Hider: Steve KD6LAJ
I wanted to hide two transmitters, and sought out some help for the
hide. All requests for assistance were rebuffed with excuses like, "I will be in another
state for Easter...", and "I will be at the races.", and "I will be at my nieces baptism.", and so
on. After
working 8 hours in Baldwin Park, I loaded the charged batteries up,
loaded up some antennas, mast, backup everything... etc. Then I was
determined to get a decent signal back to the start, so we could all
have a little break in the string of ongoing complaints. Lacking
any helpers, I decided up high would be the safest with a
guarantee of signal at the start point. I decided to head for
Upland. (They call it Upland since it is UP from everywhere else
near it.) Decided to check a map, and find a couple of spots.
Some time later, when I awoke from the unintended nap (brought on my
going to work 6 days a week at 4 AM) I was in a little panic. It was now
after 6PM, so I jumped in the car, drove slightly illegally to Upland and headed for the park up Mountain Ave.
It was up high, and just below the Dam and in bounds by a couple of miles.
I parked across the street and unloaded some gear and climbed the hill
as quickly as possible. It was now 9 minutes to hunt time.
I put the beam together and mounted the mast on the fence with bungee
cords. Connected the now-too-short coax to the ammo box, and let it rip. I
really should have brought along an HT so I could check the signal. Hiked back to the car again and called the
start point. No answer, so used my Boss's cell phone to call and confirm
signal reception. When I got bad signal report, I decided to replace
transmitter with backup, even though it seemed to be working.
Now there was no time to get the other transmitter to its location, and
on the air in time. I drove a ways from the location, but then gave it all
up
and just returned to the first location instead. I had
suddenly had thoughts of the bomb squad deciding to remove my ammo box
from within close
proximity of the municipal water supply by abrupt release of energy. When
I returned, two teams had already found it. The others arrived in
quick
succession, and another short hunt was in the history books.
Everyone should have been able to arrive home in time to get up early and hide
(or
find) some Easter eggs.