Cat & Mouse

Cat & Mouse is a transmitter hunt game which has been played in Chico for years. This game information is provided on the Internet in lieu of the previous printed packet which used to be distributed to all the players who shared the expense of copying the packet.

Cat & Mouse is played on Citizens' Band (CB) radio. One vehicle hides somewhere in town and the others try to find them. The first person to find them who hasn't already hidden gets to hide next.

Though many of the long-time players have upgraded to Ham radios for their personal communications, the unique challenge and character of the game continues to attract many of them. Also, since CB does not require a license to use, the ability for new people to join in has attracted a variety of players at all levels of experience.

Many aspects of expert play are omitted from this description. They must be acquired by playing the game.

Table of Contents

• Starting the Game
• Basic Rules
• Rules & Tips for the Cats
• Rules & Tips for the Mouse
• Suggested Boundaries
• Traditional Awards
• Hunting Down Jammers
• Sample Cat & Mouse Games
• Recommended Equipment

• Information Sources
• C&M Players
• Author

Starting the Game

Meeting Place

Safeway parking lot at Nord Ave (Hwy 32) & West Sacramento Ave in Chico

Meeting Day

A Friday or Saturday as agreed upon via the cnm mail list

Meeting Time

8:30 PM

Rendezvous Channel

Channel 2

In case of any malicious interference, the group may choose to change to another channel or remain on Channel 2 and hunt the jammer before starting the game. (See "Hunting Down Jammers")

Basic Rules

• The initial game starts in the Safeway parking lot. Someone will either volunteer or be volunteered by the group to be the first mouse.
• Each vehicle contains an independent team or individual.
• Before the mouse gets going, the team in the mouse vehicle will be given some time to talk amongst each other to discuss their destination. Peer pressure can be expected if they take too long.
• In each round, when the mouse gets going, they get 6 minutes to drive to a location and park. At the end of 6 minutes the group will notify the mouse that time is up. When time is up, the mouse must park whether they have reached their destination or not.
• At the beginning of each round's hunt, the mouse's signal must be recognizable but not necessarily understandable at the starting point.
• Once each round begins, the mouse must transmit regularly.
  • The mouse must transmit often enough for cats to continue their search.
  • Cats may say "modulate" to indicate they need a transmission from the mouse.
  • The mouse must give clues, starting out in broad, general terms and getting more specific as the game goes on.
• Clues must be true but may be vague, figurative and/or misleading.
• Cats may ask questions of the mouse in order to extract more or better clues.
• The mouse may limit answers so as to be less specific near the beginning of the game and more specific as cats seem to get closer.
• When cats are searching, the mouse must have parking lights on. (This rule originated when someone with a brand new Ford hid at the Ford lot.)
• Once the mouse team is found, they have the option to wait for one or two more cars before revealing the hiding place.
• As each cat finds the mouse, they may assemble at the hiding place or at a nearby location, designated by the mouse, while they wait for others to find the mouse.
• The mouse team must announce when they have been found but may give some delay to prevent other cats from noticing that the first cat is leaving the hiding spot.
• The first cat to find the mouse who has not already hidden will be the mouse for the next round.
• If the hiding place is too far from central Chico, the group may opt to regroup at another location before starting the next round.
• The game continues as long as there are enough cars. An attempt is usually made to give everyone a chance to hide but it may get too late. If the game ends before everyone has had a chance to hide, the would-have-been-next mouse may be designated as first to hide for the next time a game is arranged.
• Tip: If you're new, realize that it takes many times playing the game to get good at it. Almost certainly you won't place first in any round of your first half dozen or so games. Many people may take longer than that.
• Tip: If you have a spotlight, it's helpful for searching unlit areas but make an effort to avoid shining it in people's eyes. They usually get even for that.
• Tip: Remember it's just a game. So far there haven't been any accidents. Let's keep it that way.
• Tip: Tell everyone if you're leaving the game, even if temporarily. Disappearing acts have resulted in unnecessary searches by the group before.

Rules & Tips for the Cats

• Be courteous. Don't intentionally transmit over others. Use good radio etiquette. Also, be aware that there are many bad examples on the air. Don't imitate everything you hear - be polite but keep it brief when things are busy. (It's a longstanding tradition among the C&M group to be courteous radio operators. That was why many have gotten Ham radio licenses since the no-code technician license became available.)
• Keep social chatter to a minimum while the game is in progress. Move to a different channel if you need to talk to someone about something unrelated to the game.
• Tip: At the beginning of the game, keep your questions general. Don't ask if they're "east of Highway 99 and south of highway 32" in the first 5 minutes. The mouse doesn't have to answer something so specific so early in the round.
• Tip: Don't ask questions which are specific near a pin-point. For example, "Are you on Park Avenue?" If you want to know something that specific, go there and look for them. Who knows? If you're right you might be first to find them.
• Tip: Pay attention to any signal strength indication your radio has. If the signal gets weaker, try the other direction. (Experienced players with good radios can often get in the neighborhood of the mouse within 10-15 minutes.)
• Tip: Separate the roles of driver and navigator. Bring along an extra person to be the navigator. Have him/her operate the radio and read the map.
• Tip: Speaking of maps, bring one. Use it.

Rules & Tips for the Mouse

• Once the 6-minute running time is up, the mouse vehicle must park and remain stationary for the duration of the round. If an exception must be made to avoid disturbing residents of the hiding area, the cats must be notified and any mouse movement kept to the shortest distance that solves the problem.
• The mouse should be reasonable about the boundaries. The only official boundaries are how far the mouse can get in 6 minutes. But it's unreasonable to try to go all out to get to Durham in 6 minutes, for example. A good spot is always available within a distance that doesn't even require speeding to get there. (But a good choice of roads makes a big difference.)
• Tips for clues:
  • The purpose of clues are to assist people with poor equipment and/or little experience to eventually find the mouse. Their potentially clever or misleading content can also add to the challenge and character of the game.
    
  • Even while clues become more specific as the round progresses, it's not recommended to say clues which give away the mouse's position at a rate faster than experienced players would do when searching only by signal strength.
  • Clues should not be so bad that signal strength is all anyone has to go on. (See below for the Gilligan Award.)
  • Misleading clues are a deliberate tactic intended to snare anyone they can. Clues must be true but may sound like something else a long distance away. For example, "near a park" may send some people to Bidwell Park when there are actually many to choose from. "Near an airport" may send some people to Chico Municipal Airport when there are really 5 to choose from within the boundaries. "Near a body of water" has sent some people looking at the California Park Lake when the mouse was referring to a swimming pool. (Starjammer once used this clue for a bowl of water he placed next to his truck and, appropriately, received criticism for it afterwards.)
  • Bad ideas which are no help because they're true all over town:
    • "There are trees around here." (The whole city has lots of trees.)
    • "There is water nearby." (better to say "there is a body of water nearby" or "there is running water nearby" as appropriate.)
    • "I see flashing red lights" (there are radio and microwave towers in all directions all over town)
    • "I'm near a school." (If you had this in mind, a better choice might be a clue about the school.)
    • See below for the Gilligan Award.
  • Useful ideas which give them somewhat of a chance:
    • street clues: "There's another planet near here" - Mars Way, "I'm near an airplane" - Cessna Ave
    • visible landmarks: "I can see red, white and blue lights" (the airport or a business' neon sign)
    • geographic locations: "the Sherwood Forest" - Bidwell Park (the location of the filming of the original Robin Hood movie)
    • geographic location elimination: "I'm between the 99's" - between Freeway 99 and Business 99 (Park/Main/Broadway/Esplanade)
  • barely-useful clues which you may as well give right away as you start
    • "I'm parked on dirt/gravel/grass/asphalt/concrete/mud"
  • Be careful about specific clues too early in the game.
    • Cats should have to rely partly on signal strength to find you.
    • One beginner hid at the first turnout on the road into Upper Bidwell Park and then said "I'm near the park" for his first clue. The round lasted 5 minutes with everyone finding them at once.
    • Two experienced players hid at Solar Estates Drive and started with "head for the Estates". One of the cats had just delivered a pizza there and another had just considered hiding there. The round lasted 4 minutes with two vehicles arriving at once. The mouse was quoted as saying, "This is embarrassing."
    • You should be embarrassed if you're found in fewer than 6 minutes because that's less time than you were given to hide.
  • Creative and clever clues make the game more fun.
  • Find some common theme to talk about or something that will keep you on the air often enough for the cats to hear a signal while they search. It also helps to frequently recap the clues given so far.
• Cats will ask the mouse questions and, unless it's too specific (or too early in the game to be that specific), the mouse has to answer. As usual, the answer must be true but may be vague, figurative and/or misleading.
• Some questions which directly affect the play of the game, such as "what does your vehicle look like?" or "are you sure you have your parking lights on?", must be answered clearly and unambiguously.
• The mouse may not hide anywhere which is not accessible by a normal passenger car. (This is an important point for owners of 4x4's and motorcycles.)
• The mouse may choose whether the cats have to reach the same place where they're hidden or whether it's also OK to walk to them or just see them in order to "find" them. This may be important for 4x4's in tricky parking places to let passenger cars stay on a nearby firm surface. But it may also be used to taunt cats who can see the mouse through a gate or across a field but are required to drive around a long distance to actually reach them. (If the mouse won't allow the cats to just see or walk to find them, they should say so in advance.)
• Once the round starts, the mouse may not switch antennas, radios, or vehicles without notifying the group. (Those have all been tried.)
• Once the round starts, the mouse team may not change their antenna configuration.
• The mouse may not use an amplifier or change their transmit power in any other way.
• The mouse must use a vertically-polarized omnidirectional mobile antenna and transmit with dual-sideband amplitude modulation (AM) with the highest legal power setting available on the radio. All common mobile CB antennas and radios meet this requirement. The purpose of this rule is to prevent people from using equipment that would be almost impossible to find with the varied radios that C&M players use to hunt them.

Suggested Boundaries

Northern boundaries

1 mile north of Chico Municipal Airport (i.e. near the missile silos)

1 mile north of the Esplanade on Hwy 99

Southern boundaries

1 mile south of Southgate Ave at Hwy 99 or

1 mile south of Park Ave on Midway or

2 miles south of the Little Chico Creek bridge on Dayton Road

Western boundaries

Sacramento River on West Sacramento Avenue or

2 miles southwest of the road to the Washout on River Road

Eastern boundaries

1 mile east of the beginning of the Sierra foothills on the Skyway (at Honey Run Road and the first big turn leaving town) or

2 miles east of the beginning of the Sierra foothills on Hwy 32 (just beyond Bruce Road)

the gate in Upper Bidwell Park - they lock the gate early within the usual time frame of a C&M game so treat it as if it's closed.

Traditional Awards

Best Hiding Place Award

There has to be recognition for the most clever hiding place of the night. Experienced players always strive to give the others a challenge that they'll remember. The one who does the best job gets this award.

Gilligan Award

Years ago a player who uses the handle "Gilligan" once gave a clue, "I'm under the Moon." (A clue that narrows down the search area to half of the Earth.) Ever since then, the mouse who gave the stupidest, most-useless clue of the game has been given the Gilligan Award.

586 Award

At some point in the game, someone usually goes a little overboard in their hiding place and winds up in some form of illegal parking. The award gets its name from the corresponding California Penal Code number, just to drive the point home. Though it isn't encouraged to try for this, the most interesting job of illegal parking in the night's game gets the 586 Award.

Hunting Down Jammers

When hunting a jammer...

• If they are letting you talk and being any bit civilized, sometimes you can try inviting them into the game. (It's the same idea as inviting your neighbors to your party.) Some people have joined the game and had fun. But if they don't join, it serves as fair warning what you intend to do.
• Talk to (or taunt) them to keep them transmitting enough to close in on them.
• Do not jam them back because their signal is needed alone in order to hunt them.
• If you find a jammer, say anything to take away their anonymity but do not attempt to confront or physically stop them.

Sample Cat & Mouse Games

Recommended Equipment

In order to play at all, you need...

a vehicle

this should be obvious...

a 40-channel CB radio with 5-watt (maximum legal) transmit capability

In case of interference, the group may change to a channel other than 2. Obviously that means finding a channel everyone has. So, don't buy a 3-channel handheld... That may make it impossible to find another frequency everyone has.

You want maximum legal power so people with their varying-quality equipment can hear you from the starting point.

a mobile antenna (i.e. outside the vehicle)

People have tried playing with handheld CB transceivers before. If they keep the antenna inside the vehicle, their results are invariably dismal because the vehicle frame attenuates (decreases) the received signal before it reaches the antenna. Even with a handheld radio, people have had reasonable results by connecting the handheld to an external mobile antenna.

a signal strength display on the radio

You need to know if the signal you're hunting is getting stronger. LED displays are easier to read in the dark but meters give you more information. A reasonable compromise can be found in a radio with five or more LEDs. If you have a meter, you generally need a co-pilot to read it for you.

a good mobile antenna

this improves the transmit and receive capability of any radio. Avoid "rubber duck", imitation cellular, or other loaded antennas. Look for 1/4-wave, 5/8-wave, or 1/2-wave antennas. They will usually be coiled around a nonconductive pole since a quarter-wave antenna in the 11-meter (CB) band would be about 9 feet high. The taller the physical height the better, but watch out for trees...

an RF gain or RF attenuator control

When you get close to the target, the signal strength will read full strength. What do you do? If you don't have a way to turn down your radio's sensitivity, you'll wander around lost, knowing that you're close but you can't get closer.

If all else fails and your radio doesn't have an RF gain control, you can remove your antenna and, if you hear anything, you're almost on top of them. However that isn't usually a winning strategy. (Warning: don't transmit while your antenna is removed!)

SWR meter

This might not only be for yourself. Everyone can benefit if a few people bring SWR meters. The standing wave ratio effectively shows how well your antenna is getting out the signal and how much it's reflecting back to the radio. 1:1 is ideal, but also impossible. 1.5:1 is about the highest you'd call "good". 2:1 and above indicate that some tuning is required. 3:1 and above indicate you should not transmit for fear of burning out your radio - get that antenna tuned right away.

Direction-finding (DF) equipment

There is no rule against using direction-finding (DF) equipment but it's, surprisingly, of questionable value. If you bring DF gear but don't really know how to use it, it won't help. In a game as fast-paced as Cat & Mouse, you can lose your advantage by stopping too often to take a direction reading. So far, most people that we've heard of who have used DF gear in C&M have not done well with it.

Part of the problem is that the wavelengths on CB (or any part of the HF radio spectrum) are long enough that the most useful DF gear, such as Doppler DF units, would require antennas that wouldn't fit on the car. So just about everything available requires stopping to take a reading or risk feeding the antenna-eating trees.

High-resolution signal strength LEDs

One person in a CB "Foxhunt" in the Bay Area made a tube full of LEDs across his dash, showing him 50 different levels of signal strength. It was very effective for this kind of hunt. We haven't heard of this happening in a C&M game yet.

Information Sources

Some rule-writing suggestions were followed from "Transmitter Hunting: Radio Direction Finding Simplified" by Joseph D. Moell K0OV and Thomas N. Curlee WB6UZZ.

C&M Players

• bhsteel (Ben Steel KC6RJI) "Drifter"
• chafey (Chris Hafey) "Blowfish"
• ctrown (Chris Trown KD6EVS) "Starjammer"
• cyber (Erik Berls) "Black Dragon"
• galahad (Mike Polkinghorn K6PUD) "Sir Galahad" (also galahad@thunder.sbay.org, San Jose)
• lvoelker@best.com (Lowell Voelker KC6SBJ) "Greenjeans"
• nomad (Mike Larish KD6CTZ) "Nomad the Wanderer"
• ian (Ian Kluft KO6YQ) "Skyhawk" (also ikluft@thunder.sbay.org, San Jose)
• pmulcahy (Pat Mulcahy) "Swordsman"
• shire (Charlie Hooks) "Shire"
• stefanis (Nick Stefanisko KD6PTD) "Baby Bear" (also stefanis@hp-ptp.ptp.hp.com, Sunnyvale)
• trown (Nick Trown) "Scooter" (also trown@etak.com, Menlo Park)

Author