Rhonda Rescue Report

[Robb]

A window of opportunity opened Saturday for a clandestine extraction of Rhonda from her wilderness hideout. I met up with my fellow team members, for security purposes I'll just call them "Tom" and "OJ", and we headed into the backcountry. On the way up to the north launch we were reminded that hunting season was in full swing as we dodged a half-dozed Elmer Fudd's in the middle of the road.

We parked the car and worked our way up to Rhonda's super secret lair...to find that the whole ridge line had been bulldozed! All except a small spot of brush carefully wrapped in orange marker tape surrounding Rhonda! The fire crews had been careful to avoid Rhonda with the dozers and fire axes, nevertheless, her antenna was broken. The broken antenna was the cause of the intermittant transmissions over the last few weeks.

We disassembled her delicate parts, put the rest back into her chastity belt, and gave here a fresh coat of paint. In the spring we'll take her back and lets hope for no fires next year.

The chastity belt protected the original weather tite enclosure from sun, wind, and rain; and inside the enclosure everything was pristine. No rodents, no bugs, no bees. I'm very pleased how well everything held up, considering the only thing that failed was the $25 magnetic car mount antenna. I'll be looking for a more robust 2M antenna for next year, so if you have any ideas let me know.

Meanwhile, Rhonda will be relaxing by the pool.

[BobA]

Way to go Robb ! Take care of our girl ! Give her a hug for me. ;)