Last days of the old Hawkins Hill Radome
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- Опубліковано 12 вер 2024
- Based on the impeccable source of the Brooklyn Trail Builders Instagram page, the word on the streets is that that Hawkins Hill Radome is going to be removed after nearly 35 years of being the "Golf Ball/Spy Base" overlooking Wellington.
/ c3ob7fmhtme
I waited for the next available WOAGD to take a final trip up to see the old girl.
The previous radar to the 'Golf Ball' was definitely in need of repair in the end.
I used to ride trail bikes on the firebreaks before they shut off the access for Mountain bikers.. damn mountain bikers... hey wait.. that's me... Damn, damn me all to hell...
anyhooze... on a windy day the radar (the good ol conventional wide frame) would be sitting there wobbling about a foot back and forth rather than rotating...
I suppose we also shouldn't have been able to stand right in front of it....
Another interesting thing about the Golf Ball (A doppler is hiding inside I believe.. I think I managed to gain a peek back in the late 90's when someone was working on it and indvited me to have said peek)
again...anyhooze.... when they were planning it, a friend (Railways radio tech) was involved, and advised the (Americans?) that they should build the ball in the clear area that is the subdivision (or was it the old mill) at the base of the road, not at the site as Wellington has a habit of turning on the wind... with up to a balmy 250kph gusts.
The (Yanks?) said they knew what they were doing, they had done many back in the US... and proceeded to build the dome onsite...
It blew down before it was finished...
An example of how windy it gets up there...
When they built the 1st Win Turbine just down the road... An inspection hatch later ripped off the top unit, and was never found.
I see there appears to be a small Doppler golf ball 7k ENE from Hawkins (SE from cable bay on a high peak)... might be there to monitor small traffic, even boats, crossing from Blenheim/Picton.
PS. The concrete pad in the last scene is the old radar foundations.
Yes! I had heard that the concrete pad was the foundation of the old building, that is very cool!
I cannot imagine how windy it gets up there, yesterday was about as calm as it gets in the normal sea level bits of Wellington but it was still breezy up at the top! I suppose those two concrete walls either side of the Radome break it a bit. It's just magic up there on a nice day like yesterday.
@@trailbogan I've spent a lot of time roaming them thar hillz as a kid. there's a lot of jems...
I designed a track from the Radome to Red Rocks only to find someone had done the same earlier (And UA-camd it)... there's also potential for a track from the dome down due east to the Tip gate, but down the ridge instead of the shrapnel lined firebreak