--Previous Message--
: NEWINGTON, CT, May 30, 2006--Two
: ARRL members from California are
: dead after the vehicle in which
: they were riding during a mobile
: hidden transmitter hunt went over
: a cliff in rugged terrain near
: Lake Isabella in Kern County. They
: were identified as Michael G.
: Obermeier, K6SNE, of Anaheim, and
: David A. Gordon-Ross, of Yucaipa.
: Obermeier, an ARRL Official
: Observer in Orange County, was 46.
: Gordon-Ross was 35.
:
: "Mike and Dave were some of
: the best T-hunters in the
: biz," said Scott Press,
: N6SAP, calling both "true
: assets to this hobby." In his
: role as an OO, Obermeier
: reportedly had participated in the
: infamous Jack Gerritsen radio
: jamming case in the Los Angeles
: area.
:
: According to media accounts, a
: Kern County Sheriff's Department
: search-and-rescue team located the
: victims early Monday, May 29.
: Obermeier was driving the 1991
: 4-wheel-drive Jeep Cherokee that
: apparently went out of control on
: Cook Peak Road while the pair was
: proceeding to the next hidden
: transmitter site. After caroming
: off a rock wall, the vehicle
: crossed the road and plunged down
: a 900-foot cliff. They were
: reported missing after failing to
: check in with T-hunt organizers.
:
: Greg Pitta, KF6DBJ, reports
: Obermeier and Gordon-Ross were on
: a half-day multiple-transmitter
: T-hunt on Saturday, May 27.
: "Both K6SNE and N6IDF were
: expert transmitter hunters, each
: with hundreds of hunts completed,
: ranking with top scores in
: most," he said.
:
: ARRL Amateur Radio Direction
: Finding (ARDF) Coordinator Joe
: Moell, K0OV, knew both men. He
: notes that Obermeier had suffered
: a sports-related spinal cord
: injury that left him a paraplegic.
: "He did all the adaptive work
: on his vehicles, of which he had
: quite a few that he used over time
: for RDF," Moell said. Despite
: his physical limitations,
: Obermeier also enjoyed foxhunting
: from his wheel chair.
: Moell says Gordon-Ross had been a
: proficient mobile T-hunter for
: many years. He took a brief hiatus
: after his first child was born in
: April 2005 (his wife, Melanie, is
: KF6GWV), but he recently became
: active again.
:
: According to Moell, the mobile
: transmitter hunts take place on
: the fourth Saturday of each month
: on 2-meter FM simplex, starting
: out from a hilltop in Rancho Palos
: Verdes. He says it's not uncommon
: for the main hidden transmitter to
: be hundreds of miles away--175
: highway miles in this instance.
:
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