Himatangi Radio Station - AA Sign

Description

In the dead of night, sometime in 1983/1984, two trainee radio technicians crept out of the staff hostel at the Himatangi Radio transmitting station and out into the darkness. Making their way to the main road they carefully (but not very quietly) removed the AA sign pointing towards the government communications station- stopping only to dive into the bushes every time a car drove past. Their mission complete, they snuck into the hostel and carefully hid the sign.

This AA sign remained a carefully guarded secret until 2016. The station had long gone- satellite communications led to it being obsolete and it was closed down in 1993, but a control panel and other equipment survived at the MAVtech Museum in Foxton. It now hangs from the ceiling and points the way to the radio exhibit. 

How many other road signs succumbed to pranks and hijinks in the decades the station operated? Nobody knows for sure- but given the stories we hear it probably wasn't just the one!

Identification

Object type

Image

Date

1983