012106

Well.....It seemed like a good idea at the time. An opportunity presented itself the morning of the hunt. Permission was sought and granted by the rangers, plans were made and put into action.....and the first hide in Tonner Canyon that any T-Hunters could remember was on.

I had the pleasure to be invited to camp out with a group of Boy Scout families that are a part of the CLARA radio club. When they were told that I had a T to hide that evening they jumped on the notion that it should be hidden in the canyon. The rangers in charge of the Firestone Boy Scout Reservation agreed that it would be a fun thing to do and had no problem with any T-hunters entering the reservation, considering them welcome guests of troop 170.

I placed signs at each of the gated entrances so the hunters would know that entrance was granted. Now, in order to not be insulting, the signs were not huge, outlandish, or neon. Each sign was 8.5x11 and placed in plain sight. The main gate sign was placed on the main locking post of the gate and the gate was locked open (which is the case when the reservation has large groups of scouts encamped). The sign at the inner gate was actually attached to the No Trespassing sign. Each sign had a large letter T, my call sign, T-Hunters granted permission to enter, and the phrases "not so hidden T" and "Mr. T approved....Fool".

I am truly surprised that not a single hunter was able to recognize the signs for what they were. Anyway, this can and most likely will, be a topic of discussion for the future.

For the curious among you, I was hiding a 25 watt transmitter with a 4 element, horizontally polarized yagi which was pointed direct up Tonner Canyon towards Mt. Baldy. The antenna was about 10ft off the ground in a tree and the transmitter was hidden in a pile of brush about 20 feet away. I received reports later at Denny's that I lit-up Carbon Canyon like a light and just about bounced a signal off of everything except Baldy. I was told that everyone converged on Tonner Canyon at about the same time and that only Don drove up the road to the second open gate.

It has been ruled by the group present at the restaurant that since no one found the T on this night that I will be hiding next month's 3rd Saturday hunt. I truly hope you will all come out on the February hunt, where I will present myself for ridicule and punishment.

Now let's see. where can I hide, or get permission to hide, next month....Hmmm.....there's the former Tustin MCAS.....the 241 Haul road........Black Star Canyon......the Braille Institute.....decisions, decisions.