not go very far so we got back on 167th St west to Farrell Rd and north to 159th St. We went east to a deserted parking lot and followed it east and south to 3 parked trailers. We found them but not before Tom and John were there minutes earlier and had driven off to CiCi’s located at 159th and Farrell. Don dropped out after finding out he was still not very close. Results:
1. Tom N9CBA, John WD9EXW, Janet (the driver)
2. Mike WA9FTS, Paul N9LXF
DNF Don W9RA
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt
July 16th, 2011
By Mike WA9FTS
It was the beginning of a hot week ahead for the Chicagoland area. The temp was in the upper 80s around 7PM. Paul N9LXF and I found an interesting spot to hide in Addison IL. It was a wooded area south of Lake St and west of Rt 83. Access was off the Salt Creek Greenway Bicycle Trail. We found a large round bush just north of the High Voltage wires and parked ourselves underneath. We put a cameo tarp on the ground and tied it up to branches of the bush to hide us from the trail. Paul mounted the J_Pole vertically in the next bush. The radio was a VX-5R HT running 2 watts. We were ready to go. Four hunters were prepared to find us and the hunt started around 8:05 PM. The distance from the starting point at Centennial Park off Rowling Rd and were we hid was about 3 miles. The CBA/EXW team got on 290 to North Ave and back to 290 to York and Lake St to finally get back in the area. The other hunters stayed close to Lake St. Their problem was that I NEVER am out of the vehicle so I COULDN’T be in the woods. Referencing Carol being with us cemented that idea in their heads. Finally Tony and Tom showed up. Tony arrived on the non-trail side and reached in for the 1st place card with Tom appearing over the cameo tarp from the trail side about 1 sec later. What a finish! About 5 min later Matt arrived for 3rd place. Ten min later Don called to announce he was giving up. Carol brought the van back to the trail start to pick us up after gathering our stuff from the hiding spot. We met at Sunmist. I guess we did good as all the hunters said it was a great spot. Results:
1. Tony AA9CC, Joan KC9QQY 8:40
2. Tom N9CBA, John WD9EXW, Janet 8:40:01
3. Matt KC9SEM, Patty, Jacob, Jim, Kaite 8:45
DNF Don W9RA 8:55
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt
May 21st, 2011
Due to the Dayton Hamvention, most of the foxhunters were unavailable and in Dayton. The hunt has been rescheduled on June 18th. The fox for the evening will be Tom N9CBA and John WD9EXW
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt - April 16th, 2011
by Matt KC9SEM
3 official cars
Tom N9CBA + John WD9EXW w/ Janet
Mike WA9FTS & Paul N9LXF
Don W9RA
1 Unofficial Tony AA9CC & Joan KC9QQY
Turned out to be a cold night. Patty and I had decided to have Jacob ride
with Grandma and Grandpa because it was to cold for him to hide with us
outside. We had scoped the area in West Chicago earlier that day and decided
that under the bridge of the prairie path was a good choice for the hunt. I
originally intended to use a tape measure beam but I could not hide it very
well . Patty had suggested my 1/4 wave mag mount on the side of the
bridge. I was using the 10 watt setting on my Yaesu mobile. We received
unanimous report from the hunters at the starting point that they can here
us but we were noisy. I released the hounds at 8:05 pm. WA9FTS was the first
on the scene but chose the wrong path through the swamp. Shortly after, Tony
had unofficially been the first to score at 9:08 pm. N9CBA & WD9EXW
officially scored first at 9:31pm . W9RA second at 9:32. Paul N9LXF finally
got around the swamp and scored 3rd at 9:38. We had munchies a Chili's in St
Charles on Rt 64.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=41.89273,-88.213
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt - March 19th, 2011
by Tom N9CBA
The foxes, Tom N9CBA and John WD9EXW, hid at the outer side of a
fence at the north end of a big Girl Scout campground in Woodridge.
This was under a powerline and across the street from a big park,
that has a Frisbee golf course.
The winning route was I355 to the Maple Street exit, but with
immediate re-entry to I355 as a transmission came on. The second
exist from I355 was the 75th Street exit.
Munch was at Baker's Square at 75th and I355. That building used to
be a Max and Erma's.
hide coordinates were 41.757118, -88.059287
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=41.757118,+-88.059287&aq=&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=30.957823,68.115234&ie=UTF8&ll=41.757246,-88.059295&spn=0.000888,0.002079&t=h&z=19
Release: 8:06
1. Matt KC9SEM and Patty
2. Tony AA9CC and Joanie KC9QQY
3. Paul N9LXF 9:02
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt - Feb 19th, 2011
by Mike WA9FTS
Paul N9LXF and I found a spot in Des Plaines off of Devon Av and NE of
O'Hare Airport. We parked in my van on the east shore of Peterson Lake with
294 to the east. The plan was that the buildings would create reflections
off the metal-coated windows. This apparently is what happened. Three hunt
teams started out at 8:11PM.
At 9:07 John WD9EXW arrived walking in from the south to win for his team.
At 9:19, Matt KC9SEM also walked in from the same direction for 2nd. Three
minutes later Don called to quite and that is how the hunt ended. We all met
at Giordono¹s in Roselle with Carol joining us.
The winning team took a circuitous route taking them on 290, 294, Willow Rd,
GoLf, Ballard, Potter, Busse, Talcott, Devon and then to the south side of
the Lake. Matt KC9SEM took a more direct route on 290, 83 north to Touhy Av
and to the buildings west of the lake.
Results:
1. Tom N9CBA, John WD9EXW, Janet 9:07:20
2. Matt KC9SEM, Patty 9:19:00
DNF Don W9RA 9:22:40
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| This is the hiding spot for the van. |
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| John WD9EXW finds us for the win. |
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| Tom N9CBA also finds us - still 1st! |
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| Matt KC9SEM - another walk up - for 2nd. |
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| Our table at Giordono's - munching on pizza. |
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt _ Jan 15th, 2011
by Tom N9CBA
Tom N9CBA and John WD9EXW gave the hunters a good signal to start
the hunt. It was south southeast of the starting point. The release
was at 8:23 due to a delay.
Most of the hunters took I355 south with the question in mind as to
when to get off. The WA9FTS/N9LXF team got off at 75th St and headed
east to around County Line Rd. Charlie KB9DIM continued south on
I355 to I55, and he exited at Joliet Road. Matt and Patty had taken
I355 south to I88 east, and they exited at Highland. They converged
with two other teams near the fox. Matt KC9SEM and the WA9FTS/N9LXF
team found a park 1500 feet to the northwest. Charlie arrived there,
and saw the Mike and Paul taking off on foot. He decided that they
had the lead, so he would try to drive around instead. Charlie drove
around the frontage road from the park, and came in off Madison St.
He found Tom, John, Janet & Betsy in the white van at the end of
Grant St just north of 74th St. John and Tom had positioned a vertical
tape-measure beam to the front of the van directed at the starting
point with a radio powered by a battery inside by the right sliding
door. The transceiver was in its 10-watt setting.
Charlie was surprised that Mike had not already scored, as he
received his non-flimsy first place card. However 1500 feet through
snow while waiting for transmissions takes a significant amount of
time.
At the park, where Charlie had driven from, Matt and Mike got out
on foot with Matt taking an early lead. Both realized they overshot
and ran too far and returned coming back half way. Matt ran into the
weeds and Mike followed. Matt got there for 2nd and Mike for 3rd.
Shortly Tony AA9CC drove up for 4th and finally Don W9RA scored to
end the hunt. All met at Giordano's nearby. Mike found the his
sturdy third place card to be quite adequate.
The hide location was at 41.756221,-87.930957, which is marked with
the green arrow in this link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=41.756221,-87.930957&sll=41.756221,-87.930957&sspn=0.000569,0.001176&ie=UTF8&ll=41.753754,-87.930944&spn=0.00874,0.018818&t=h&z=16
Results:
1. Charlie KB9DIM, Alexis N9VRA, Missy 9:09
2. Matt KC9SEM, Patty 9:22
3. Mike WA9FTS, Paul N9LXF, Tom N9IHZ (1st hunt) 9:24
4. Tony AA9CC, Joan KC9QQY 9:26
5. Don W9RA
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt _ Dec 18th, 2010
by Mike WA9FTS
Charlie KB9DIM and Alexis N9VRA hid near their home in Berwyn, IL. They
parked on the top of a multi-level parking lot near Harlem Ave and Stanley
Ave. The info was taken at the munch spot after the hunt as I did not go on
the hunt.
It was a race to see who would be first as Tom N9CBA just beat out Matt
KC9SEM for the win. Shortly after Don W9RA came in thrid. Paul N9LXF needed
some help and ended the hunt.
Carol and I met the hunters at Connie's.
This win, coupled with the fact Tony AA9CC was at a company party, gave Tom
N9CBA the CFMC and overall championship for 2010.
Results:
1. Tom N9CBA, John WD9EZW, Janet
2. Matt KC9SEM, Patty
3. Don W9RA
4. Paul N9LXF
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CFMC Foxhunt report November 20, 2010
by Tony AA9CC
The prowess of KB9DIM was evident when he sniffed us out of our den around 9:00 PM Saturday night. Upon finding the jeep, his remark, "why does he always do this, its hard enough finding the vehicle and then he's not in it". A somewhat beleaguered N9CBA followed, caught up in the local nearly impervious brush, ignoring the well trodden path, was having trouble homing underneath the 35 ft antenna mast. KC9SCM, who drives out of the nearby UPS depot scored without indecent. [I think Tony meant incident-FTS]. W9RA, who started unofficially found us sometime later, had lost his sniffer gear before the start but found it later in the van. His route was south to Roosevelt, north to Thorndale, south to 55.... N9LXF was hunting solo but managed to score at 9:55. We met at an alternate restaurant, except for Tom who could not make it. Power was 5 watts to 2x2 array at 35 feet. We also made a contact to a station in West Joliet.
Results
1 Charlie KB9DIM, Alexis N9VRA 9:00
2 Matt KC9SEM, John WD9EXW, Janet & Patty 9:15
3 Tom N9CBA 9:25
4 Don W9RA 9:35 (unofficial)
5 Paul N9LXF 9:55
Fox AA9CC and KC9QQY
Location: Northwest of Willow Springs and German Church road in Burr Ridge.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=102234540905849031940.000491b5dcf73b99861e4&ll=41.740068,-87.889413&spn=0.001643,0.003996&t=h&z=19
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt - Oct 16th, 2010
By Tom N9CBA
The evening was cool and clear. It was a pleasant night to hid and hunt. The foxes, Tom N9CBA and John WD9EXW set up near a gate in an open area waiting for development. The vertical 3-element Yagi antenna was mounted at the top of a 22 ft pole. The antenna was pointed ESE toward the Addison starting point. Since the ground was fairly high, the 30 watt setting on the transceiver gave everybody a strong signal with essentially a direction to the west.
The hunters went up to Lake Street, and continued west. Some jogged down to Schick road to avoid slanting too far north. At Route 59, they jogged down to Army Trail Road and continued west.
Matt and Patty decided to head down to North avenue, since they estimated that the fox was west of the Fox River; they went south on Dunham Road. Tony and Joanie continued on to Route 25, where they headed south. There they ran into road construction that interfered with their plans. While there, they checked out the east side of the Fox River, as most of the hunters did.
So Matt and Patty crossed the Fox River on North Avenue, and they got into the area near the foxes pretty quickly. However their sniffer box started acting oddly. It turns out that the batteries were nearly depleted. They later adopted a strategy of turning off the box to rest the batteries, and then trying a quick reading using some of the remaining charge.
Tony and Joanie, having checked out the east side of the river and dealing with road construction, crossed the river at North Avenue. They came up to score. They were very surprised to have taken first.
Mike and Paul hunted pretty well, but they got out of the car too quickly. The foxes were within 50 feet of a road. Paul walked about a mile to score second.
Don asked for several transmissions, and made it in for third.
Matt and Patty scored a little later for fourth.
Charlie was having some troubles at his end and dropped out. They stopped by for a visit at Chili's for the munch. Janet also joined us at the munch.
The release was at 8:10.
1. Tony AA9CC and Joanie KC9QQY 9:03
2. Mile WA9FTS, Paul N9LXF and Carol 9:42
3. Don W9RA 9:55
4. Matt KC9SEM and Patty 9:56
5. Charlie KB9DIM, Alexis N9VRA and Missie dnf
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=41.959001,-88.326236&sll=41.959001,-88.326236&sspn=0.000526,0.001068&ie=UTF8&ll=41.943149,-88.320122&spn=0.067289,0.136642&t=h&z=13
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt - Sept 18th, 2010
By Mike WA9FTS
It was a nice cool evening and we found a spot close to Lou Malnati's Pizza on Higgins Rd. This was between Arlington Hts Rd and Lively and accessible from Oakton Rd.
We pulled in to Stanley St and a quick right turn 200 ft on Gullo Av to the end. We parked next to a dumpster and put up our antenna. It was a J-Pole on a 22 ft fiberglass pole which was about 27 ft at the top. The tx was an Icom mobile radio running 5 watts.
The hunt started at 8:09:35 with 5 hunt teams. First in the area was Tony AA9CC following Tom N9CBA, John WD9EXW, Janet and Betsy. Janet drove back to Higgins and around to Lively and south to Oakton. They then headed west to Stanley and north to find us for the win as Tony finally got out of his car and ran over through a field but was about 30 sec late for 2nd. Suddenly another car drove in and it was Charlie KB9DIM, Alexis N9VRA and Missy. A minute later another car drove in and it was Matt KC9SEM and Patty. Four hunters in 2 minutes. Don W9RA came in later and ended the hunt. We all met at Lou Malnoti's with Larry KA9KDC joining us and a good time was had by all. Results:
1. Tom N9CBA, John WD9EXW, Janet, Betsy 8:29
2. Tony AA9CC 8:29:30
3. Charlie KB9DIM, Alexis N9VRA, Missy 8:30
4. Matt KC9SEM, Patty 8:31
5. Don W9RA 8:53
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=42.02473,-87.977427&sll=42.02474,-87.977428&sspn=0.008751,0.019827&ie=UTF8&z=16
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt - Aug 21st, 2010
by Matt KC9SEM
Nice night. Lots of mosquitoes.
5 Cars- AA9CC, W9RA, N9CBA - WD9EXW, KB9DIM, WA9FTS
I had held my annual fantasy football draft at my house that afternoon and Patty and I were scrambling to get to our hide spot in time for the first test transmission. We had hid just north of the prairie path by Taylor St underpass in Glen Ellyn. I was using my Yaesu FT- 2900R mobile with a 4 element
M-1 Squared yagi. My intentions were to only use about 10 watts but after a few test transmissions I suddenly was in the 75 watt setting. I had not realized that my coax was dangling just in front of the driven element and may have caused some interference. However , the hounds were released at 8:11 pm . Patty and I waited patiently for the hunters to find us. WA9FTS was the victor that night as he leaped off an 8 foot wall to take 1st place. Spectacular job Mike!
1. WA9FTS - N9LXF Mike and Paul 8:37
2. AA9CC - KC9QQY Tony and Joan 8:38
3. N9CBA - WD9EXW Tom and John 8:46
4. KB9DIM - N9VRA Charlie and Alexis 8:47
5. W9RA Don 8:58
We all showed up at Santa Fe in Glen Ellyn for Betsy's 21st Birthday diner. After dinner we hung out in the parking lot and tested my equipment for failure.. Turned out to be user error .. Sorry...
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt - July 17th, 2010
by Mike WA9FTS
Even though I was not on the hunt, I collected info from Tom N9CBA. Joan
KC9QQY hid while Tony AA9CC prepared for a bike race the next day.
Joan found a hill to drive her Jeep up on and waited for the hunters. She
was just east of 55 off a frontage road and west of 355. All the hunters did
well as new ham Matt KC9SEM continued to impress with his 2nd win. Tom N9CBA
and John WD9EXW arrived right after for 2nd. Don W9RA tried driving up the
hill to Joan. That was fine but going down, Don got stuck and was pushed out
by the other hunters. The met at Max and Ermas. Results:
1 - Matt KC9SEM, Patty
2 - Tom N9CBA, John WD9EXW, Janet
3 - Don W9RA
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt - June 19th, 2010
by Tom N9CBA
It was a hot day, but it turned into a really nice hunt night for
the June 2010 CFMC foxhunt. That Saturday was nearly the longest day
of they year.
Patty and Matt had hunted with Tom N9CBA on the May CFMC hunt, and
they had been the ones to find foxes Tony and Joanie in the woods.
Matt had wanted to hide in the Rt 30 and 34 region -- a high area
about 4 miles east of their Montgomery home. Checking a topo map
showed the highest places. After checking several candidate
locations, the foxes, Tom N9CBA, Matt N9SEM, Patty, and John WD9EXW
selected a place under some high-tension power lines that used
wooden poles.
Matt's M-squared 4-element Yagi was placed vertical about 20 feet
atop a pole, and the pole was strapped to one of those poles. The
antenna was driven by Matt's new 75-watt Yaesu FT-2900R. The antenna
was carefully pointed at the starting point in Addison. The 30 watt
setting was sufficient, despite the distance, due to the
advantageous location and antenna. The distance had been estimated
to be farther during planning the required transmitting setup, but
the calculator at http://www.chemical-ecology.net/java/lat-long.htm
calculates 20.8889 statute miles to 41.707858N 88.28363W from the
41.944116N 88.030041W Addison starting point. Everybody had a good
signal throughout the hunt.
There was an adjacent water tower, which had been placed there
because of the high altitude. The water tower may have served as a
beacon marker to help guide the foxes at the end. That would explain
the short hunt times that all had, despite nobody taking the I-88
tollway for the faster way.
The munch was at a new Portillos in growing Oswego.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=41.707858,-88.28363&sll=41.707858,-88.28363&sspn=0.000791,0.001117&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=17
1. Tony AA9CC and Joanie 9:00
2. Charlie KB9DIM, Alexis N9VRA and Missie. 9:11
3. Mike WA9FTS and Paul N9LXF 9:15
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt - Mar 20th, 2010
by Tom N9CBA
On the March 2010 CFMC Foxhunt, Tom N9CBA hid in the car on the wet
snowy night. The car was parked by a large dumpster in back of a
business. The location was south of Schick Road, east of County Farm
road, and north of the railroad tracks. The vertical antenna on the
roof was fed with the 25 watt setting on the transceiver.
Everybody got the signal at the starting point, and everybody took
good advantage of the signal. The winning route was to take Irving
Park Road west for most of the distance. Mike and Paul went south to
North avenue, but they came back north to Army Trail road at
Bloomingdale Road. Charlie was south of the tracks and saw the first
two places score, but he had to take the path around to get to the
right location.
Munch was at Ruby Tuesday at Schick Road and Gary Avenue.
1. Tony AA9CC and Joanie KC9QQY 8:30
2. Mike WA9FTS and Paul N9LXF 8:31
3. Charlie KB9DIM, Alexis N9VRA, Missie 8:40
4. Don W9RA 8:41
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt - Feb 20th, 2010
by Tony AA9CC
We decided to go to Micro Center to look at computer hardware before the
hunt, but when we arrived there was no time for shopping and we looked
for a hide spot. I saw on google maps that 35th street dead ended into Rt 83
on the east side and when we checked it out we found a developers
track of upscale mansions that had replaced the Oak Brook Farm. But due to
the recent bubble pop of the housing market, progress was only a mile loop
of curbed pavement and numbered lots. With some effort we got the two
wheel drive Jeep Cherokee into lot 13. It seems the slightest
irregularity would cause the wheels to spin in the 2 inches of snow.
(defiantly not a man's car). In place, we waited 15 minutes for the hunt
to start and released the hounds with only 5 watts and a quarter wave
mag mount. The spot was much better that expected and the winner, Tom,
took the most ridiculous route S 355 to N 55 to N 294 to W 88 to
Midwest rd. The other hunters followed soon after except for Charlie,
who, after another half hour gave up. We found out later that he lost a
filling and was taking pain medication. Post hunt gathering was at Connie's
Pizza.
Results:
1. Tom N9CBA
2. Mike WA9FTS, Paul N9LXF
3. Don W9RA
DNF Charlie KB9DIM, Alexis N9VRA
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=&daddr=41.820364,-87.951758&hl=en&geocode=&mra=mi&mrsp=0&sz=16&sll=41.820791,-87.954075&sspn=0.012105,0.026908&ie=UTF8&ll=41.820663,-87.951694&spn=0.012105,0.018733&t=h&z=16
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt - January 16th, 2010
by Mike WA9FTS
Charlie gave the hunters a good signal at the starting point. There were 4 hunt teams: Tony AA9CC and Joan KC9QQY, Tom N9CBA, Don W9RA and Mike WA9FTS and Paul N9LXF. Paul and I headed south on Rt 83 with several of the hunters getting on I355 and then on I 290. Tony and Joan got off at 31st St and up to Cermak Rd. They correctly found Enterprise Dr and drove to the end in a parking lot near I-88 to find Charlie in his Jeep for the win. In the mean time Paul and I went down to Ogden and east to York Rd north to Cermak. We chose Clearwater Dr which was just east of the correct road and could not find a way west until much later. In the measn time, Tom and then Don found Charlie. We then found Enterprise Dr and found Charlie by driving directly to him to end the hunt.
Results:
1. Tony AA9CC, Joan KC9QQY
2. Tom N9CBA
3. Don W9RA
4. Mike WA9FTS, Paul N9LXF
Charlie's hiding spot is indicated in the map below at the end of Enterprise Dr.
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=41.846164,-87.940621&spn=0.02452,0.046649&z=15
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt - Dec 19th, 2009
by Mike WA9FTS
Paul and I finally got to hid for Charlie KB9DIM who hid months ago for us. The race for overall champ could be decided by this hunt. After the CFAR hunt AA9CC (current champ), KB9DIM and N9CBA (previous 7 yr champ) were deadlocked with 13 wins each. Charlie KB9DIM won the ACL hunt and went ahead. If he won tonight, it would be all over.
Paul N9LXF and I found the end of Lively Blvd at the I-90 tollway in Elk Grove Village. Access was off Higgins Rd. We parked looking out to the end of Lively and waited for the hunters to arrive.
The hunt started at 8:05 and we spotted Tom N9CBA first who pulled up to the end and turned away from us into a parking lot. A minute later Charlie KB9DIM showed up and started to turn toward Tom. Then suddenly he stopped and backed up and turned around toward us. Tom saw this and the chase was on. I have a pix of Charlie in the lead with Tom back by several hundred feet. Charlie made it to us and Tom was about 7 sec later. I took a pix of both as Charlie sealed the overall win and CFMC champ as well. Several minutes later we saw Tony's car arrive and park at the end of Lively, A minute later Don W9RA showed up and drove past to secure 3rd. Don went back and talked to someone I thought was Tony. Three minutes later this person walked to us and I realized it was Joan KC9QQY. She secured last place.
Then she told us she left Tony out in a residential area but could not contact him. We tried on CFMC without Tony repsonding. Joan said he did not take a radio with him and did not have a cell phone either. We started to transmit and drive around to find him. About 25 min later Charlie found him near where we had hid. Tony was angry but we tried to tell him the hunt was over and we were concerned for his well-being. Tony also had his portable gear in the "Tone" mode and cound not hear what we were saying to him.
We went to Lou Malnati's Pizzaria which was only a few blocks away. There are pix of the hunters inside.
Results:
1. Charlie KB9DIM, Alexis N9VRA
2. Tom N9CBA
3. Don W9RA
4. Joan KC9QQY, Tony AA9CC
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CFMC Foxhunt for November 2009
Hi,
We agreed to redo the hunt from last month. We had a phone call from Tom and a text message from Charlie that afternoon urging us toward sensibility and restrain our hiding ambitions. We did so by hiding in a thicket just 100 feet south of the indicated position on Google maps and not in the cavernous ravine 1/4 mile south in the deep woods. The ravine can be made out in the Google terrain feature. The area is a nature preserve posted with no exclusionary signage and has hiking trails. We hiked the rock strewn ravine that afternoon, hoping to find arrow heads, fossils and gold nuggets, but instead found some washed out and over tuned vintage 1940's cars that had been pushed down the intractable100 plus foot slope decades ago.
Results:
1 KB9DIM and N9VRA
2 N9CBA
3 N9LXF
Fox: AA9CC and KC9QQY
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=1776+W.+Centennial+Pl.,+Addison,+IL+60101+(Centennial+Park)&daddr=41.659894,-88.018089&geocode=FXwGgAIdhMDA-iHicd9aHCP3zw%3B&hl=en&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=19&sll=41.65984,-88.018196&sspn=0.00126,0.001998&ie=UTF8&t=h&layer=c&cbll=41.65916,-88.019189&panoid=XQhsmGoMhPdJfRQoatgcyA&cbp=12,45.83,,0,6.84&ll=41.659162,-88.019524&spn=0,359.998002&z=19
C: Tony Levand arc AA9CC
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CFMC Foxhunt for October 2009
We found a super spot, but it was a flop.
This, the entrance to a nearly 2 long mile service road on Cicero just north of the draw bridge over the canal, has no access restriction signage visible in the Google street view. Later we were told by Charlie that this is the exit for the road and the entrance, just a few yards to the north, has a Water Reclamation sign. This entrance was not accessible from the south due to oncoming traffic tip toeing over the resurfacing at the adjoining railroad track crossing.
Entrance on Google street view:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=17756+Bluff+Rd,+Romeoville,+Will,+Illinois+60446&ll=41.820179,-87.744117&spn=0,359.993826&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=41.820231,-87.743421&panoid=u3JgAz24I220_OO_6y17Hg&cbp=12,300.2,,1,-0.83
We were delighted at the length of this road earlier that afternoon and finding a jeep trail up small mound just before the "Absolutely no Trespassing" sign. The trail lead to a large field with a lake. Most of the field was the 12 foot tall invasive grass, like one would see on an expedition to India on elephant back, with some Canadian thistles mixed in. After an expiratory hike we discovered that the well worn paths through the grass was not made by locals to favorite fishing holes, but the work of beavers, logging highways for dismembered tree parts. We were fortunate when we decided at the last minute not to hide at the end of the path, at the freshly chewed down tree, but in the adjoining thicket, as the crashing racket the beavers made that night during the hunt was louder that a full bore fox hunter with gear. A bit scary. They were as big as a medium dog, with teeth the size of fingers! Charlie found us around 10:00 PM
--
Tony Levand
ARC AA9CC
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CFMC September 2009 Foxhunt Report
KB9DIM & N9VRA - FOXES
I had seen a potential hiding spot while driving to a healthcare facility in the area, on several occasions. After searching on Google Earth for a good spot, and not finding anything suitable, I decided to drive to this potential site, to take a close look, and see if it would be a wise choice. When I got on site, I was pleased to see that it was not a well manicured park area, thus providing decent cover for the fox, and it was not posted as no trespassing. The hiding spot was in a spit of land that was between to large ponds (See pix 1). To a casual observer, it could appear to be a land bridge that completely divided the two ponds, however that was not the case, there was a gap of water. I chose a hiding spot near the southern end of the narrow peninsula, hiding the antenna in a tree, and laying the coax out, along the water line, so the hunters would not easily see it. The hiding spot was 16.3 miles, as the RF flies, from the starting point, with a beam heading of approximately 20 degrees (See pix 2).
The antenna was a 5/8 l J-pole nestled in a tree at 8 feet, fed with 50 feet of RG-58 coax using a Yeasu FT-2800 set to its 25 watt level. The hunt started on time, and all of the hunters reported that they had a signal. It was about 40 minutes into the hunt, when we spotted our first hunter in the area, AA9CC, driving on Deerfield road to the south of us. He was quickly joined by N9CBA, who did not waste time, and drove around to the north, which was the only direction to approach us from. We lost track of AA9CC, until we saw a hunter walking down from the north, it was Tony AA9CC, walking past us to the waters edge, he turned around and started walking back when he spotted Alexis and I laying in the weeds. Tom was next down the path, and it appeared to us, that he had spotted the antenna in the tree, he came further south and quickly scored.
We continued to hide, knowing that other teams were in the immediate area, Mike WA9FTS, was having difficulty in a tangle of trees, and I do mean a Tangle of Trees, to our north. Once he had gotten himself out of the mess he was in, he got onto the path that lead him down the strip of land we were on, and was able to score. Don, W9RA, parked his vehicle along Deerfield Rd. and got out on foot. During one of our transmissions, he shown a light on us, and from his vantage point, he was able to see me in the grass. Since there was no quick way for him to get to us, we ended the hunt and went to the RAM restaurant near the corner of Lake Cook Road, and Milwaukee Avenue.
1st Tony AA9CC
2nd Tom N9CBA
3rd Mike WA9FTS
4th Don W9RA
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CFMC 2M FOXHUNT - AUG 15TH 2009
by Tony AA9CC
After an hour of looking I found this spot, a narrow walk between 2 fences, behind a water tank south west corner of I55 and I355 junction. Power was 35 watts through 50 ft of RG-8 foam coax to the 4 element foxhunt beam at 8 ft, pointed east at a water tower. 22 miles south from Centennial Park in Addison.(see google map link) All had a start bearing except N9CBA. A fairly routine hunt except for the large spider Joanie spotted near my neck. Charlie walked up at 8:45 followed my Mike and
Paul a minute later. Don found us immediately after a requested extra transmission. Tom lagged at 9:20, spent some time walking on other side of tollway. All remarked that it was a good spot. Munches at Max and Ermas on 75th st and 355
Tony
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=centenial+park,
+addison&daddr=41.700127,
+-88.032220&geocode=&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=41.700127,-88.03222&sspn=0.009372,0.016329&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=11
Scores
1 KB9DIM with N9VRA
2 WA9FTS with N9LXF
3 W9RA
4 N9CBA
Fox: AA9CC with Joanie
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| CFMC 2M Foxhunt - July 18th, 2009
by Mike WA9FTS
Charlie KB9DIM and Alexis N9VRA hid for me due to mechanical problems with Charlie's hunting vehicle. It has since been fixed. Charlie got the hunters off to a good start with a strong signal to the north. He was running 35 w to a 5/8 j-pole up 20 ft. Most of the hunters took I-355 north and then east. Charlie was hiding in a wooded area in Wheeling off Wolf Rd and Willow Rd near a number of homes. Willow Rd is a small road in this area and only goes west and there is a "hook" before it goes south to Camp McDonald Rd. Paul and I made the mistake of getting out at the bike trail under high voltage power lines. The interference kept us going around in circles. Tony AA9CC and Tom N9CBA went to the hook and were closer to Charlie. He was louder and they tracked him down right away as we did when we went north a hundred feet. Results:
1. Tony AA9CC, Joan
2. Tom N9CBA
3. Mike WA9FTS, Paul, N9LXF
4. Don W9RA
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt - June 20th, 2009
Vic K9WXV did not show to be the fox and Don W9RA volunteered to hide. Twenty min later Don started the hunt. He was south of the starting point and all the hunters headed south - some taking 355. Tony AA9CC and Joan took 355 from the start and got off Butterfield Rd and went over to Finley Rd to an office park and then back to Finley. Mike WA9FTS and Paul N9LXF took Rolhwing Rd to St Charles and then on 355 to Roosevelt west - Ooops! - then east to Rt 53 to Wilson and east to and dead end. Tony arrived and the FTS/LXF team was on foot and found Don in a loading dockjust north of Wilson Rd. Tony arrive a min later for 2nd. Charlie KB9DIM, who had equipment problems as well as a call from work, SWAGGED it to Roosevelt and then used his equipment to find Don for 3rd. Tom, N9CBA took 355 to Odgen and then got lost came in a min later to end the hunt. All the hunters finished within 8 min. We met at Portillo's at Butterfield and Finley. Results:
1. Mike WA9FTS, Paul N9LXF 2. Tony AA9CC, Joan 3. CharlieKB9DIM 4. Tom N9CBA
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt - April 18th, 2009
Info from the fox - Tom N9CBA
It was a warm night, and the rain held off. Tom N9CBA hid outside with a 3-element tape measure beam pointed about NW with an upward tilt of maybe 25 degrees and a tilt of maybe 30 degrees off of vertical. That was enough to give a good signal to most of the hunters.
The location was in Lombard south of Roosevelt Rd and east of Highland at the north end of S Grace Street-- at least one of the ends. The fox hid amongst/behind some trees on the east bank of a 3-ft wide creek and about 12 feet from the west edge of the road.
The road was, and was accessible from E 15th Place. Tony and Joanie were first on scene, and parked about 35 feet from the fox. Tony took a bearing from the car. He grabbed his portable gear as a transmission was ending, and tore west along the fence that was 18 feet north of the fox.
>Vic arrived a few minutes later. Joanie explained the foxhunting thing as Tony (who had one or two elements backwards) was checking out some more challenging areas. Eventually he went to the east side of Grace by the ponds via a hole in the fence.
There he ran into Charlie. Coming back toward the fox, they both climbed fences. Charlie chose the 10-ft wooden fence, and Tony took the chain link.
Then Don W9RA pulled into the area. It was a fun hunt to hide on. So the now larger group of hunters start checking the area, and Vic decides to check the area with his Mag Charger flashlight. "There he is" said Vic. Well, then three other hunters scored in quick succession. Paul then arrived into the parking lot to the east of the fox-- near the Babies "R" Us store. He spotted the hole in the
fence (not the aforementioned hole) and scored.
We munched at Culver's on Main near Roosevelt in Lombard.
The fox failed to bring a pen, so did not record times... but it was challenging in different ways, and it is not common to have everybody finish close in time with first over an hour after the start.
1. Vic K9WXV
2. Don W9RA
3. Charlie KB9DIM and Alexis N9VRA
4. Tony AA9CC and Joanie
5. Paul N9LXF
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCC&cp=41.85861~-88.007533&style=h&lvl=15&tilt=-
90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1
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CFMC 2M Foxhunt - March 21st, 2009
Info from the fox - Tony AA9CC
We hid on a hill. It wasn't our primary spot, but on the way to the bike shop we passed it and it seemed good enough, a park with a view. The spot we sought was posted and gated and the contiguous spot seemed to difficult for the hunters to access. We lugged the equipment up the path and set up the ground antenna on top of eight four foot fiberglass sections. Quite unwieldy as we leaned it against the upper branches of a tree. Initial test shown the led still lit and heard an 8 call repeater ID on 146.760. All hunters has a direction on low power, 5 watts and the hunt was off on time. The signal was fairly strong but did not come up in strength as N9CBA drove south on 355. He exited too early on Roosevelt but manage to beat N9LXF and WA9FTS to the finish, but by only minutes. They took 355 to 88 west but drove past the park. W9RA had equipment problems, no front to back on the beam and gave up at 9:30. Charlie was at home hosting Alexi's 13th birthday party. Munches were at the base of the hill at Salerno's Italian restaurant.
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=41.759364,-88.231877&spn=0,359.98764&t=h&z=17&layer=c
&cbll=41.760053,-88.232567&panoid=q8h4PulJPc92ioK85Lgz4A&cbp=12,182.54939645942744,,0,5
1 N9CBA
2 WA9FTS and N9LXF
3 W9RA DNF
Comments from Mike WA9FTS
It was the first full day of spring and the temp for the hunt was in the 50s. Three hunters arrived to compete: Tom N9CBA, Paul N9LXF and Mike WA9FTS and Don W9RA. Tony AA9CC provided a good strong signal to start the hunt. The signal was coming from the SW so two of the three hunters got on I355; Paul and Mike did at Lake St and Tom at North Av. Don took mostly surface streets to get in the area. Tony and Joan were found in Aurora in Frontenac Park off New York St between Eola Rd and N Commons Dr. They were sitting on a hill overlooking the Fox Valley Mall with tree in the back hiding a 8 section pole and a yagi at the top. Five watts was all that was needed for the hunters to hear at the starting point. Tom parked near Salernos restaurant and walked west up the hill to get there first. Paul and I parked to the south and then drove off and then back and out of the van. This was all that was needed as we ended up 1-1/2 min too late and secured 2nd. Don was nearby and gave up for a DNF. We met at Salernos for the munch. Results:
1. Tom N9CBA 2. Mike WA9FTS, Paul N9LXF DNF Don W9RA
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