Hole in the Head Press

South Korean Nike Hercules

South Korean school children walk by a model of a
North Korean Scud-B missile.  A Nike-Hercules is
on display in the background. Hawk missiles
can just be seen behind the Scud-B.

Source

SF-91 Angel Island Clean Up

Angel Island Park Staff & Volunteer Greg Jennings Prepare
Equipment for the Clean Up at SF-91

The Staff Day clean up at the Nike Site On Angel Island was a great success. On Wednesday, 17 May, 2006, pretty much the entire staff on the island showed up with heavy equipment and lots of hand tools to spend most of the day in an effort to clean up the launch site area. Hasps and hinges were welded on all of the magazine hatches, much of the old metal, and wood that had been stacked in the area was moved and staged for removal. Several of the women on the staff went down the ladder into the "A" Section Magazine and removed debris from the inside of the magazine that had been tossed down the various open access holes over the years. Several other of the staff, male and female, manned weed whackers and cut down the weeds in the area. One of the staff, who normally pilots the boat ran the skip loader and filled the refuse bin with all sorts of heavy junk that had been lying around the site for years.   At the end of the day, everyone was treated to Park Superintendent's Dave Matthew's considerable Bar-B-Que skills with a fine dinner served at Quarters 10 at Camp Reynolds.  The park staff and volunteers are to be congratulated for such a successful effort.

Nike Equipment - HIPAR

Nike-Hercules High Power Acquisition Radar (HIPAR)
(Photo: Redstone Arsenal Website)

The radar set inside the geodesic dome is an AN/FPS-71 Survalleance Radar. The HIPAR radar was an extended range acquisition radar used with the second generation Nike-Hercules antiaircraft guided missile system. It was not used with the first generation Nike-Ajax antiaircraft guided missile system.

Courtsey of the Radio-Research Insturment Co., Inc. here are the numbers for the AN/FPS-71:

Frequency: 1220 to 1350 mHz (L Band)
Range, Max: 200 naut mi
Range, Min: 300 yd
Peak Power Output: SMW
Type of Presentation: 7-in. PPI. 10-in. PPI, 5-in. A-scope
Duty Cycle: 0.001 (For .prr of 400 pps)
RF Power Source: Type Magnetron 5J26 & QKS 1181 CFA
Azimuth Scan: 360 deg. cw at 6 rpm
Antenna Gain: 34db along axis of max radiation
Range Accuracy: 3% of range + 1 naut mi (at max range)
Pulse Repetition Rate: 325 plus or minus 10 pps on 200-mi range. On other ranges adjustable from 360 to 400 pps in normal operation; fixed 400 pulses per second in MTI operation and normal operation.
Pulse Width: 2 usec Horizontal
Beam Width: 1.4 plus or minus 0.2 deg at half power points.
Vertical Beam Width: 6.2 plus or minus 0.5 deg at half power points.
Vertical Beam Position: 2.5 deg above the horizontal
IFF Reflector Feed: Dipole radiator at reflector focal point.
Peak RF Power: Handling Capacity: 2 megw at .001 duty cycle
Azimuth Position Synchro: 24-speed, 400 cps 31TX4, and 1 speed, 60 cps SHG
RF Input Connection: L-Band Waveguide Flange UG-418A/U
Special Features: Antijamming circuit that limits width of echo pulse that receiver will pass.

Nike Equipment - TTR

The Target Tracking Radar (TTR) tracked the target. 

There was a similar looking radar that tracked the missile - the Missile Tracking Radar (MTR).

The Target Tracking Radar was located with the other radars at the Integrated Fire Control site (IFC).

The first generation Nike-Ajax was configured with a TTR and a MTR.  The Improved Nike-Hercules system was configured with a third radar called the Target Ranging Radar (TRR)  that looked very much like the TTR and MTR.

All together now, TTR, MTR, TRR.....

Next up the HIPAR.

Unidentifed Nike Magazine Gadget

While we were cleaning up around the "C" section magazine at SF-91 on Angel Island, we noticed this gadget attached to the concrete curb around the magazine doors.

Got any idea what this is?

This gizmo seems to be connected to this very rusty  Edwards Model 88-50 Signaling Transformer.

Edwards Model 88-50 Signaling Transformer

Nike Ajax Propellant Handlers

1958 New Jersey Nike-Ajax Accident

In May 1958 there was an accidental explosion at site NY-53 at Leonardo New Jersey. As a result several persons were killed. There are some photographs of the damage to the site.  The Nike-Ajax contained two main fragmentation type warheads, some of the damage done to the vehicles appears to be from this kind of warhead.

More information about this accident is here.

Nike's at the Presidio

These Nikes, a Hercules and and Ajax were on display behind the old museum at the Presidio of San Francisco.  It's unknown exactly what happened to them.  They're gone now, although the 155mm GPF in the background is still there, but in poor condition.

1-30-06 Update: I've been told that these missiles went to SF-88.

Rings of Supersonic Steel: The Nike Book

Where can I purchase my copy of Rings of Supersonic Steel?

If you go to Fetchbook.info and put in the title or ISBN (0615120121) - which I have helpfully already done for you - you will find some twenty places that you can purchase your very own copy of the Second Edition of Rings of Supersonic Steel.

Thank you for your support

* The Surgeon General has determined that smoking can cause your nose to fall off. 

SF-93 Update

On Sunday, 28 August 2005, I took a look at launch site SF-93 in San Rafael, California.

Here's the site as it looked on 27 February 2004 from the Terraserver.

The Administrative Area is now the Helen Vine Detox Center, located at 301 Smith Ranch Road, San Rafael, CA 94903.  A new skateboard  park located just down the hill from the  launching area.



All of the magazines have been sealed shut, the ventilater has plate welded over the entire opening.  All of the access holes in the concrete have been sealed with metal plates.



The Marin Municipal Water District has done a great job securing the doors leading into the magazines.



Since about 1981, the MMWD has been using these three magazines as part of a million gallon per day water treatment plant. The magazines have been lined, sealed and utilitzed as storage and chlorine contact chambers. This device pumps water into the magazine through one of the original round vents.



This is another view of one of the launchers with the pumping
unit in the foreground.



The former Hamilton Air Force Base can be seen in the distance from the launching area.  Hamiltion is now upscale houses, although you can see that the checkerboard water tower is still standing.

Ajax Launcher

Diagram of Ajax Launcher

SF-91 Angel Island - "C" Section

On Thursday 9 June, Greg Jennings, Tim Tyler, and I went back to Angel Island to take a look inside the "C" Section underground Nike magazine.  We didn't know what we would find as this magazine was said to have been welded shut sometime in the 1970's. 

Roy McNamee with State Parks was kind enough to provide a generator and a grinder to open one of the escape hatches on the magazine.  Roy ground off the weld securing the escape hatch in a couple of minutes and the door gently popped open. These magazines don't have stairs, the only way in and out is through the escape hatches and ladders.  We then went down the ladder into the magazine.

I was surprised to see the elevator platform was positioned below the floor level, but otherwise, things looked pretty clean and complete inside this magazine. The elevator platform is very rusty. There doesn't appear to be any standing water in the sump. The floor was wet from water leaking from the elevator doors above. The drains on the elevator doors are all clogged up allowing water to leak into the magazine. The concrete curb surrounding the elevator doors is serving to keep the water in, rather than keep the water out, as designed.

The hydraulic lines to the elevator door openers and the locking bar mechanisms have been severed but most of the hose lines are still in place.  The pumping units look to be complete and all of the elevator relays are still in place and look to be in reasonable condition.  The ventilator fan motors and fan assemblies have been removed from all three magazines. "C" Section still has the master elevator operating switch on the wall and the elevator switches on the elevator, however, the elevator switch is falling apart.

The Panel Room has been stripped, the locking bar indicators lights are sort of there, the blower motor switch is there, but the blower, plenum and platform are gone.  The escape hatch from the Panel Room is rusted shut. The escape hatch ladder is in place.  The blast doors and door handles are still there.  The doors move freely.  The door to the Panel Room corridor has a small window in the door, and the door locks from the inside. The panic bar is there, but the door closer is hanging down from the top of the door.

The emergency shower heads are still in place in the magazine. Oddly, there's no drain underneath these showers. The big red square beside the shower head is where a fire extinguisher used to hang from the wall. There is almost no graffiti in this magazine. 

 

SF-91 Fueling Stand

Here's a recent picture of the fueling stand for SF-91 on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay.

Rings in Air & Space

Hole In The Head Press is pleased to report that Rings of Supersonic Steel has been mentioned as a source for a story about the Nike Missile System in the July 2005 issue of the Smithsonian's Air & Space Magazine.

Be sure to check out the story, Ring of Fire, by James R. Chiles in the July 2005 issue.  Frank Evans, President of the Los Angeles Air Defense Museum Association is prominently mentioned in the piece.

Unfortunately, coinciding with the release of this story, the Los Angeles Air Defense Museum Association has voluntarily decided to fold up shop after a frustrating half decade of trying to convince the Los Angeles City Department of Recreation and Parks and the local politicians in San Pedro, California that the White Point Nike Site Historic District should be opened to the public rather than demolished. 

We gave it a good run, spent thousands of dollars out of our own pockets, attended endless unproductive meetings with brain dead bureaucrats, wrote reports and letters, made telephone calls and tried to gain support for our cause but were ultimately defeated by angry, self-centered local area homeowners, who don't want to share their 100 plus acre public park with anybody outside of their local community.

If this sounds bitter, I really don't mean it to be. That's just the way it is. Very few communities are interested in preserving military sites.  Homeowners around parks don't want "outsiders" coming into their community, with the traffic and other problems that they believe visitors will cause.

So, if you want to see mechanically operational Cold War Missile Site you can take a trip to San Francisco, Sandy Hook, New Jersey or Lorton, Virginia. 

But please, keep away from San Pedro, California.  They don't want you there.

Los Angeles Air Defense Museum Gone

The Los Angeles Air Defense Museum Association is in the process of being dissolved.

We worked on this project from about 1998 to 2005.

Our goal was to restore the Nike launch site at LA-43 and create unique attraction for the community.

We just couldn’t get past the uncooperativeness of the xenophobic citizens in San Pedro, Los Angeles City Department of Recreation and Parks, and the clueless 15 District Council Office.

We appreciate all of the help and assistance that all of you have given to this project over the years.

There’s a possibility that some of the equipment we removed from the Nike site in Van Nuys could be used on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, or the Cold War Museum in Lorton, Virginia but the details of this have yet to be worked out.

It’s time to move on.

The LA-96 Recovery Project

This weekend will be an important milestone in the on going project to salvage parts from LA-96.  We have rented a 14 ton capacity truck crane and will begin lifting the hydraulic pumping units and other heavy items out of the magazines.

The Nike Historical Society members will be arriving from the San Francisco Bay Area to help disconnect and move the pumping units into position to be lifted topside.

We will stage this material and then evaluate what we need to move the material to the Fort MacArthur Museum for temporary storage.  We express our sincere appreciation to the Fort MacArthur Museum  for their assistance on this project.

Now that we have many of the things we need to begin work at the White Point Historic Site, we hope to have all the issues resolved with the Los Angeles City Department of Recreation in the near future so we can begin to put these pieces back in service at White Point.

In the meantime, we are continuing to pursue  501(c)(3) tax exempt status for the Los Angeles Air Defense Museum Association and create the framework for a strong association to support our efforts at White Point.

The tax exempt status is critical to our ability to apply for funds to rehabilitate the Nike buildings in the Nike Launch Site Historic District.

If you would like to join our project, please call Frank Evans at (818) 562-1515 or sign in at our guest book at our website.

 

Aerial View of the LA-43 Historic District

White Point, San Pedro, CA

Nike Launch Site LA-43 can be seen in the center foreground. The circular road leads up the hill to the two large, concrete gun emplacements for Battery Paul D. Bunker.  Battery Bunker was the only World War II 16-inch seacoast gun battery actually completed for the Harbor Defenses of Los Angeles. 

The Historic District is within the boundaries of the White Point Nature Preserve.  This is one of the largest areas of undeveloped coastline in the Los Angeles area.

Nike Vets Sue Over Radar Exposure

Veterans and their families in Europe and the U.S. are seeking compensation for cancer suffered by radar technicians who worked with Nike and Hawk missile batteries during the Cold War.

A story published in Mother Jones Magazine in 2004, relates how some Cold War Nike veterans believe that exposure to radioactive elements in the radar systems they worked on have caused cancer. 

These veterans have hired the  Philadelphia-based law firm Berger & Montague to pursue their case.

The details here.

LA-43 Equipment Retrieval Progress

The project to remove material from LA-96 at Van Nuys for use at LA-43 in San Pedro continues.

On February 10th, Los Angeles Air Defense Museum Association members and members of the California Air National Guard's 261st Combat Communications Squadron worked in the rain in an attempt to release the locking bars on the A Section magazine elevator.

MSGT George Grandy checks the locking bar on A Section

As you can see in this photograph, the elevator platform is in the up position effectively blocking access to the magazine from above.  The elevator platform is resting on hydraulically operated "locking bars" that support the weight of the elevator platform when in the up position.  When this site was operational, a missile was launched from the elevator platform.

Association President Frank Evans, and Project Engineering coordinator, Scott L'Ecuyer had been previously successful in dropping the elevator platform in the C Section Magazine by connecting power to the elevator hydraulic valve solenoids and activating the valves in sequence to allow the 24,000 pound elevator platform to very slowly drop down into place inside the magazine.  They have every reason to believe they can duplicate this process in the Alpha Magazine.

But first, the elevator platform locking bars on the A Section Magazine have to be manually retracted

Two of the Air National Guard's truck winches were used to pull the locking bars back to allow the elevator platform to drop down into the magazine.  After opening up a hydraulic line to bleed the fluid from the locking bar cylinders, the locking bars were retracted.

One of the 261st's trucks pulls on a locking bar.

Unfortunately, it was discovered that the other two locking bars were also in place and so the elevator platform didn't drop as anticipated. 

The other two, larger locking bars will have to be released.  This will involve removing the access plates over the other two locking bars and giving this whole thing another go.

On a more positive note, the Safety Kleen Corporation was on hand with a vacuum truck to remove the hydraulic fluid from the B Section and C Section magazines.  Safety Kleen was contracted by the California National Air Guard as part of it's on-going program to make sure the sites they are responsible for are free of any hazardous or toxic material that might be a danger to the environment.

Thanks to Scott L' Ecuyer for the photographs.

Update: Today, February 18, 2005, Frank and the crew successfully dropped the A Section elevator platform.

Now, we need the use of a crane with about a 10-ton capacity to lift the pumping units out of the pits and onto a truck.

If you would like to join our project, please call Frank Evans at (818) 562-1515 or sign in at our guest book at our website.

 

Sandy Hook Gets Ajax Missiles

Two decommissioned Nike Ajax Missiles have been delivered to Sandy Hook (Gateway National Recreation Area, National Park Service) from the Air Force Space and Missile Museum at Patrick Air Force Base, Cape Canaveral, Florida. Transportation costs were provided by the Sandy Hook Foundation, the Official Friends Group of the National Park Service at Sandy Hook. Chief of Interpretation and Cultural Resources at Sandy Hook, Lou Venuto, acknowledged the importance of acquiring these historically significant military devices for public education and awareness.

Nike Ajax missile with launcher is displayed at Sandy Hook

Read more about it here.

Van Nuys-White Point Nike Update

Here is a brief update on the progress at the Van Nuys Nike site.  On February 11th, volunteers from the Los Angeles Air Defense Museum Association and members of the California Air National Guard's 261st Combat Communications Squadron, the owner's of the site, will use the winches on two 2 1/2 ton trucks to retract the two locking bars that are holding up the elevator platform in the Alpha magazine.

With the two locking bars retracted, power from an Air National Guard generator will be applied to the valves in the elevator's hydraulic system in such a way as to allow the elevator platform to slowly lower into the elevator well in the magazine. 

LAADMA members, Frank Evans and Scott L' Ecuyer previously lowered the elevator platform in the Bravo magazine using this method. The elevator platform in the Bravo magazine was stopped about 3/2's of the way up, so the locking bars weren't an issue.

With that accomplished, the Safety Kleen company will pump the hydraulic fluid out of the the elevator systems in all three magazines.

Accomplishing these tasks will open the way up to schedule another working party to get the pumping units disconnected and removed from the magazines as well as removing the heavy items that were previously taken off  the walls.

We will need a crane to lift the pumping units and heavy items up and out of the magazines.  Once that is done, we can begin to move this material to White Point and begin the long term project of restoring LA-43 to mechanically operational status.

The Los Angeles Air Defense Museum Association

The Los Angeles Air Defense Museum Association has their new website up and operational.  We are looking for members who would like to help us rehabilitate the magazines at White Point.  We are seeking volunteers who have the time and the skills required to install the electrical service, get the elevator working again, paint, and install the relays, switch boxes, limit switches, and other equipment we have taken from the Van Nuys Nike launch site.

Some Wiring will be Needed

We have an accountant working on our tax exempt status and hope to have it in place in time to apply for another grant to implement our historic preservation plan for the site.

Nike Ajax Details

Here are some very detailed pictures of the NIke Ajax on display at the U.S. Army Proving Grounds Museum at Aberdeen, Maryland. U. U.S. Army Proving Grounds Museum, Aberdeen Maryland.S. Army Proving Grounds Museum, Aberdeen Maryland.U.S. Army Proving Grounds Museum, Aberdeen Maryland.

741st Antiaircraft Artillery Missile Distinstive Insignia

Get your copy of Rings of Supersonic Steel to see where this unit served.  You can get your copy today at http://www.holeintheheadpress.com

What a great Christmas gift for that Nike Veteran.  This is the only book currently in print that lists the locations of CONUS Nike sites.  What a perfect way to get that man of yours out of the house and searching the neighborhood for nuclear missile sites.

And yes, that is a New Guinea foxbat depicted on the 741st's DI.  And the motto?  Well, it's Latin to me.

The Avro Arrow and the Nike

The Aerospace Heritage Foundation of Canada is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Canadian Avro Arrow, (Click on the rocket image to see a video) a Canadian fighter designed in the late 1950s but canceled by the Canadian government due to cost overruns and internal politics.

It turns out that scale models of the Avro Arrow were attached to modified Nike Ajax boosters and fired over Lake Ontario at speeds approaching Mach 2 during the development of the Avro Arrow. A piece in the October/November 2004 Air & Space Magazine tells of how the AHF, with the help of the Canadian Navy, has found one of the Nike boosters on the bottom of Lake Ontario.

Work Begins on LA-43

The project to restore Nike site LA-43 to mechanically operational status will enter a new stage this week. A crew of experienced volunteers who have successfully rehabilitated Nike site SF-88 in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area will begin the actual removal of electrical fixtures and other parts from Nike site LA-96 in Van Nuys. These parts will be cataloged, documented and taken to one of the magazines at White Point to be used in the rehabilitation of the magazine at LA-43.

This effort is not the only activity on going by the newly organized Los Angeles Air Defense Museum Association. We are also working on a plan for the above ground buildings. We are in the process of incorporating the data obtained from the Getty Foundation grant into an implementation plan that will include the existing buildings as well as the underground magazines. We will continue our efforts to bring these historic structures up to the standards required for public multi-use of these buildings, including a new ADA compliant restroom facility for the 102 acre White Point Nature Preserve.

The Los Angeles Air Defense Museum Association currently not a tax exempt corporation. We are seeking the pro-bono assistance of a qualified accountant to process the required paperwork for tax exempt status. Please contact us at (818) 562-1515 or (707) 875-3928 if you can assist.

Inside a Nike Missile Magazine

This is the inside of the underground missile magazine designated LA-43 located at White Point, San Pedro, CA. The rusty object on the floor is the elevator platform in the down position. The elevator doors are in the closed position in the roof of the magazine over the elevator platform. This picture was taken on 11 July 2004.

The Los Angeles Air Defense Museum Association intends to return this magazine to as close to its original condition as possible. The Association was created to support the restoration of this Nike site as an educational and historic preservation project.

For more information about this project, contact Association President, Frank Evans at (818) 562-1515.

Site SF-51L- Milagra Ridge

There's not a lot of Nike stuff left to see at Milagra Ridge, but it's a easy walk from the road to the where the two launching elevators remain. The launching area has been totally destroyed. There is no sign of the buildings or berms around the launch site. All that remains are two cement capped magazine elevators and escape hatchs.

The two elevators, as well as the outline of the launching area can be seen in this USGS photograph taken in 1993 from the Microsoft terraserver.

The Los Angeles Air Defense Museum Association

The Los Angeles Air Defense Museum Association is about to be born.

The purpose of this new California Public Benefit Corporation will be to support a museum at LA-43 (San Pedro) and raise funds to restore LA-43 into mechanically operating condition.

We listed LA-43 on the California Register in 2000. It's a historic district, representing the Cold War Era of Fort MacArthur.

This new association has the support of the Fort MacArthur Museum Association, the local Councilwoman and the Los Angeles Conservancy, a very large and powerful local historic preservation organization. The support from the Conservancy has been critical to getting us where we are today.

Still, there are still many bureaucratic details to work out with the City and there are some in the neighborhood who do not want to see this project happen.

Our first project is a joint effort with the California Air National Guard to strip all of the usable equipment from LA-96 (Van Nuys) and bring it over to LA-43. We will have the support of a crew from SF-88 and our own volunteers to work this project. This will be a hands on - clean up the mouse droppings kind of project.

This is a long term project. We figure that it will probably take about two years - if all goes well - to return one of the magazines to something close to operational status.

We are looking for folks who can support our efforts with funds, labor, and support. We will eventually be publishing a newsletter, and will setup events for our members.

For further information, contact Frank Evans at (818)562-1515.

LA-43 Assembly Building

Here is a photograph of the Missile Test & Assembly Building at LA-43 taken on 19 March 2004. This building was built during the Nike Hercules era at the site. The building was used to assemble and test the missiles. The tool room can be seen inside the rear door of the building.

At one time, the City of Los Angeles began converting this building to a residence for a park ranger, but for reasons unknown, stopped the work after cutting some interior walls, and installing electrical conduit from the street to a corner of the building.

Although it looks to be in bad shape, it's a architecturally simple structure and can be rehabilitated without spending a huge amount of money. Some of the work described above, especially the electrical conduit, can be used to get the building back in use.

The PVLC has a requirement for restrooms at the Nature Preserve. This building has utility connections and a restroom that can be converted to comply with the American’s with Disabilities Act, as well as space to use for other public purposes. At least as of this date, the PVLC is not enthusiastic about adaptative reuse of this building. They seem to want spend several hundred thousand dollars on an entirely new structure.

The vertical holes in the side of the building were made during the engineering survey to determine the extent to which the walls are reinforced and grouted.

The Getty Grant funded a preliminary plan for the use of this building.

For more information about this exciting project please contact Frank Evans, Acting President, California Air Defense Museum Association at NikeSite43@GlobalMedTech.net

LA-43 at White's Point, San Pedro, CA

Here's what's left of launching area at LA-43 at White's Point in San Pedro, CA. This site was listed on the California Register of Historic Places in August 2000 against the wishes of a small group of local homeowners. The site is situated in the middle of a Nature Preserve and it’s continued existence has been the subject of some controversy. The fencing and many of the other features of the site have been removed by the various parties involved with the management of the property but the site still retains significant historic integrity. This site is the Cold War component of a proposed historic district that would include the World War I and World War II historic resources of the former Fort MacArthur.

The City of Los Angeles was provided with misleading information about the costs involved in rehabilitating the Nike buildings on the site by those who wanted the buildings demolished and used the inflated cost estimates to justify a Statement of Overriding Consideration during the EIR process.

A Statement of Overriding Consideration means that the City acknowledges that the site has historic significance but can demolish the place anyway by claiming to not having any money to care of the historic structures. This is a fairly common practice by those who are not interested in historic preservation.

A Getty Foundation Grant was obtained for the purpose of hiring engineers and architects with credible backgrounds to get accurate information about the costs and issues relating to the stabilization of the existing structures. The results of the study clearly show that the information provided to the City was incorrect. The results of this work will be integrated into a plan for the site and additional funding will be sought to continue rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of the Nike site buildings and underground magazines.

Currently, SF-88 in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in the Marin Headlands is the only Nike site in the country to be have been restored to mechanical operational condition. It is doubtful if LA-43 will ever achieve the same level of operational status as SF-88, but it's hoped that at least the underground magazines can be restored to educate the public about how the site operated during the Cold War.

The California Air National Guard has approved the transfer of mechanical and electrical equipment from Los Angles site LA-96 at Van Nuys to LA-43 to begin the process of restoring the underground magazine. With the assistance of experienced volunteers from SF-88, this should commence within the next couple of months.

For more information about this exciting project please contact Frank Evans, Acting President, California Air Defense Museum Association at NikeSite43@GlobalMedTech.net

Target Tracking Radar Console

Nike Site NY-56

Here is a rundown on Nike site NY-56 located at Fort Hancock from the excellent site assembled by Donald E. Bender.

You can find out more about the New York Defense in the Second Edition of Rings of Supersonic Steel, ISBN 0-615-12012-1, available from Barnes & Noble, Powell's Technical Books, WalMart, Books-A-Million and Hole in the Head Press.

Be Happy. Buy a Book today.

Radio Set AN/TRC-47

This "new" information about the Nike intrabattery communication system is not in the current edition of Rings of Supersonic Steel.

General

Radio set AN/TRC-47 (Fig 102) is an amplitude-modulated, low powered radio set which provides 2-way (duplex) voice communication circuits in the high-frequency range fo 132 to 150 megacycles. This radio set is used to fulfill minimum radio-voice backup facilities for the Nike intrabattery cable and wire installed between the control and launcher areas. These 2-way voice radio circuits will parallel (and backup) the battery command loop and the battery technical loop.

The AN/TRC-47 radio set was designed to meet the requirements of the United States Army air defense intrabattery radio communications. The set is equipped with directional antennas and operates at minimum power. Sixty-400 cycle power sources may be used, although 60-cycle is recommended.

Location of Equipment in Nike Battery Control Area

The radio equipment consisting of 2 transmitters and 2 receivers will be located in the space (2ft x 6ft) specifically reserved in the interconnecting corridor (Between the director station and tracking station trailers.) For this purpose.

The circuits from the radio to the SB-22 switchboard in the director station trailer will be routed and connected to the binding posts (Pairs 6 and 7) in the junction box of the director station trailer. From the binding posts to the SB-22 switchboard, existing wire circuits will be used.

Location of Equipment in the Nike Launching Area

The radio equipment, consisting of 2 transmitters and 2 receivers, will be located in the launching control trailer. (Fig 103)

The circuits from the radio set will terminate in the binding posts (pairs 6 and 7) in the junction box of the launching control trailer. From the binding posts to the SB-22 switchboard, existing wire circuits will be used.

Power Output

The power output for the AN/TRC-47 equipment is controllable and can vary between a minimum of ½ watt to a maximum of 7 watts. Determination of the power output from each location must be carefully made to insure that mutual interference between equipment and locations does not occur. In most instances, due to the use of directional antennas, it is believed that a power output of ½ watt will suffice.

Antennas

Two antennas AS-813/TRC-47 (Fig. 104) are required per radio set, 1 for the receiver and 1 for the transmitter making a total of 8 per battery, 4 at the control site and 4 at the launcher site.

Antennas may be pole or tower mounted (on side corner of Nike radar tower) Antenna masts are not furnished with antenna AS-813/TRC-47.

Components of the AN/TRC-47

1. Radio receiver R-748 ( )/TRC-47
2. Radio transmitter T-593 ( )/TRC-47
3. Telephone signal converter CV-542/TRC-47
4. Cabinet, electrical equipment CY-2126/TRC-47 (Fig. 105)

Technical Characteristics of Radio Receiver R-748 ( )/TRC-47

1. Frequency range - 132 to 150 mcs.
2. Frequency control - plug-in crystals
3. Type of modulation - amplitude
4. Power requirements - 155 volts ac 50-60 cps or 230 volts ac - 400 cps
5. Type of signals received - audio

Technical Characteristics of Radio Transmitter T-593 ( )/TRC-47

1. Frequency range - 132 to 150 mcs.
2. Frequency control - plug-in crystals
3. Type of modulation - amplitude
4. Power requirements - 115 volts ac, 50-50 cps or 230 volts ac, 400 cps
5. Range - line of sight
6. Type of signals emitted - audio

Technical Characteristics of Telephone Signal Converter CV-542/TRC-47

1. Signaling frequency - 800 cps
2. Low-frequency signal input - 20 cps
3. Power requirements - 115 volts ac, 50-60 cps or 230 volts ac, 400 cps
4. Purpose - provides duplex operation through a telephone switchboard

Technical Characteristics of Antenna AS-813/TRC-47

1. Type - corner reflector
2. Length - quarterwave
3. Properties - vertically polarized, directional
4. Adjustments - adjustable to frequencies being used (Figs. 106 and 107)