A new thing to worry about

[The Daring Dufas]

David Brodbeck wrote:

Stormin Mormon wrote:
And, and also learned the Jesus Method of finding out which breaker
connects to a certain electrical outlet. requiring a six or so inch
length of 12 or 14 gage wire, with about an inch of each end stripped.
Often with the ends gently pounded flat.


I used to fly sailplanes. Because these non-powered aircraft sometimes
land away from the airport, they're designed to be broken down into
pieces so they can be loaded on a trailer. Part of every preflight
inspection was examining the removable pins that held the wings on,
which everyone referred to as "Jesus pins."

As a broadcast engineer working around large tube type transmitters,
one has to be mindful of residual high voltage in the equipment.
There is always an insulated pole with a metal hook and grounding
conductor attached that is used to discharge any dangerous stray
current. It's called a "Jesus Stick". The things can also be seen
hanging around any high voltage equipment facilities.

TDD

 

[Stormin Mormon]

I can imagine that. Thanks for sharing.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"David Brodbeck" <gull@gull.us> wrote in message
news:VMGdnZ4Ufb-Il77WnZ2dnUVZ_thi4p2d@speakeasy.net...

I used to fly sailplanes. Because these non-powered
aircraft sometimes
land away from the airport, they're designed to be broken
down into
pieces so they can be loaded on a trailer. Part of every
preflight
inspection was examining the removable pins that held the
wings on,
which everyone referred to as "Jesus pins."

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

The Daring Dufas wrote:

David Brodbeck wrote:
Stormin Mormon wrote:
And, and also learned the Jesus Method of finding out which breaker
connects to a certain electrical outlet. requiring a six or so inch
length of 12 or 14 gage wire, with about an inch of each end stripped.
Often with the ends gently pounded flat.


I used to fly sailplanes. Because these non-powered aircraft sometimes
land away from the airport, they're designed to be broken down into
pieces so they can be loaded on a trailer. Part of every preflight
inspection was examining the removable pins that held the wings on,
which everyone referred to as "Jesus pins."

As a broadcast engineer working around large tube type transmitters,
one has to be mindful of residual high voltage in the equipment.
There is always an insulated pole with a metal hook and grounding
conductor attached that is used to discharge any dangerous stray
current. It's called a "Jesus Stick". The things can also be seen
hanging around any high voltage equipment facilities.

I worked in brodcasting for decades and never heard it called that.
Also, I only saw them in small transmitters. I've been inside some big
transmitters, including the 500KW WLW transmitter. The only TV
transmitter I saw with a shorting stick was 500 watts. The 195 KW UHF
transmitters would either vaporize a shorting stick, or destroy the HV
supply.

Have you ever been inside one of the Harris solid state AAM
transmitters with a high current 300 volt DC power supply? It will kill
you just as fast as any tube transmitter.





--
Offworld checks no longer accepted!

 

[The Daring Dufas]

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

The Daring Dufas wrote:
David Brodbeck wrote:
Stormin Mormon wrote:
And, and also learned the Jesus Method of finding out which breaker
connects to a certain electrical outlet. requiring a six or so inch
length of 12 or 14 gage wire, with about an inch of each end stripped.
Often with the ends gently pounded flat.

I used to fly sailplanes. Because these non-powered aircraft sometimes
land away from the airport, they're designed to be broken down into
pieces so they can be loaded on a trailer. Part of every preflight
inspection was examining the removable pins that held the wings on,
which everyone referred to as "Jesus pins."
As a broadcast engineer working around large tube type transmitters,
one has to be mindful of residual high voltage in the equipment.
There is always an insulated pole with a metal hook and grounding
conductor attached that is used to discharge any dangerous stray
current. It's called a "Jesus Stick". The things can also be seen
hanging around any high voltage equipment facilities.



I worked in brodcasting for decades and never heard it called that.
Also, I only saw them in small transmitters. I've been inside some big
transmitters, including the 500KW WLW transmitter. The only TV
transmitter I saw with a shorting stick was 500 watts. The 195 KW UHF
transmitters would either vaporize a shorting stick, or destroy the HV
supply.

Have you ever been inside one of the Harris solid state AAM
transmitters with a high current 300 volt DC power supply? It will kill
you just as fast as any tube transmitter.

NO EXCREMENT?! I was out in the Marshall Islands 20 years ago and
got to explore the old phased array radar installation on Meck
island at the Kwajalein Atoll. I think it had two power supplies
at one time but there was one left in what was called the Frankenstein
room, an incredible contraption that looked like the set of a monster
movie. I wish I still had pictures, darn. There were Jesus sticks
hanging all over that place. You did notice that I wrote "stray
current"? You probably got into the field after the advent of
Affirmative Action when dangerous items had to be hidden away from
quota hires because of the death and destruction they were capable
of. "Hey, what's this big red thing for?" Here's a picture of the
outside of the building, I wish I had a picture of the interior.

http://www.smdc.army.mil/smdcphoto_gallery/Kwaj/Img19_MeckIsland.jpg

TDD

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

The Daring Dufas wrote:

Michael A. Terrell wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote:
David Brodbeck wrote:
Stormin Mormon wrote:
And, and also learned the Jesus Method of finding out which breaker
connects to a certain electrical outlet. requiring a six or so inch
length of 12 or 14 gage wire, with about an inch of each end stripped.
Often with the ends gently pounded flat.

I used to fly sailplanes. Because these non-powered aircraft sometimes
land away from the airport, they're designed to be broken down into
pieces so they can be loaded on a trailer. Part of every preflight
inspection was examining the removable pins that held the wings on,
which everyone referred to as "Jesus pins."
As a broadcast engineer working around large tube type transmitters,
one has to be mindful of residual high voltage in the equipment.
There is always an insulated pole with a metal hook and grounding
conductor attached that is used to discharge any dangerous stray
current. It's called a "Jesus Stick". The things can also be seen
hanging around any high voltage equipment facilities.



I worked in brodcasting for decades and never heard it called that.
Also, I only saw them in small transmitters. I've been inside some big
transmitters, including the 500KW WLW transmitter. The only TV
transmitter I saw with a shorting stick was 500 watts. The 195 KW UHF
transmitters would either vaporize a shorting stick, or destroy the HV
supply.

Have you ever been inside one of the Harris solid state AAM
transmitters with a high current 300 volt DC power supply? It will kill
you just as fast as any tube transmitter.


NO EXCREMENT?! I was out in the Marshall Islands 20 years ago and
got to explore the old phased array radar installation on Meck
island at the Kwajalein Atoll. I think it had two power supplies
at one time but there was one left in what was called the Frankenstein
room, an incredible contraption that looked like the set of a monster
movie. I wish I still had pictures, darn. There were Jesus sticks
hanging all over that place. You did notice that I wrote "stray
current"? You probably got into the field after the advent of
Affirmative Action when dangerous items had to be hidden away from
quota hires because of the death and destruction they were capable
of. "Hey, what's this big red thing for?" Here's a picture of the
outside of the building, I wish I had a picture of the interior.

http://www.smdc.army.mil/smdcphoto_gallery/Kwaj/Img19_MeckIsland.jpg

I saw the first in the late '60s.

If you want to see an impressive power supply, visit WLW in
Cincinnati, Ohio. The transmitter has multiple, large plate
transformers to supply the transmitter.

We had a pair of 2 MW Westinghouse RADAR systems at Ft Rucker in the
early '70s across the hall from the Weathervision office. A lot of
transmitters drop the plate relays when any interlock trips. It shuts
down the incoming AC line to the HV power supply, which is quickly
dissipated through the final tube or tubes. Permanent sets of bleeder
resistors keep the dielectric from recovering any voltage

There was nothing Affirmative Action at the stations i worked at.
The TV transmitters at the AFRTS station I worked at was six feet from
the control console, the processing racks directly behind the operator,
and the film chain was next to the proc racks. No video tape and all in
beautiful B&W.

Several radio stations had the transmitter in the control room, from
the days when someone with a FCC ticket was required to be there while
they were on the air. The only TV transmitter that was in a separate
room was at the WACX transmitter site in Orange City. That wasn't to
keep people away, but for the noise and cooling requirements. The small
service area was in a room off the transmitter room, where you could
barely hear what you were working on. That was a mid '80s Comark with
three 65 KW Klystrons. I don't know if they modified it for DTV, or
replaced it, since I haven't been to that site in 20 years.

One station I consulted with has their transmitter in the hallway
leading to the studios. An old 5 KW Gates, from the '50s. A couple
relay racks next to it hold the antenna and power controls for day &
night power and pattern controls. A real outdated mess, but like many
small stations, the owners believe that they can't afford to replace it.


--
Offworld checks no longer accepted!

 

[The Daring Dufas]

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

The Daring Dufas wrote:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote:
David Brodbeck wrote:
Stormin Mormon wrote:
And, and also learned the Jesus Method of finding out which breaker
connects to a certain electrical outlet. requiring a six or so inch
length of 12 or 14 gage wire, with about an inch of each end stripped.
Often with the ends gently pounded flat.

I used to fly sailplanes. Because these non-powered aircraft sometimes
land away from the airport, they're designed to be broken down into
pieces so they can be loaded on a trailer. Part of every preflight
inspection was examining the removable pins that held the wings on,
which everyone referred to as "Jesus pins."
As a broadcast engineer working around large tube type transmitters,
one has to be mindful of residual high voltage in the equipment.
There is always an insulated pole with a metal hook and grounding
conductor attached that is used to discharge any dangerous stray
current. It's called a "Jesus Stick". The things can also be seen
hanging around any high voltage equipment facilities.


I worked in brodcasting for decades and never heard it called that.
Also, I only saw them in small transmitters. I've been inside some big
transmitters, including the 500KW WLW transmitter. The only TV
transmitter I saw with a shorting stick was 500 watts. The 195 KW UHF
transmitters would either vaporize a shorting stick, or destroy the HV
supply.

Have you ever been inside one of the Harris solid state AAM
transmitters with a high current 300 volt DC power supply? It will kill
you just as fast as any tube transmitter.

NO EXCREMENT?! I was out in the Marshall Islands 20 years ago and
got to explore the old phased array radar installation on Meck
island at the Kwajalein Atoll. I think it had two power supplies
at one time but there was one left in what was called the Frankenstein
room, an incredible contraption that looked like the set of a monster
movie. I wish I still had pictures, darn. There were Jesus sticks
hanging all over that place. You did notice that I wrote "stray
current"? You probably got into the field after the advent of
Affirmative Action when dangerous items had to be hidden away from
quota hires because of the death and destruction they were capable
of. "Hey, what's this big red thing for?" Here's a picture of the
outside of the building, I wish I had a picture of the interior.

http://www.smdc.army.mil/smdcphoto_gallery/Kwaj/Img19_MeckIsland.jpg


I saw the first in the late '60s.

If you want to see an impressive power supply, visit WLW in
Cincinnati, Ohio. The transmitter has multiple, large plate
transformers to supply the transmitter.

We had a pair of 2 MW Westinghouse RADAR systems at Ft Rucker in the
early '70s across the hall from the Weathervision office. A lot of
transmitters drop the plate relays when any interlock trips. It shuts
down the incoming AC line to the HV power supply, which is quickly
dissipated through the final tube or tubes. Permanent sets of bleeder
resistors keep the dielectric from recovering any voltage

There was nothing Affirmative Action at the stations i worked at.
The TV transmitters at the AFRTS station I worked at was six feet from
the control console, the processing racks directly behind the operator,
and the film chain was next to the proc racks. No video tape and all in
beautiful B&W.

Several radio stations had the transmitter in the control room, from
the days when someone with a FCC ticket was required to be there while
they were on the air. The only TV transmitter that was in a separate
room was at the WACX transmitter site in Orange City. That wasn't to
keep people away, but for the noise and cooling requirements. The small
service area was in a room off the transmitter room, where you could
barely hear what you were working on. That was a mid '80s Comark with
three 65 KW Klystrons. I don't know if they modified it for DTV, or
replaced it, since I haven't been to that site in 20 years.

One station I consulted with has their transmitter in the hallway
leading to the studios. An old 5 KW Gates, from the '50s. A couple
relay racks next to it hold the antenna and power controls for day &
night power and pattern controls. A real outdated mess, but like many
small stations, the owners believe that they can't afford to replace it.

Did being that close to them make you sterile? *snicker*
I knew this one freak who bragged about aiming his radar
dish at the passing natives when he was in Nam. His goal
was to cook their gonads. I wish I had been able to get
into the deep space tracking radar when I was out at the
missile range back in 88. One of the guys told me that it
used a TWT setup and ran at upwards of 8 megawatts on VHF.
When there was a mission going on, we were prohibited
from using the VHF marine radio on the crew boat. It was
amazing to see that huge dish move. I found a picture:

http://tinyurl.com/ybqbbz4

If you zoom in on the right side of this image you can see
the big dish from a satellite:

http://www.satellite-sightseer.com/id/12134

Geez! I wish I could get back out there, I loved it. It
was an amazing place.

TDD

 

[Stormin Mormon]

Even the outside of the building looks sinister.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"The Daring Dufas" <the-daring-dufas@peckerhead.net> wrote
in message news:hg1nkr$fu7$1@news.eternal-september.org...

NO EXCREMENT?! I was out in the Marshall Islands 20 years
ago and
got to explore the old phased array radar installation on
Meck
island at the Kwajalein Atoll. I think it had two power
supplies
at one time but there was one left in what was called the
Frankenstein
room, an incredible contraption that looked like the set of
a monster
movie. I wish I still had pictures, darn. There were Jesus
sticks
hanging all over that place. You did notice that I wrote
"stray
current"? You probably got into the field after the advent
of
Affirmative Action when dangerous items had to be hidden
away from
quota hires because of the death and destruction they were
capable
of. "Hey, what's this big red thing for?" Here's a picture
of the
outside of the building, I wish I had a picture of the
interior.

http://www.smdc.army.mil/smdcphoto_gallery/Kwaj/Img19_MeckIsland.jpg

TDD

 

[Stormin Mormon]

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

The Daring Dufas wrote:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote:
David Brodbeck wrote:
Stormin Mormon wrote:
[presents]

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

The Daring Dufas wrote:

Michael A. Terrell wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote:
David Brodbeck wrote:
Stormin Mormon wrote:
And, and also learned the Jesus Method of finding out which breaker
connects to a certain electrical outlet. requiring a six or so inch
length of 12 or 14 gage wire, with about an inch of each end stripped.
Often with the ends gently pounded flat.

I used to fly sailplanes. Because these non-powered aircraft sometimes
land away from the airport, they're designed to be broken down into
pieces so they can be loaded on a trailer. Part of every preflight
inspection was examining the removable pins that held the wings on,
which everyone referred to as "Jesus pins."
As a broadcast engineer working around large tube type transmitters,
one has to be mindful of residual high voltage in the equipment.
There is always an insulated pole with a metal hook and grounding
conductor attached that is used to discharge any dangerous stray
current. It's called a "Jesus Stick". The things can also be seen
hanging around any high voltage equipment facilities.


I worked in brodcasting for decades and never heard it called that.
Also, I only saw them in small transmitters. I've been inside some big
transmitters, including the 500KW WLW transmitter. The only TV
transmitter I saw with a shorting stick was 500 watts. The 195 KW UHF
transmitters would either vaporize a shorting stick, or destroy the HV
supply.

Have you ever been inside one of the Harris solid state AAM
transmitters with a high current 300 volt DC power supply? It will kill
you just as fast as any tube transmitter.

NO EXCREMENT?! I was out in the Marshall Islands 20 years ago and
got to explore the old phased array radar installation on Meck
island at the Kwajalein Atoll. I think it had two power supplies
at one time but there was one left in what was called the Frankenstein
room, an incredible contraption that looked like the set of a monster
movie. I wish I still had pictures, darn. There were Jesus sticks
hanging all over that place. You did notice that I wrote "stray
current"? You probably got into the field after the advent of
Affirmative Action when dangerous items had to be hidden away from
quota hires because of the death and destruction they were capable
of. "Hey, what's this big red thing for?" Here's a picture of the
outside of the building, I wish I had a picture of the interior.

http://www.smdc.army.mil/smdcphoto_gallery/Kwaj/Img19_MeckIsland.jpg


I saw the first in the late '60s.

If you want to see an impressive power supply, visit WLW in
Cincinnati, Ohio. The transmitter has multiple, large plate
transformers to supply the transmitter.

We had a pair of 2 MW Westinghouse RADAR systems at Ft Rucker in the
early '70s across the hall from the Weathervision office. A lot of
transmitters drop the plate relays when any interlock trips. It shuts
down the incoming AC line to the HV power supply, which is quickly
dissipated through the final tube or tubes. Permanent sets of bleeder
resistors keep the dielectric from recovering any voltage

There was nothing Affirmative Action at the stations i worked at.
The TV transmitters at the AFRTS station I worked at was six feet from
the control console, the processing racks directly behind the operator,
and the film chain was next to the proc racks. No video tape and all in
beautiful B&W.

Several radio stations had the transmitter in the control room, from
the days when someone with a FCC ticket was required to be there while
they were on the air. The only TV transmitter that was in a separate
room was at the WACX transmitter site in Orange City. That wasn't to
keep people away, but for the noise and cooling requirements. The small
service area was in a room off the transmitter room, where you could
barely hear what you were working on. That was a mid '80s Comark with
three 65 KW Klystrons. I don't know if they modified it for DTV, or
replaced it, since I haven't been to that site in 20 years.

One station I consulted with has their transmitter in the hallway
leading to the studios. An old 5 KW Gates, from the '50s. A couple
relay racks next to it hold the antenna and power controls for day &
night power and pattern controls. A real outdated mess, but like many
small stations, the owners believe that they can't afford to replace it.



Did being that close to them make you sterile? *snicker*

That RADAR killed birds in flight and had multiple locked gates on
the stairs to the antenna platform where you had to remove the key to
open each gate.

I knew this one freak who bragged about aiming his radar
dish at the passing natives when he was in Nam. His goal
was to cook their gonads. I wish I had been able to get
into the deep space tracking radar when I was out at the
missile range back in 88. One of the guys told me that it
used a TWT setup and ran at upwards of 8 megawatts on VHF.
When there was a mission going on, we were prohibited
from using the VHF marine radio on the crew boat. It was
amazing to see that huge dish move. I found a picture:

TWT on VHF? VHF is 30 to 300 MHz and TWT are typically built for 300
MHz up which would put it in the 300 to 3000 MHz UHF range.

That 8 MW was a combination of antenna gain, and the fact that the
transmitter operated in pulse mode.

The prohibited communications on VHF was probably for security
reasons. There shouldn't be much RF on the sidelobes or rear of that
antenna. BTW, Microdyne built a lot of Telemetry recievers for deep
space work. In '88 they would have been building their 1100 series of
modular telemetry equipment. I think the 1200 series was introduced
sometime around that time, followed by the 1400, the 2800 (limited
production) then the 700 & 1620 as some of the last analog models. The
first DSP based models were the DR2000 & RCB 2000

<http://cgi.ebay.com/Microdyne-Telemetry-Receiver-1100-AR-W-1161-S-A-Display_W0QQitemZ370305009872QQ>

NASA was still using a 30 year old Microdyne reciever to track probe
satellites in 2001. It had never been turned off, or serviced.

http://tinyurl.com/ybqbbz4

If you zoom in on the right side of this image you can see
the big dish from a satellite:

http://www.satellite-sightseer.com/id/12134

Geez! I wish I could get back out there, I loved it. It
was an amazing place.

Have you seen the big dishes used by NOAA for their LEO wearther
satellites? I worked on the turnkey upgrade for their Wallops Island
installation that was built by Microdyne. It replaced a 20 year old
Harris microowave system and had to control their 100 foot dishes.

<http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/brs/spind10.htm has a few pictures.>

We also built the pair of tracking stations for the European Space
Agency. One fixed site, and the other mobile.


--
Offworld checks no longer accepted!

 

[The Daring Dufas]

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

The Daring Dufas wrote:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote:
David Brodbeck wrote:
Stormin Mormon wrote:
And, and also learned the Jesus Method of finding out which breaker
connects to a certain electrical outlet. requiring a six or so inch
length of 12 or 14 gage wire, with about an inch of each end stripped.
Often with the ends gently pounded flat.

I used to fly sailplanes. Because these non-powered aircraft sometimes
land away from the airport, they're designed to be broken down into
pieces so they can be loaded on a trailer. Part of every preflight
inspection was examining the removable pins that held the wings on,
which everyone referred to as "Jesus pins."
As a broadcast engineer working around large tube type transmitters,
one has to be mindful of residual high voltage in the equipment.
There is always an insulated pole with a metal hook and grounding
conductor attached that is used to discharge any dangerous stray
current. It's called a "Jesus Stick". The things can also be seen
hanging around any high voltage equipment facilities.

I worked in brodcasting for decades and never heard it called that.
Also, I only saw them in small transmitters. I've been inside some big
transmitters, including the 500KW WLW transmitter. The only TV
transmitter I saw with a shorting stick was 500 watts. The 195 KW UHF
transmitters would either vaporize a shorting stick, or destroy the HV
supply.

Have you ever been inside one of the Harris solid state AAM
transmitters with a high current 300 volt DC power supply? It will kill
you just as fast as any tube transmitter.

NO EXCREMENT?! I was out in the Marshall Islands 20 years ago and
got to explore the old phased array radar installation on Meck
island at the Kwajalein Atoll. I think it had two power supplies
at one time but there was one left in what was called the Frankenstein
room, an incredible contraption that looked like the set of a monster
movie. I wish I still had pictures, darn. There were Jesus sticks
hanging all over that place. You did notice that I wrote "stray
current"? You probably got into the field after the advent of
Affirmative Action when dangerous items had to be hidden away from
quota hires because of the death and destruction they were capable
of. "Hey, what's this big red thing for?" Here's a picture of the
outside of the building, I wish I had a picture of the interior.

http://www.smdc.army.mil/smdcphoto_gallery/Kwaj/Img19_MeckIsland.jpg

I saw the first in the late '60s.

If you want to see an impressive power supply, visit WLW in
Cincinnati, Ohio. The transmitter has multiple, large plate
transformers to supply the transmitter.

We had a pair of 2 MW Westinghouse RADAR systems at Ft Rucker in the
early '70s across the hall from the Weathervision office. A lot of
transmitters drop the plate relays when any interlock trips. It shuts
down the incoming AC line to the HV power supply, which is quickly
dissipated through the final tube or tubes. Permanent sets of bleeder
resistors keep the dielectric from recovering any voltage

There was nothing Affirmative Action at the stations i worked at.
The TV transmitters at the AFRTS station I worked at was six feet from
the control console, the processing racks directly behind the operator,
and the film chain was next to the proc racks. No video tape and all in
beautiful B&W.

Several radio stations had the transmitter in the control room, from
the days when someone with a FCC ticket was required to be there while
they were on the air. The only TV transmitter that was in a separate
room was at the WACX transmitter site in Orange City. That wasn't to
keep people away, but for the noise and cooling requirements. The small
service area was in a room off the transmitter room, where you could
barely hear what you were working on. That was a mid '80s Comark with
three 65 KW Klystrons. I don't know if they modified it for DTV, or
replaced it, since I haven't been to that site in 20 years.

One station I consulted with has their transmitter in the hallway
leading to the studios. An old 5 KW Gates, from the '50s. A couple
relay racks next to it hold the antenna and power controls for day &
night power and pattern controls. A real outdated mess, but like many
small stations, the owners believe that they can't afford to replace it.


Did being that close to them make you sterile? *snicker*


That RADAR killed birds in flight and had multiple locked gates on
the stairs to the antenna platform where you had to remove the key to
open each gate.


I knew this one freak who bragged about aiming his radar
dish at the passing natives when he was in Nam. His goal
was to cook their gonads. I wish I had been able to get
into the deep space tracking radar when I was out at the
missile range back in 88. One of the guys told me that it
used a TWT setup and ran at upwards of 8 megawatts on VHF.
When there was a mission going on, we were prohibited
from using the VHF marine radio on the crew boat. It was
amazing to see that huge dish move. I found a picture:


TWT on VHF? VHF is 30 to 300 MHz and TWT are typically built for 300
MHz up which would put it in the 300 to 3000 MHz UHF range.

My bad, that ALTAIR installation is a wide band radar with what I assume
are multiple feeds. I really wish I knew more about it and had been able
to get in and see the operation. It's been 20 years and I remember the
fellow I spoke with telling me of the enormous power of the darn thing.
I do specifically remember being told that it used VHF frequencies in
some modes. There is a story of it being aimed at a Russian trawler that
hung around the islands. The tale speaks of the power being ramped up
until smoke came out of the boat which made a quick exit from the area.

TDD

That 8 MW was a combination of antenna gain, and the fact that the
transmitter operated in pulse mode.

The prohibited communications on VHF was probably for security
reasons. There shouldn't be much RF on the sidelobes or rear of that
antenna. BTW, Microdyne built a lot of Telemetry recievers for deep
space work. In '88 they would have been building their 1100 series of
modular telemetry equipment. I think the 1200 series was introduced
sometime around that time, followed by the 1400, the 2800 (limited
production) then the 700 & 1620 as some of the last analog models. The
first DSP based models were the DR2000 & RCB 2000

http://cgi.ebay.com/Microdyne-Telemetry-Receiver-1100-AR-W-1161-S-A-Display_W0QQitemZ370305009872QQ

NASA was still using a 30 year old Microdyne reciever to track probe
satellites in 2001. It had never been turned off, or serviced.

http://tinyurl.com/ybqbbz4

If you zoom in on the right side of this image you can see
the big dish from a satellite:

http://www.satellite-sightseer.com/id/12134

Geez! I wish I could get back out there, I loved it. It
was an amazing place.


Have you seen the big dishes used by NOAA for their LEO wearther
satellites? I worked on the turnkey upgrade for their Wallops Island
installation that was built by Microdyne. It replaced a 20 year old
Harris microowave system and had to control their 100 foot dishes.

http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/brs/spind10.htm has a few pictures.

We also built the pair of tracking stations for the European Space
Agency. One fixed site, and the other mobile.

You obviously have had more experience with neater and higher power
stuff than I've had. Is it OK if I envy you? *snicker*

TDD

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

The Daring Dufas wrote:

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

TWT on VHF? VHF is 30 to 300 MHz and TWT are typically built for 300
MHz up which would put it in the 300 to 3000 MHz UHF range.


My bad, that ALTAIR installation is a wide band radar with what I assume
are multiple feeds. I really wish I knew more about it and had been able
to get in and see the operation. It's been 20 years and I remember the
fellow I spoke with telling me of the enormous power of the darn thing.
I do specifically remember being told that it used VHF frequencies in
some modes. There is a story of it being aimed at a Russian trawler that
hung around the islands. The tale speaks of the power being ramped up
until smoke came out of the boat which made a quick exit from the area.

That would be hard to do at HF or VHF since you can't focus the RF
into a tight beam at those frequencies, compared to a couple degrees or
less at microwave frequencies.

Have you seen the big dishes used by NOAA for their LEO wearther
satellites? I worked on the turnkey upgrade for their Wallops Island
installation that was built by Microdyne. It replaced a 20 year old
Harris microowave system and had to control their 100 foot dishes.

http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/brs/spind10.htm has a few pictures.

We also built the pair of tracking stations for the European Space
Agency. One fixed site, and the other mobile.



You obviously have had more experience with neater and higher power
stuff than I've had. Is it OK if I envy you? *snicker*

If you must, but I just like to trade war stories about equipment
that would make newbie techs retch or fill their drawers when they see
the size and the hazards involved. The sheer look of terror on their
faces is priceless! Like me standing on the HV power supply inside a
VHF high band TV transmitter so I can adjust the interstage coupling
while the station is on the air. The end of the cabinet was removed,
since it didn't have any interlocks, and i was standing on one of the
transformers. It was either do it that way, or spend days removing the
rear door, making a small adjustment, replacing the rear door then
firing it up to find it still had too much ripple in the video
bandwidth, shutting it down and starting over.



--
Offworld checks no longer accepted!

 

[The Daring Dufas]

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

The Daring Dufas wrote:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:
TWT on VHF? VHF is 30 to 300 MHz and TWT are typically built for 300
MHz up which would put it in the 300 to 3000 MHz UHF range.

My bad, that ALTAIR installation is a wide band radar with what I assume
are multiple feeds. I really wish I knew more about it and had been able
to get in and see the operation. It's been 20 years and I remember the
fellow I spoke with telling me of the enormous power of the darn thing.
I do specifically remember being told that it used VHF frequencies in
some modes. There is a story of it being aimed at a Russian trawler that
hung around the islands. The tale speaks of the power being ramped up
until smoke came out of the boat which made a quick exit from the area.


That would be hard to do at HF or VHF since you can't focus the RF
into a tight beam at those frequencies, compared to a couple degrees or
less at microwave frequencies.


Have you seen the big dishes used by NOAA for their LEO wearther
satellites? I worked on the turnkey upgrade for their Wallops Island
installation that was built by Microdyne. It replaced a 20 year old
Harris microowave system and had to control their 100 foot dishes.

http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/brs/spind10.htm has a few pictures.

We also built the pair of tracking stations for the European Space
Agency. One fixed site, and the other mobile.


You obviously have had more experience with neater and higher power
stuff than I've had. Is it OK if I envy you? *snicker*


If you must, but I just like to trade war stories about equipment
that would make newbie techs retch or fill their drawers when they see
the size and the hazards involved. The sheer look of terror on their
faces is priceless! Like me standing on the HV power supply inside a
VHF high band TV transmitter so I can adjust the interstage coupling
while the station is on the air. The end of the cabinet was removed,
since it didn't have any interlocks, and i was standing on one of the
transformers. It was either do it that way, or spend days removing the
rear door, making a small adjustment, replacing the rear door then
firing it up to find it still had too much ripple in the video
bandwidth, shutting it down and starting over.

I've worked with a lot of high voltage power but there on the island
the highest power runs were 4160 3 phase. The superintendent I was
working with borrowed a wooden hot stick from the power plant crew.
Lucky thing he was wearing the high voltage glove set. I think his
hard hat popped off when his hair stood on end while we were plugging
in the transformers. Did you know that a slightly damp hot stick will
conduct electricity? Ya know shortcuts can be dangerous. This particular
guy got himself killed a few years later when he fell down a shaft in
Cairo while trying to change a lamp in a fixture on a big sewer project.
He decided he didn't need that pesky safety harness.

As far as that big radar goes, I know I wasn't hearing things. It will
operate in CW mode at VHF and UHF frequencies. Here's a link and I still
wish I had gotten a closer look at that thing.

http://www.smdc.army.mil/KWAJ/RangeInst/ALTAIR.html

TDD

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

The Daring Dufas wrote:

Michael A. Terrell wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:
TWT on VHF? VHF is 30 to 300 MHz and TWT are typically built for 300
MHz up which would put it in the 300 to 3000 MHz UHF range.

My bad, that ALTAIR installation is a wide band radar with what I assume
are multiple feeds. I really wish I knew more about it and had been able
to get in and see the operation. It's been 20 years and I remember the
fellow I spoke with telling me of the enormous power of the darn thing.
I do specifically remember being told that it used VHF frequencies in
some modes. There is a story of it being aimed at a Russian trawler that
hung around the islands. The tale speaks of the power being ramped up
until smoke came out of the boat which made a quick exit from the area.


That would be hard to do at HF or VHF since you can't focus the RF
into a tight beam at those frequencies, compared to a couple degrees or
less at microwave frequencies.


Have you seen the big dishes used by NOAA for their LEO wearther
satellites? I worked on the turnkey upgrade for their Wallops Island
installation that was built by Microdyne. It replaced a 20 year old
Harris microowave system and had to control their 100 foot dishes.

http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/brs/spind10.htm has a few pictures.

We also built the pair of tracking stations for the European Space
Agency. One fixed site, and the other mobile.


You obviously have had more experience with neater and higher power
stuff than I've had. Is it OK if I envy you? *snicker*


If you must, but I just like to trade war stories about equipment
that would make newbie techs retch or fill their drawers when they see
the size and the hazards involved. The sheer look of terror on their
faces is priceless! Like me standing on the HV power supply inside a
VHF high band TV transmitter so I can adjust the interstage coupling
while the station is on the air. The end of the cabinet was removed,
since it didn't have any interlocks, and i was standing on one of the
transformers. It was either do it that way, or spend days removing the
rear door, making a small adjustment, replacing the rear door then
firing it up to find it still had too much ripple in the video
bandwidth, shutting it down and starting over.




I've worked with a lot of high voltage power but there on the island
the highest power runs were 4160 3 phase. The superintendent I was
working with borrowed a wooden hot stick from the power plant crew.
Lucky thing he was wearing the high voltage glove set. I think his
hard hat popped off when his hair stood on end while we were plugging
in the transformers. Did you know that a slightly damp hot stick will
conduct electricity? Ya know shortcuts can be dangerous. This particular
guy got himself killed a few years later when he fell down a shaft in
Cairo while trying to change a lamp in a fixture on a big sewer project.
He decided he didn't need that pesky safety harness.

As far as that big radar goes, I know I wasn't hearing things. It will
operate in CW mode at VHF and UHF frequencies. Here's a link and I still
wish I had gotten a closer look at that thing.

http://www.smdc.army.mil/KWAJ/RangeInst/ALTAIR.html

RADAR works by timing the reflections. They are using 'CW' to imply
that there is no complex modulation.

Have you ever read the 'RADAR Handbook' by Merrill I. Skolnik? It's
big, over 1500 pages & boring, but covers the history & technology of
RADAR.


Here is an early edition:
<http://cgi.ebay.com/Skolnik-Radar-Handbook-microwave-theory-engineering_W0QQitemZ370297236087QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Nonfiction_Book?hash=item56376f6a77>

Here is a copy of the new, third edition.
<http://cgi.ebay.com/Radar-Handbook-by-Merrill-Ivan-Skolnik-2008-Hardco_W0QQitemZ170418984214QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Nonfiction_Book?hash=item27adc35516>


--
Offworld checks no longer accepted!

 

[The Daring Dufas]

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

The Daring Dufas wrote:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:
TWT on VHF? VHF is 30 to 300 MHz and TWT are typically built for 300
MHz up which would put it in the 300 to 3000 MHz UHF range.

My bad, that ALTAIR installation is a wide band radar with what I assume
are multiple feeds. I really wish I knew more about it and had been able
to get in and see the operation. It's been 20 years and I remember the
fellow I spoke with telling me of the enormous power of the darn thing.
I do specifically remember being told that it used VHF frequencies in
some modes. There is a story of it being aimed at a Russian trawler that
hung around the islands. The tale speaks of the power being ramped up
until smoke came out of the boat which made a quick exit from the area.

That would be hard to do at HF or VHF since you can't focus the RF
into a tight beam at those frequencies, compared to a couple degrees or
less at microwave frequencies.


Have you seen the big dishes used by NOAA for their LEO wearther
satellites? I worked on the turnkey upgrade for their Wallops Island
installation that was built by Microdyne. It replaced a 20 year old
Harris microowave system and had to control their 100 foot dishes.

http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/brs/spind10.htm has a few pictures.

We also built the pair of tracking stations for the European Space
Agency. One fixed site, and the other mobile.


You obviously have had more experience with neater and higher power
stuff than I've had. Is it OK if I envy you? *snicker*

If you must, but I just like to trade war stories about equipment
that would make newbie techs retch or fill their drawers when they see
the size and the hazards involved. The sheer look of terror on their
faces is priceless! Like me standing on the HV power supply inside a
VHF high band TV transmitter so I can adjust the interstage coupling
while the station is on the air. The end of the cabinet was removed,
since it didn't have any interlocks, and i was standing on one of the
transformers. It was either do it that way, or spend days removing the
rear door, making a small adjustment, replacing the rear door then
firing it up to find it still had too much ripple in the video
bandwidth, shutting it down and starting over.



I've worked with a lot of high voltage power but there on the island
the highest power runs were 4160 3 phase. The superintendent I was
working with borrowed a wooden hot stick from the power plant crew.
Lucky thing he was wearing the high voltage glove set. I think his
hard hat popped off when his hair stood on end while we were plugging
in the transformers. Did you know that a slightly damp hot stick will
conduct electricity? Ya know shortcuts can be dangerous. This particular
guy got himself killed a few years later when he fell down a shaft in
Cairo while trying to change a lamp in a fixture on a big sewer project.
He decided he didn't need that pesky safety harness.

As far as that big radar goes, I know I wasn't hearing things. It will
operate in CW mode at VHF and UHF frequencies. Here's a link and I still
wish I had gotten a closer look at that thing.

http://www.smdc.army.mil/KWAJ/RangeInst/ALTAIR.html


RADAR works by timing the reflections. They are using 'CW' to imply
that there is no complex modulation.

Have you ever read the 'RADAR Handbook' by Merrill I. Skolnik? It's
big, over 1500 pages & boring, but covers the history & technology of
RADAR.


Here is an early edition:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Skolnik-Radar-Handbook-microwave-theory-engineering_W0QQitemZ370297236087QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Nonfiction_Book?hash=item56376f6a77

Here is a copy of the new, third edition.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Radar-Handbook-by-Merrill-Ivan-Skolnik-2008-Hardco_W0QQitemZ170418984214QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Nonfiction_Book?hash=item27adc35516

Oh come on, I know how RADAR works, I even own my own low power X-band
Doppler unit. It's a blast to play with. I won't even pretend to know
how that huge SOB ALTAIR works. The site mentions in the specifications
"Modulation: CW and Linear FM Chirp" What do you make of that? Two
different modes or a combination? Darn it, I wish I had asked more about
it but a lot of the information was classified so I don't know how much
I could have learned. There were guys wandering around out there who
could make you feel like am amoeba because they were so much smarter.
They all seemed to come from those alphabet universities. *snicker*

TDD

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

The Daring Dufas wrote:

Michael A. Terrell wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:
TWT on VHF? VHF is 30 to 300 MHz and TWT are typically built for 300
MHz up which would put it in the 300 to 3000 MHz UHF range.

My bad, that ALTAIR installation is a wide band radar with what I assume
are multiple feeds. I really wish I knew more about it and had been able
to get in and see the operation. It's been 20 years and I remember the
fellow I spoke with telling me of the enormous power of the darn thing.
I do specifically remember being told that it used VHF frequencies in
some modes. There is a story of it being aimed at a Russian trawler that
hung around the islands. The tale speaks of the power being ramped up
until smoke came out of the boat which made a quick exit from the area.

That would be hard to do at HF or VHF since you can't focus the RF
into a tight beam at those frequencies, compared to a couple degrees or
less at microwave frequencies.


Have you seen the big dishes used by NOAA for their LEO wearther
satellites? I worked on the turnkey upgrade for their Wallops Island
installation that was built by Microdyne. It replaced a 20 year old
Harris microowave system and had to control their 100 foot dishes.

http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/brs/spind10.htm has a few pictures.

We also built the pair of tracking stations for the European Space
Agency. One fixed site, and the other mobile.


You obviously have had more experience with neater and higher power
stuff than I've had. Is it OK if I envy you? *snicker*

If you must, but I just like to trade war stories about equipment
that would make newbie techs retch or fill their drawers when they see
the size and the hazards involved. The sheer look of terror on their
faces is priceless! Like me standing on the HV power supply inside a
VHF high band TV transmitter so I can adjust the interstage coupling
while the station is on the air. The end of the cabinet was removed,
since it didn't have any interlocks, and i was standing on one of the
transformers. It was either do it that way, or spend days removing the
rear door, making a small adjustment, replacing the rear door then
firing it up to find it still had too much ripple in the video
bandwidth, shutting it down and starting over.



I've worked with a lot of high voltage power but there on the island
the highest power runs were 4160 3 phase. The superintendent I was
working with borrowed a wooden hot stick from the power plant crew.
Lucky thing he was wearing the high voltage glove set. I think his
hard hat popped off when his hair stood on end while we were plugging
in the transformers. Did you know that a slightly damp hot stick will
conduct electricity? Ya know shortcuts can be dangerous. This particular
guy got himself killed a few years later when he fell down a shaft in
Cairo while trying to change a lamp in a fixture on a big sewer project.
He decided he didn't need that pesky safety harness.

As far as that big radar goes, I know I wasn't hearing things. It will
operate in CW mode at VHF and UHF frequencies. Here's a link and I still
wish I had gotten a closer look at that thing.

http://www.smdc.army.mil/KWAJ/RangeInst/ALTAIR.html


RADAR works by timing the reflections. They are using 'CW' to imply
that there is no complex modulation.

Have you ever read the 'RADAR Handbook' by Merrill I. Skolnik? It's
big, over 1500 pages & boring, but covers the history & technology of
RADAR.


Here is an early edition:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Skolnik-Radar-Handbook-microwave-theory-engineering_W0QQitemZ370297236087QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Nonfiction_Book?hash=item56376f6a77

Here is a copy of the new, third edition.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Radar-Handbook-by-Merrill-Ivan-Skolnik-2008-Hardco_W0QQitemZ170418984214QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Nonfiction_Book?hash=item27adc35516



Oh come on, I know how RADAR works, I even own my own low power X-band
Doppler unit. It's a blast to play with. I won't even pretend to know
how that huge SOB ALTAIR works. The site mentions in the specifications
"Modulation: CW and Linear FM Chirp" What do you make of that? Two
different modes or a combination? Darn it, I wish I had asked more about
it but a lot of the information was classified so I don't know how much
I could have learned. There were guys wandering around out there who
could make you feel like am amoeba because they were so much smarter.
They all seemed to come from those alphabet universities. *snicker*

'FM Chirp' is a side effect of pulse modulation of some transmitter
tubes.

Those 1500+ pages go into a lot of details that you might find
interesting.

My MOS was broadcast engineer, but I did spend some time repairing
Korean War era RADAR systems at Ft. Rucker. I really pissed of the
RADAR tech I was assigned to work with. he would spend a half hour
hauling everything from the truck to the RADAR site while I went in with
a Simpson 260 and the manual. I would diagnose the problems before he
was finished hauling everything the quarter mile walk between were we
were allowed to park, and the base of the antennas. He got even madder
when I told him the only training that I had was studying the W.W.II
aircraft RADAR manuals in my high school's physics lab. The final blow
was when I told him that RADAR was a stripped down TV set with no sound.


I bet those guys would have been lost looking at the 40+ 'D' sized
schematics for the DSP based Microdyne RCB2000 dual telemetry receiver &
digital combiner if they were still alive in 2000. Rf was down
converted to a 70 MHz IF center frequency, and sampled from 50 to 90
MHz. Then the data was processed through FIR filters. A standard 70
MHz analog IF was created after the IF filter to allow the data to be
recorded on standard instrumentation recorders. 70 MHz IF is a holdover
from RADAR and early sat IF systems. It was also used in land based
telcom microwave relays.


--
Offworld checks no longer accepted!

 

[The Daring Dufas]

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

The Daring Dufas wrote:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:
TWT on VHF? VHF is 30 to 300 MHz and TWT are typically built for 300
MHz up which would put it in the 300 to 3000 MHz UHF range.

My bad, that ALTAIR installation is a wide band radar with what I assume
are multiple feeds. I really wish I knew more about it and had been able
to get in and see the operation. It's been 20 years and I remember the
fellow I spoke with telling me of the enormous power of the darn thing.
I do specifically remember being told that it used VHF frequencies in
some modes. There is a story of it being aimed at a Russian trawler that
hung around the islands. The tale speaks of the power being ramped up
until smoke came out of the boat which made a quick exit from the area.
That would be hard to do at HF or VHF since you can't focus the RF
into a tight beam at those frequencies, compared to a couple degrees or
less at microwave frequencies.


Have you seen the big dishes used by NOAA for their LEO wearther
satellites? I worked on the turnkey upgrade for their Wallops Island
installation that was built by Microdyne. It replaced a 20 year old
Harris microowave system and had to control their 100 foot dishes.

http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/brs/spind10.htm has a few pictures.

We also built the pair of tracking stations for the European Space
Agency. One fixed site, and the other mobile.


You obviously have had more experience with neater and higher power
stuff than I've had. Is it OK if I envy you? *snicker*
If you must, but I just like to trade war stories about equipment
that would make newbie techs retch or fill their drawers when they see
the size and the hazards involved. The sheer look of terror on their
faces is priceless! Like me standing on the HV power supply inside a
VHF high band TV transmitter so I can adjust the interstage coupling
while the station is on the air. The end of the cabinet was removed,
since it didn't have any interlocks, and i was standing on one of the
transformers. It was either do it that way, or spend days removing the
rear door, making a small adjustment, replacing the rear door then
firing it up to find it still had too much ripple in the video
bandwidth, shutting it down and starting over.



I've worked with a lot of high voltage power but there on the island
the highest power runs were 4160 3 phase. The superintendent I was
working with borrowed a wooden hot stick from the power plant crew.
Lucky thing he was wearing the high voltage glove set. I think his
hard hat popped off when his hair stood on end while we were plugging
in the transformers. Did you know that a slightly damp hot stick will
conduct electricity? Ya know shortcuts can be dangerous. This particular
guy got himself killed a few years later when he fell down a shaft in
Cairo while trying to change a lamp in a fixture on a big sewer project.
He decided he didn't need that pesky safety harness.

As far as that big radar goes, I know I wasn't hearing things. It will
operate in CW mode at VHF and UHF frequencies. Here's a link and I still
wish I had gotten a closer look at that thing.

http://www.smdc.army.mil/KWAJ/RangeInst/ALTAIR.html

RADAR works by timing the reflections. They are using 'CW' to imply
that there is no complex modulation.

Have you ever read the 'RADAR Handbook' by Merrill I. Skolnik? It's
big, over 1500 pages & boring, but covers the history & technology of
RADAR.


Here is an early edition:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Skolnik-Radar-Handbook-microwave-theory-engineering_W0QQitemZ370297236087QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Nonfiction_Book?hash=item56376f6a77

Here is a copy of the new, third edition.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Radar-Handbook-by-Merrill-Ivan-Skolnik-2008-Hardco_W0QQitemZ170418984214QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Nonfiction_Book?hash=item27adc35516


Oh come on, I know how RADAR works, I even own my own low power X-band
Doppler unit. It's a blast to play with. I won't even pretend to know
how that huge SOB ALTAIR works. The site mentions in the specifications
"Modulation: CW and Linear FM Chirp" What do you make of that? Two
different modes or a combination? Darn it, I wish I had asked more about
it but a lot of the information was classified so I don't know how much
I could have learned. There were guys wandering around out there who
could make you feel like am amoeba because they were so much smarter.
They all seemed to come from those alphabet universities. *snicker*


'FM Chirp' is a side effect of pulse modulation of some transmitter
tubes.

Those 1500+ pages go into a lot of details that you might find
interesting.

My MOS was broadcast engineer, but I did spend some time repairing
Korean War era RADAR systems at Ft. Rucker. I really pissed of the
RADAR tech I was assigned to work with. he would spend a half hour
hauling everything from the truck to the RADAR site while I went in with
a Simpson 260 and the manual. I would diagnose the problems before he
was finished hauling everything the quarter mile walk between were we
were allowed to park, and the base of the antennas. He got even madder
when I told him the only training that I had was studying the W.W.II
aircraft RADAR manuals in my high school's physics lab. The final blow
was when I told him that RADAR was a stripped down TV set with no sound.


I bet those guys would have been lost looking at the 40+ 'D' sized
schematics for the DSP based Microdyne RCB2000 dual telemetry receiver &
digital combiner if they were still alive in 2000. Rf was down
converted to a 70 MHz IF center frequency, and sampled from 50 to 90
MHz. Then the data was processed through FIR filters. A standard 70
MHz analog IF was created after the IF filter to allow the data to be
recorded on standard instrumentation recorders. 70 MHz IF is a holdover
from RADAR and early sat IF systems. It was also used in land based
telcom microwave relays.

Some of those guys needed help tying their shoes but they could see
patterns in the raw data and dream in differential calculus. When
you were at Ft. Rucker, did you party in Enterprise? I tried to join
up twice, back when I was a damn hippie freak in college there was
this pesky draft thing going on and my contemporaries were shooting
toes off, claiming to be gay or running off to Canada to stay out of
Viet Nam. I wanted in The Air Force because they had the neatest toys
to play with but unfortunately I wound up 4F. Darn it, I was trying
to get in and all these goof balls were being dragged away screaming
and kicking. 10 years later I tried The Navy, I was sent to Maxwell
AFB where doctors told me to bend over so they could look up my butt
and they determined I was in perfect health but too nearsighted. I
didn't get to play with all the neat toys in the military. No big
RADAR, no doomsday computers, no real live missile command, no ICBMs.
Darn it, I feel left out, I wanted to blow stuff up by remote control.

This RCB2000 you're fond of, was it used to basically pick data out
of all of the RF (noise) coming from any transmissions by a missile,
satellite, aircraft or UFO? From looking at the information online
about it, I gather that you could use it to pick out two precise
slices of the spectrum to snag what you are interested in. Please, oh
master, instruct me.

TDD

 

[Jules]

On Sat, 12 Dec 2009 21:39:20 -0600, The Daring Dufas wrote:

NO EXCREMENT?! I was out in the Marshall Islands 20 years ago and
got to explore the old phased array radar installation on Meck
island at the Kwajalein Atoll. I think it had two power supplies
at one time but there was one left in what was called the Frankenstein
room, an incredible contraption that looked like the set of a monster
movie. I wish I still had pictures, darn.

I wish you still had pictures, too - I used to do a lot of exploration /
photography in old military places like that, but it's rare to find one
where it hasn't been stripped of equipment. Sounds like an interesting
place...

cheers

Jules

 

[Stormin Mormon]

Michael A. Terrell wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:
The Daring Dufas wrote:
Michael A. Terrell wrote:
TWT on VHF? VHF is 30 to 300 MHz and TWT are
typically built for 300
[christmas presents]

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

The Daring Dufas wrote:

Some of those guys needed help tying their shoes but they could see
patterns in the raw data and dream in differential calculus. When
you were at Ft. Rucker, did you party in Enterprise? I tried to join
up twice, back when I was a damn hippie freak in college there was
this pesky draft thing going on and my contemporaries were shooting
toes off, claiming to be gay or running off to Canada to stay out of
Viet Nam. I wanted in The Air Force because they had the neatest toys
to play with but unfortunately I wound up 4F.

I registered for the draft at 18, and was given five separate 4F
medical ratings. Two years later I was drafted for my electronics
skills. Then I tested out of their three year course in broadcast
engineering while I was in basic training. I was told that no one else
at Ft Knox had ever passed that test without spending three years at Ft.
Monmoth. The average score was 22/110 and passing was 42/110. They
wanted me to fail and claimed the only copy they could find was missing
two pages, which happened to be 22 questions. I got 82/88,

Darn it, I was trying
to get in and all these goof balls were being dragged away screaming
and kicking. 10 years later I tried The Navy, I was sent to Maxwell
AFB where doctors told me to bend over so they could look up my butt
and they determined I was in perfect health but too nearsighted.

The Air Force is a stickler on good vision. My vision was about
20/200 & 20/400 when I was drafted. I can't legally drive without
glasses, and I needed a stereo microscope to do surface mount work at
the end.

I didn't get to play with all the neat toys in the military. No big
RADAR, no doomsday computers, no real live missile command, no ICBMs.
Darn it, I feel left out, I wanted to blow stuff up by remote control.

The infamous 'Inter City Beer Missile'? A local brewery ran
commercials in Cincinnati about their attempts to deliver their beer
faster, and one 'failed' idea was to use Inter City Beer Missiles. ;-)

Some of the newer weapons systems are remote controlled by Telemetry.
The smart bombs, with TV cameras are flown by remote control. Sometimes
the operator is half way around the world. Others are controlled from
planes or ground based personnel at a safe distance from the fighting so
the control hardware isn't captured.

This RCB2000 you're fond of, was it used to basically pick data out
of all of the RF (noise) coming from any transmissions by a missile,
satellite, aircraft or UFO? From looking at the information online
about it, I gather that you could use it to pick out two precise
slices of the spectrum to snag what you are interested in. Please, oh
master, instruct me.

I should be fond of the RCB2000. It was the last new product I
helped move from prototypes into production. It is a VME based system
with two digital receivers, the control computer, the digital combiner
and a spectrum display. Both receivers are tuned to the exact same
frequency, but fed from different antennas to reduce fading and dropout
on very weak signals.

I had to work with manufacturing engineering to improve our reflow
solder process, write a lot of test procedures, and build test fixtures.
I wrote a thick pile of Engineering Change Orders, and push them through
before it hit the production floor. The documentation for that radio
was about 1500 pages, with a lot of them 'D' size.
(22.0 by 34.0 inches)


Diversity receivers were used on HF during W.W.II where two or three
identical radios were used with separate wire antennas. The recovered
audio was mixed together so the strongest signal was heard at all times.


--
Offworld checks no longer accepted!

 

[The Daring Dufas]

Michael A. Terrell wrote:

The Daring Dufas wrote:
Some of those guys needed help tying their shoes but they could see
patterns in the raw data and dream in differential calculus. When
you were at Ft. Rucker, did you party in Enterprise? I tried to join
up twice, back when I was a damn hippie freak in college there was
this pesky draft thing going on and my contemporaries were shooting
toes off, claiming to be gay or running off to Canada to stay out of
Viet Nam. I wanted in The Air Force because they had the neatest toys
to play with but unfortunately I wound up 4F.


I registered for the draft at 18, and was given five separate 4F
medical ratings. Two years later I was drafted for my electronics
skills. Then I tested out of their three year course in broadcast
engineering while I was in basic training. I was told that no one else
at Ft Knox had ever passed that test without spending three years at Ft.
Monmoth. The average score was 22/110 and passing was 42/110. They
wanted me to fail and claimed the only copy they could find was missing
two pages, which happened to be 22 questions. I got 82/88,


I registered at 18 also and I didn't find out until 30 years later why I

was turned away from the military during the Viet Nam war. I was talking
with a friend who had been one of the top recruiters for the army and
according to him, the secret to staying out of Nam was "allergies". I
had stumbled upon the greatest secret of my generation and didn't know
it. It wasn't my extreme myopia, it was my damn runny nose!

Speaking of tests, I was 15 or 16 when me and my classmates were all
given this big military aptitude test ASVAB, I think it was and I
scored 98% which I thought was pretty cool because I was the only kid
in the whole school who knew what every tool shown on the test was and
used for. There was actually a "saw set tool" shown on the test. Why
a military test would have a carpentry tool on it struck me as a little
bit bizarre but I was a teenager and I knew everything. *snicker*

The recruit processing center I went to was in Nashville and I rode
a bus up there with several other young recruits and I will never in
my life forget this one guy who was the stereotypical Hillbilly farm
boy who had us all in stitches because he was so funny. I swear, he
looked like Howdy Doody and Opie morphed into one. When the office
personnel gave us all urine test cups, Opie exclaimed "I cain't piss,
I dun pissed!" The recruiter told him to drink some water but Opie
kept going on about not being able to go, so we all told him to shut
up and gave him some urine. Opie was sent home, I don't know why but
I can guess.

TDD

Darn it, I was trying
to get in and all these goof balls were being dragged away screaming
and kicking. 10 years later I tried The Navy, I was sent to Maxwell
AFB where doctors told me to bend over so they could look up my butt
and they determined I was in perfect health but too nearsighted.


The Air Force is a stickler on good vision. My vision was about
20/200 & 20/400 when I was drafted. I can't legally drive without
glasses, and I needed a stereo microscope to do surface mount work at
the end.


I got my first eyeglasses when I was six and starting the first grade.

When the optician put my glasses on me for the first time, I looked
around and said "Wow, that's where all that noise is coming from!"

TDD

I didn't get to play with all the neat toys in the military. No big
RADAR, no doomsday computers, no real live missile command, no ICBMs.
Darn it, I feel left out, I wanted to blow stuff up by remote control.


The infamous 'Inter City Beer Missile'? A local brewery ran
commercials in Cincinnati about their attempts to deliver their beer
faster, and one 'failed' idea was to use Inter City Beer Missiles. ;-)

Some of the newer weapons systems are remote controlled by Telemetry.
The smart bombs, with TV cameras are flown by remote control. Sometimes
the operator is half way around the world. Others are controlled from
planes or ground based personnel at a safe distance from the fighting so
the control hardware isn't captured.

I find the UAVs to be a fascinating technology but I can't wait for
the UCAVs, that's going to be mind blowing in more ways than one. I
know there is a lot of stuff going on that us lowly civilians don't
know about but by gleaning information from technical publications
and little announcements by defense contractors I can guess at what's
coming.

TDD

This RCB2000 you're fond of, was it used to basically pick data out
of all of the RF (noise) coming from any transmissions by a missile,
satellite, aircraft or UFO? From looking at the information online
about it, I gather that you could use it to pick out two precise
slices of the spectrum to snag what you are interested in. Please, oh
master, instruct me.


I should be fond of the RCB2000. It was the last new product I
helped move from prototypes into production. It is a VME based system
with two digital receivers, the control computer, the digital combiner
and a spectrum display. Both receivers are tuned to the exact same
frequency, but fed from different antennas to reduce fading and dropout
on very weak signals.

I had to work with manufacturing engineering to improve our reflow
solder process, write a lot of test procedures, and build test fixtures.
I wrote a thick pile of Engineering Change Orders, and push them through
before it hit the production floor. The documentation for that radio
was about 1500 pages, with a lot of them 'D' size.
(22.0 by 34.0 inches)

Us blind people need 3 foot wide prints. Unless there is so much crap
on it that you still need a magnifying glass.

I can understand your concern with the reflow soldering during the
manufacturing process, I'm sure that over the years you've had to
repair a lot of equipment with a problem as simple as a bad solder
joint. When I worked at a repair depot, the majority of the repairs
had to do with cold solder joints. I saw some of the strangest
problems. One day I had a UHF receiver that wouldn't work, after
a lot of butt scratching, I determined that a transistor was adding
capacitance to the circuit, the transistor tested good with a good
transistor tester that measured gain, leakage and whatnot but not
in the RF section of the receiver. I don't know what could have
caused it because I'm sure it was working when it left the factory.
Plated through holes on double sided and multilayer circuit boards
were another nightmare at the repair depot. With your involvement
in the RBC2000, I'm sure there are multilayer boards in it, how did
you address any potential problems with connections between the
layers?

TDD

Diversity receivers were used on HF during W.W.II where two or three
identical radios were used with separate wire antennas. The recovered
audio was mixed together so the strongest signal was heard at all times.

Oh, that's the combiner part! I see how it works now. Back in the good
old days when I did a lot of two way radio work both commercial and CB,
I would show people why their fancy antennas didn't work so well with a
simple field strength meter. The more antennas the better, right?
Wuts a lobe? Wadaya mean the signal is going that a way, I ort to be
able to get out reel good with all these dang new Super Dork Snorkel
antennas!

TDD