Classic Bullseye - The US Navy's Ears On The World

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  • Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 233

  • @RevMikeBlack
    @RevMikeBlack Рік тому +43

    Thirty years ago I visited friends in Annapolis, Maryland USA to set up a big hi-fi audio system and especially to go fishing. Annapolis is home to the US Naval Academy and many naval operations. My friends, all native to the area, gave me a driving tour of the city. I saw antennas like I've never seen before or since. The strangest antenna system, so they told me, was for communicating with submarines. After seeing all the antennas that day, it occurred to me that it must take a huge amount of electricity to keep all that equipment running.

    • @mattpierre891
      @mattpierre891 Рік тому +9

      I was actually in Annapolis yesterday (3/19/23). The submarine communication antennas are still standing but are now used as navigation aids and as a base for smaller, local antennas.

    • @RevMikeBlack
      @RevMikeBlack Рік тому +3

      @@mattpierre891 Thanks for the update!

    • @weareallbeingwatched4602
      @weareallbeingwatched4602 Рік тому +2

      Everything would likely be run off generators with an onsite fuel silo.

    • @AllAmericanGuyExpert
      @AllAmericanGuyExpert Рік тому

      Chances are that if someone can point to a "submarine" communication antenna, it's probably something else!

    • @W2TTT
      @W2TTT Рік тому

      The Annapolis array is Navy radio station NSS, or what remains of it. Most of the towers have been taken down. The remaining towers stand due to nesting protected birds. I think Ospreys.
      en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSS_Annapolis

  • @odius94
    @odius94 Рік тому +17

    If you get a chance take a closer look at the Chesapeake base. I trained there, and the direction finding antenna was only one of several interesting antennas. I was told by one of the Navy officers there that they even had a VLF antenna for communicating with submerged submarines there. I think that was the antenna that was almost a mile long and you had to drive over it to get to the pistol range.

    • @RingwayManchester
      @RingwayManchester  Рік тому +4

      Will do!

    • @Krow_GnoSIS_Cross_Bowoman
      @Krow_GnoSIS_Cross_Bowoman Рік тому +2

      being in anOTHER region of Virginia as a child i musta missed all these awe inspiring Antennae

    • @Silverhornet81
      @Silverhornet81 Рік тому +3

      MCSFTBN alumni here too. Late 94 to early 95. Was that the long row of twin pole antennas?

    • @robertgoehring320
      @robertgoehring320 Рік тому

      @@Silverhornet81 That was the ROTHR (Relocatable Over-the-horizon Radar). There is another one located in Texas.

  • @obstreperoushoard7563
    @obstreperoushoard7563 Рік тому +9

    I was a CTM from 1970-1976. Worked on the FLR-11 in Keflavik (Rockville), Iceland from 72-74 and I'm pretty sure we had a FRA-54 hooked up to a Wullenwever over in Grindavik. I was also in Rota, Spain from 75-76 and it was cool to see the old and new photos.

    • @lexinexi-hj7zo
      @lexinexi-hj7zo 7 місяців тому +1

      So why would they remove them rather then just abandoning them if the land isnt going to be reused?

  • @BernieWimmers
    @BernieWimmers Рік тому +4

    My late wife was stationed at NSGA Guam; Sabana Seca; and Homestead. Very strange to drive to the operations building inside the antenna! Will never forget the sight of those antennas.

  • @jamesoconnor2753
    @jamesoconnor2753 Рік тому +9

    I was a CTM from 1973-1979 assigned to the NESSEC Installation Team from 1974-1977 and visited most of these sites during that time. I spent my last 2 years at NSGA Homestead. This video brought back lots of memories!

  • @matambale
    @matambale Рік тому +21

    This is just worsening an already bad case of antenna envy, Lewis. Thanks.
    (It really *warmed my heart* to learn that the Newfoundland site is still active)

    • @davidsradioroom9678
      @davidsradioroom9678 Рік тому +4

      I would have liked to hook one of those arrays to my HF receivers!

  • @RCAvhstape
    @RCAvhstape Рік тому +18

    Cold War equipment like this is fascinating.

  • @nigozeroichi2501
    @nigozeroichi2501 Рік тому +9

    It's an odd feeling seeing more and more things that were around and in use while I was growing up fading away

  • @neillthornton1149
    @neillthornton1149 Рік тому +4

    I was fortunate enough to work out of the Imperial Beach site after its decommissioning but before demolition. I was attached to the US Navy's Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit Seven, which had taken over the building in the middle of the complex. It was surreal to be standing in the middle of the array, then walk into the building which still had all the cabling but none of the equipment. It was a big deal for all of San Diego when it was demolished.

    • @loyannmunyan1174
      @loyannmunyan1174 Рік тому

      I was stationed in imperial beach quite the awe inspiring antenna array unfortunately none of the equipment or the narrf ( naval radio receiving facility antennas are left I was one of the “O” branches assigned there in the late 70’s-80’S

    • @alcrespo6707
      @alcrespo6707 2 місяці тому

      I thought the old WWII coastal defense gun sites buried under the dunes were cool, although there were concerns about the building materials used (we had to leave buildings for 15 minutes every hour)

  • @tomlobos2871
    @tomlobos2871 Рік тому +9

    4000 years from now, historians will debate if it served a religious purpose or was meant as a solar calender.

  • @DenaliDad
    @DenaliDad Рік тому +2

    I was in the U.S. Navy special warfare group stationed in Coronado, California in the late 1960s to the 1990s. I lived in Imperial Beach--called "IB" by locals--and passed the site there daily in both directions. After leaving NSWG, one of my shipboard assignments was in radio intelligence on a naval vessel; part of our coordination was with the radio site in IB. I gained access only once, and my memory is pretty fuzzy. That site is now a training site; the only reminder that an antenna site existed are the ground circular scars.

    • @akulahawk
      @akulahawk Рік тому +1

      I remember that site near IB. I was but a kid then and used to ride up and down the length of the strand from time to time. That site stands out in my memory!

    • @alcrespo6707
      @alcrespo6707 2 місяці тому

      Drilled there 1990-1999

  • @ebrann
    @ebrann Рік тому +4

    Living and working with the US Navy in San Diego I remember driving near the elephant cage many times. Now eventhough it torn down many old timers still refer to the complex as such. Now the Navy has a much large circular antenna array there now. A Lot of people call it the "Monster Cage"

    • @John-pp8qv
      @John-pp8qv Рік тому

      San Diegan here.. no more antenna array today, SpecWar has entirely redeveloped the area for Special Forces Warfare training and operations. Nothing on the land resembles anything which used to be. The building in the center of the former CDAA remains but nothing else.

  • @pomonabill220
    @pomonabill220 Рік тому +10

    VERY interesting about these receiving stations and their history!
    Sad to see such amazing technology just abandoned and left to rot, or just destroyed.
    Thank you for the great detail and history.

    • @RingwayManchester
      @RingwayManchester  Рік тому +1

      Thanks!

    • @RevMikeBlack
      @RevMikeBlack Рік тому +2

      While watching, it occurred to me that these massive antennas must contain tons of steel, thus substantial recycling value. I would hope that someone took advantage of this. If nothing else, it would provide money and materiel to build new and better antennas.

    • @1drider
      @1drider Рік тому +2

      @@RevMikeBlack a lot of copper was involved.

    • @Krow_GnoSIS_Cross_Bowoman
      @Krow_GnoSIS_Cross_Bowoman Рік тому +1

      yes it seems very wasteful📐

    • @jackson_68
      @jackson_68 Рік тому +1

      Funny thing about technology…what was amazing “yesterday” will be obsolete “tomorrow”

  • @Silverhornet81
    @Silverhornet81 Рік тому +4

    I saw the Chesapeake, VA one back in 1994 when I was in the Marines and I was there for Security Forces training. I always wondered what that array was for. There was a lot of different dishes and arrays on that base.

  • @Decrepit_biker
    @Decrepit_biker Рік тому +4

    Ah the memories when you showed RAF Edzell. The Elephant cage around Building 300 took me back 30 years. I was on base from 92-96 😊

    • @stevenpadavana8639
      @stevenpadavana8639 Рік тому

      1976/77 in Edzell. CTT2 when I left for civilian life. Was a really great year.

    • @blackjackcreek
      @blackjackcreek Рік тому

      84-86. CTT2

    • @mrrey8937
      @mrrey8937 Рік тому

      CTM2 RAF Edzell 87-89

    • @britinbrazil7912
      @britinbrazil7912 8 місяців тому

      RN CPOCT(A) 31 Div from 88-91 then civvy street, very interesting times!

    • @lorilm8
      @lorilm8 2 місяці тому

      79-81

  • @deandrake
    @deandrake Рік тому +1

    I live only a couple miles away from NSGA Marietta and I never even knew it existed - and I've lived here pretty much all my life! I might have to take a bicycle ride out there and take a look.

    • @trob1173
      @trob1173 9 місяців тому

      It was on Loomis Trail Rd. Just a few buildings remain, but they still look unapproachable.

    • @richardhaas39
      @richardhaas39 5 місяців тому

      fwiw "Mahlon Loomis was an American dentist and inventor known for proposing a wireless communication and electric power generating system based on his idea that there were electrically charged layers in the Earth's atmosphere."@@trob11731826-1886

  • @ChristianRetro
    @ChristianRetro 2 місяці тому +1

    NSGA Northwest 1994 to 1997. Worked in building 41, right in the middle.

  • @thormusique
    @thormusique Рік тому +3

    Excellent information, Lewis! I had no idea about these sites, but it's truly fasinating to see just how extensively these kinds of systems were created during the Cold War. I would love to have seen these facilities in operation. Cheers!

  • @lordtherapeutics
    @lordtherapeutics Рік тому +8

    Great to see Canada, maintaining a couple of these and using them still. I wonder why they are doing that? I’m pleased that they are though. I wish some FLR-9’s were still maintained.

    • @RingwayManchester
      @RingwayManchester  Рік тому

      Cheers!

    • @Jimmy_Jones
      @Jimmy_Jones Рік тому +1

      Don't ask questions you don't want the answers to. Lol

    • @the_gammaman
      @the_gammaman Рік тому +5

      Yes - I’m Canadian and it does strike me as odd that we are the only country that still finds these useful? One would think that either they are useful, or they are no longer useful: not both.

  • @dirtyeric
    @dirtyeric Рік тому +9

    Very insightful again. Worked two years inside RAF Edzell but not on the DF side of the house. Have been inside the facilities at Rota and Imperial Beach but I was doing other more interesting things and was there for coordination meetings only thank goodness. 😂. Did you forget to add NSGA Diego Garcia and NCTS Guam?

    • @RingwayManchester
      @RingwayManchester  Рік тому +2

      Thanks for the info!

    • @RingwayManchester
      @RingwayManchester  Рік тому +2

      Diego Garcia is a 6an/a16 plessey pusher not an frd10

    • @stevenpadavana8639
      @stevenpadavana8639 Рік тому +1

      @@RingwayManchester I was At Winter Harbor and Edzell, both with frd 10s. And Diego Garcia in the middle, which correct, did not have the frd 10. 1974-1977

  • @gordslater
    @gordslater Рік тому +3

    it's Buster Goniometer and his Unfeasibly Large CDDA

  • @davidstewart2871
    @davidstewart2871 Рік тому +1

    I had the fortunate experience of being the OPS Tech Section Supervisor from 74 to 78 in Gander. Every so often, during an emergency and the inability to find the civilian antenna maintenance individual, I had to climb those poles to attach the guy cables. It was cold on those fingers, and extremely frustrating if you dropped any of your tools from up there. 😎

    • @dakohli
      @dakohli Рік тому

      I was posted to 770 in the mid nineties. Was a nice posting.

  • @richiep7812
    @richiep7812 Рік тому +2

    Yet again another amazing video keep up the hard work.

  • @m1p23
    @m1p23 Рік тому +2

    Another interesting video. I have watched your channel since stumbling on it while searching for info on the 1960's pirate stations Radio Caroline and Radio 270. As a kid growing up in North East England I well remember listening to those stations. I currently live in WA State and did not know of the antenna array located at Alderwood. However ironically I live immediately below Naval Radio Station Jim Creek the VLF station which is as old as I am and still functioning. Could be a good subject for an episode.

  • @allenshepard7992
    @allenshepard7992 Рік тому +5

    I think there was one on the Azores as well.

    • @RingwayManchester
      @RingwayManchester  Рік тому +4

      There was! I missed it

    • @allenshepard7992
      @allenshepard7992 Рік тому

      @@RingwayManchester No problem.
      You have some great shots of the Arrays.
      It was good to see them again.
      The original goniometer was mechanically spun. Fascinating to watch.
      nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/jres/65d/jresv65dn3p237_a1b.pdf

    • @thefrustratedtheologian6238
      @thefrustratedtheologian6238 Рік тому +2

      It was not an FRD-10. It was a rather small array on the northern tip of Tercera (sp). I was there 83-84.

    • @allenshepard7992
      @allenshepard7992 Рік тому +1

      @@thefrustratedtheologian6238
      Didn't the RCA corporation build a full one?
      Yes, near La Jas AFB on Terceira Is.
      Hmm, I could be wrong. I never got to that one. Thank you.

    • @thefrustratedtheologian6238
      @thefrustratedtheologian6238 Рік тому +1

      @@allenshepard7992 The NSGA was about 30 minutes from the main airfield. I have no knowledge of your question.

  • @Quoodle1
    @Quoodle1 Рік тому +1

    I used to drive by Skaggs Island every day, and it was pretty obvious it was for RDF, but I had no idea how it worked.

  • @Milcom34
    @Milcom34 Рік тому +5

    Thanks RM. Very Interesting Video. Really Enjoy your Information and Details to Each Spectrum of Radio Communications*** Keep up the Great Work****

  • @skyking1328
    @skyking1328 Рік тому +3

    Here again excellent memories. I started in HAM Radio in 1961, joined the Navy in 1964 and worked at three of these sites during that enlistment. What's interesting is the fact that I have been in radio from 1961 to present 2023. I presently own a commercial tower being use for 5G broadband. Still get on 20 meters with my keyer and do the old stuff. KE6QK !

  • @concernednewfie
    @concernednewfie 2 місяці тому

    Our walks outside the Wullenweber in Gander including the occasional moose scare and even a bear chasing a jogger. Do miss that base but that was early 90s. As the locals called it, the turkey farm.

  • @88njtrigg88
    @88njtrigg88 Рік тому +1

    Western Australia has a facility.. Excellent video as always.
    Have a good one.

    • @richardhaas39
      @richardhaas39 Рік тому +1

      Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt is the Southern Hemisphere counterpart to Cutler, Maine.

  • @briana.1878
    @briana.1878 10 місяців тому

    I was stationed at Galeta Island Panama. '83-'84. After Navy left in '95, NSA took it over until '99 when it shutdown completely. I was at Homestead, left just prior to hurricane Andrew. The damage was the impetus to close it down. Abandoned now, property sold off to some telecomm company.
    I enjoyed both duty stations a lot. Good times.

  • @junepurvis4720
    @junepurvis4720 Рік тому +1

    Great video, thanks for sharing. I was stationed at NSGA Adak (Company I Marine Support Battalion) several times. It was, by far, my favorite duty station. The worksite with the RFD was called the Dinosaur Cage or Shotgun. The Zeto Point site had White Alice. Those who've been to Adak will know what I'm talking about.
    Maybe I missed it in the video, but there was also Diego Garcia & Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

    • @herbrapoza8313
      @herbrapoza8313 Рік тому

      DG and GB used a system called the GRD-6, not Wullenwebers.

  • @herbrapoza8313
    @herbrapoza8313 Рік тому +1

    The Soviet Union also had similar systems scattered around eastern Europe called "Krug".

  • @DanielleWhite
    @DanielleWhite Рік тому +1

    You answered a question I had. After moving to Norfolk, Virginia, last year I was looking on Google Earth at the surrounding region including the Great Dismal Swamp between here and North Carolina and came across that structure. It's mostly in North Carolina but the access is from Virginia

  • @HONEmusicINT
    @HONEmusicINT Рік тому +13

    Good on my country Canada for keeping these puppies up and running!

    • @peterking2794
      @peterking2794 Рік тому +4

      I wonder why it is only Canada that has kept them operational?

    • @HONEmusicINT
      @HONEmusicINT Рік тому +3

      Some research dug up a military paper that discussed how the threat from Russia would remain even after the Soviet Union's collapse. And being next-door to them, I could see why we would keep ours going.

  • @RandySpangler
    @RandySpangler Рік тому +2

    I had the distinct privilege of being stationed at all four of the Navy's different CDAA sites within my 11 years of active duty between 1972 and 1983. My first duty station was Misawa Japan. We used a three-band AN/FLR-9 array maintained by the US Air Force Security Service. My next duty station was NSGA Azores where it still used the AN/GRD-6 small diameter array. This unit had a motorized goniometer but was originally configured with a manually operated gonio. NTTC Pensacola also had a GRD-6 for training purposes. My next duty station was NSGA Northwest which had an FRD-10 array. I was in charge of the shop that maintained the two goniometers and all of the distribution equipment. The goniometers were really a great piece of engineering! My final tour on active duty was back to NSGA Azores where the GRD-6 had been replaced with the AN/AX-16 Pusher array (made by Plessy in the UK.) It was an interesting time to be involved with Classic Bullseye and I am curious if any other CT had worked with all four CDAAs.

  • @RetroToilet
    @RetroToilet 8 місяців тому

    Great video, it's nice to have a clear and concise history of these stations. My grandfather worked for ITT in the 60's and was a project manager overseeing the installation of the equipment rooms at Edzell station. I believe he also did the same in Spain and likely some other stations. He spent a lot of time in Guam, Japan and Okinawa. Apparently goniometers were his specialty and he had the nickname "Captain Gonio" - of course none of the family knew any of this growing up, it was all highly secretive and all we knew was he worked on secret government stuff and was traveling all over the world doing who knows what... was grandpa a real life James Bond? We could only guess. What we did know was that government agents would visit the neighborhood and ask the neighbors questions, and some of our phones were tapped. Now that all this stuff is decommissioned and de-classified I'm able to piece together what he actually did and its fascinating.

  • @skylarculek
    @skylarculek Рік тому

    1:00 I am a student at the University of Wisconsin, currently on university property right now. I am additionally a member of our amateur radio group---the Badger Amateur Radio Society (W9YT). Words cannot describe how exciting it is to hear my future alma matter's name said in the same breadth as anything to do with radio. Fantastic, just fantastic!

  • @skipmorris5993
    @skipmorris5993 Рік тому +3

    Great video. I was stationed at Skaggs (Pacific Net Control) and Northwest (Atlantic Net Control) in the late 70's, early 80's. (I noticed you grabbed an aerial photo of mine of Northwest that is on the NavyCTHistory web site. Glad to see it put to good use.) You left out most of the Mediterranean sites except for Rota (Net Control for Med). I remember there were Bullseye/Bulldog sites in Turkey, Italy, and possibly elsewhere. Also, the reason the Canadian sites are still operational is Canada was very interested in tracking fishing ships encroaching in Canadian fishing waters. The Cold War might be over, but Canada still wants to protect their fishing waters. I imagine the reason the US shutdown the project is there are cheaper and better methods today to track foreign ships and aircraft instead of a couple dozen bases with hundreds of sailors stationed at each. Classic Wizard was more accurate anyway; Bullseye/Bulldog was generally considered to be accurate only to within a 1-mile box.

    • @RandySpangler
      @RandySpangler Рік тому +1

      Hey Skip. Good to see you are still around!

    • @skipmorris5993
      @skipmorris5993 Рік тому

      @@RandySpangler Hi Randy; yup, still kicking. Good to hear from you; I've lost track of almost everyone from those days. I see you're in VA still.

    • @britinbrazil7912
      @britinbrazil7912 8 місяців тому

      I think Sinop was the site in Turkey, on the Black Sea coast.

  • @anothervoice9578
    @anothervoice9578 Рік тому +1

    @Ringway Manchester. I'm enjoying your video's, and am binge watching at the moment.
    When I was a kid, we all had crappy AM FM radio's. They sold em everywhere, even as toy car shaped ones.
    My dad even had a radio with SW1 and SW2 switches, which I messed with a lot LOL.
    Anyway, I remember being able to regularly tune in to a morse code numbers station broadcast.
    Would that have to be a SW radio? Or could that be any old crappy toy car radio for listening to chart music.
    This was Midlands UK possibly around '78 - '81when I was around 10 yrs old.
    I could recite that morse code sequence cos it repeated so often.
    I listened to a Russian numbers station broadcast which sounded very similar to my memory, (Russian M12 CW on Curt Rowlett's channel).
    Probably could have been any one of hundreds maybe.

  • @larsonl6376
    @larsonl6376 Рік тому

    great info. i was at both NSGA Hanza in Okinawa and wahiawa oahu. great memories. thank you for the pictures and info.

  • @korimiller379
    @korimiller379 Рік тому

    While I was stationed in Coronado, California, I lived in Imperial Beach. Never knew there was a radar site there, it was already Silver Strand when I arrived. My time in Hawaii, however, was different. The dinosaur cage was still there even if not in operation, at least not for it's original purpose, I attended a CPR class in the central building. A lot of the civilian staff here remember and miss the old cage. We even have a photo on the wall of our building with it.

  • @myriaddsystems
    @myriaddsystems Рік тому +1

    Love these

  • @GoSlash27
    @GoSlash27 Рік тому +1

    There was an elephant cage array on the north side of Cedar Rapids, IA in the late '90s/ early 2000s. I never knew the purpose or operator of it.

    • @GoSlash27
      @GoSlash27 Рік тому +1

      One of my coworkers found me some info on this site. It was called "Collins HF Comm-central". It was capable of linking HF radios anywhere on the planet. It operated under various callsigns, including "Liberty" and "Rasputin" and was a central hub for US strategic and tactical communications.

  • @highpath4776
    @highpath4776 Рік тому +7

    So do we now know the secret of the true use of Stonehenge ? ( would love a April 1 cross over with the whitewicks on this !)

    • @RingwayManchester
      @RingwayManchester  Рік тому +2

      Good idea

    • @seeharvester
      @seeharvester Рік тому +2

      Ha Ha! That's what I came down here to say.
      The mystery of Stonehenge has been solved!

  • @jasonphilbrook4332
    @jasonphilbrook4332 Рік тому +3

    Great subject. While mentioning maine, don't be afraid to go down the rabbit hole of the VLF/ULF transmitting station at Cutler Maine.

  • @bodstrup
    @bodstrup Рік тому +2

    Excellent video, thanks. Challenge. Can you find any info on the smaller variant, the AN/FRD-13 also known as ‘Plessey Pusher’ ? At least two of these were in operation in Denmark during the cold war. B.t.w. The first Wullenweber examined by the allied forces were at ‘Skibsted Camp’ in Denmark - currently home to a Danish SIGINT reception station - but originally build by Germany during the occupation.

  • @MystikalDawn
    @MystikalDawn Рік тому

    6:40 not hard to tell I discovered your video on these Soviet antennas first lol

  • @chriswalford4161
    @chriswalford4161 Рік тому +1

    I’m pretty sure there used to be a cage at GCHQ Benhall (when GCHQ was spread over two sites).

  • @robertmeyer4744
    @robertmeyer4744 Рік тому +1

    that a great video. I was not Sure if any were in use today. maybe when you got more information on upgrades at the 2 caranda cites. with the US and Canada being close I sure we share info between us received at the 2 stations . This is a great part of radio history .73's Boston NY,USA

  • @Peter_S_
    @Peter_S_ Рік тому +6

    I vividly recall driving up to the guard shack about 850 m from inner reflector of the NSGA Skaggs Island antenna in the late 1970s where my father who was a Navy vet and a ham asked the guard of the antenna's purpose. The guard replied that he thought "it was some sort of nuclear thing". The family turned around and continued to our picnic and the answer was dismissed as silly, but later I learned the site was to be repurposed in the early 1970s for a phased array RADAR to guard the San Francisco area with Zeus and/or related missiles at remote launchers. An arms treaty which limited the number of interceptor warheads caused plans to shrink to just the Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex in North Dakota so the answer was less silly than thought. I drove up to the same spot in 2014 but there was a locked gate and later that year the whole access road was blocked. Side note: the first station to receive Sputnik 1 in America was the Press Wireless, Inc station roughly 5.7 km North-East of the Skaggs antenna. That station continued to track later Sputniks for the Hearst Newspaper chain.

  • @shannonmossman8333
    @shannonmossman8333 2 місяці тому

    CTRC, stationed at Skaggs Island x2, Rota, Imperial Beach, Clark AFB

  • @donalddodson7365
    @donalddodson7365 Рік тому

    Fun to see aerial and satellite views of the Imperial Beach, California USA station. Drove past it many times. Thank you for your dilligence and research.

    • @dundonrl
      @dundonrl Рік тому

      One was (maybe still is) near Long Beach.

  • @nickestes1684
    @nickestes1684 Рік тому

    Thanks for another great video! I'd love to see a video on the VLF transmitter antenna array in Cutler, Maine. It is similar is some respects, and I think your viewers would like it. I've heard that between the Cutler installation and its sister facility in Australia, they cover somewhere around 70% of the world's oceans for the purpose of communicating with submarines. I've also heard that, as impressive as the aerial antenna array is, the main antenna is actually underwater just offshore. I'd like to learn more about this site, but researching it myself probably wouldn't yield as much information as your video would provide, and it certainly wouldn't be as entertaining!

  • @indi4091
    @indi4091 Рік тому +1

    This video has great engagement, 12 hours since release and as many views as 15% of subscribers. Highly interested following, for highly interesting content

  • @thorley1969
    @thorley1969 Рік тому

    I remember the one at RAF Chicksands in Bedfordshire. Long since gone.

  • @rdbjrseattle
    @rdbjrseattle Рік тому

    The Imperial Beach, CA array was visible from highway. I saw it in the early 1970s

  • @ham98226
    @ham98226 2 місяці тому

    67 to 73 CTM2 Stations Skaggs Island, Guam. Kami Seya Japan & Misawa Japan.

  • @robertfrye5161
    @robertfrye5161 Рік тому

    Interesting videos. In my time in the service(Army), I worked at places where they were installed as I was comms. I was at 3 Army and 2 Navy sites

  • @JuanSanchez-ik7wx
    @JuanSanchez-ik7wx Рік тому

    We have a smaller version that appears to be active in Lake County Florida located on private property in the middle of a cow pasture on an isolated dirt road that does have power lines. The government paid the land owner a very large sum of money for the permanent rights to keep the antenna there. No one knows who is using it nor for what purpose.

  • @nickengland
    @nickengland Рік тому

    Great videos - thanks. Some amazing technology went into these beasts - For example, some sites had 500-1000 antenna multicouplers.

  • @ZGryphon
    @ZGryphon Рік тому

    Local Pronunciation Corner: Here in Maine, Winter Harbor is pronounced "winnahaaba". ;)

  • @tomfromnj4341
    @tomfromnj4341 Рік тому +4

    Great research, very well done!

  • @SocialistDistancing
    @SocialistDistancing Рік тому +1

    That site in gander looks to be larger than two stories. It locks more like 4 stories. But, I can't go and check it because I'm half a continent away.

    • @dakohli
      @dakohli Рік тому

      I was posted there in the mid nineties, can confirm it was a two story building, although the first floor had quite a ceiling. The Gonio room was very high, so the building is pretty tall for only two floors.

    • @SocialistDistancing
      @SocialistDistancing Рік тому

      @@dakohli that makes sense. On average, one story is 10-12 ft, depending on the type of structure. However, commercial buildings could be two story's with 20ft ceilings, depending on what they're used for. Using "story" as unit of measurement would not be a standardized measurement.

  • @FenianAn1mal
    @FenianAn1mal Рік тому +3

    Seems I jumped the gun because here we go with the silver strand :) the last of its kind built.

  • @g8ure660
    @g8ure660 Рік тому

    I beleive there is another near Munich and another near Baldock (uk) both oporational.
    Thank you for the interesting and varied videos :-)

  • @USNMMCret
    @USNMMCret 7 місяців тому

    My dad was CO of 6917th at San Vito, Italy in the 80’s. I think that was a FLR-9 but you can see the outline of it on Google Earth.

    • @lorilm8
      @lorilm8 2 місяці тому

      I was there then.

    • @USNMMCret
      @USNMMCret 2 місяці тому

      @@lorilm8 were you a dependent or in the military?

  • @tutubo1954
    @tutubo1954 Рік тому

    I used to work for the FCC here in Puerto Rico. There was an elephant cage direction finder antenna operated by the Navy. I use to work in their facility in Sabana Seca getting HF signal direction azimuth from the antenna. We moved from there at around 1991 or 92 because i remember getting azimuths from iraquí jammers in the first iraquí war. Any way there were multiple stations in the states an some times the system got input from multiple stations in the world. The station is not there anymore. In 1992 the FCC got its own station a Doppler one. Thank you for your channel.

  • @jamesbaldwin2783
    @jamesbaldwin2783 Рік тому

    He neglected NSGA Keflavik Iceland. While Kef did not use FRD, it did use a Pusher.

    • @RingwayManchester
      @RingwayManchester  Рік тому

      No he didn’t… it’s in the most recent video of the series

  • @Prerich45
    @Prerich45 Місяць тому

    Homestead Fl, Rota Spain, Northwest VA ...AR EE

  • @stevemumbling7720
    @stevemumbling7720 Рік тому +1

    As the world's militaries are taking a renewed interest in HF comms I wonder if there's a smaller equivalent to these DF antennas around?

  • @SteveInScotland
    @SteveInScotland Рік тому +1

    Somethings ringing a feint bell. A circular array based on the east or south coast of England. But the control centre was away from the antenna circle, outside it. Built by the US. Anyone know what I might be remembering?

    • @williamwilson6499
      @williamwilson6499 Рік тому

      You may be thinking of GCHQ Bude. Lots of various types of antennas there, but don’t think they have a CDAA.

  • @Squirmula1
    @Squirmula1 Рік тому +1

    I worked at Sabana Seca in the late 90's. In 1979 a bus load of USN sailors were ambushed by Los Macheteros - a Puerto Rican independence terrorist group. Two sailors died. I believe they were on their way to/or returning from a shift at the "Elephant Cage".

    • @sararevesz8926
      @sararevesz8926 Рік тому

      Yes, the bus which traveled between the base and elephant cage for shift changes was ambushed by ‘macheteros’. Memories of the attack remained fresh. Most personnel had already rotated out before my arrival. I worked inside the elephant cage from 1983-1986. Best job I ever had. Go Navy.

  • @thecasualcitizen492
    @thecasualcitizen492 Рік тому

    I was a CTM stationed at NSGA Hanza 1967 to 1969. NSGA Galeta Island 1970 to 1973. NSGA Terceira Island, Azores 1976 to 1979. NSGA Keflavik 1979 to 1980. Great video, enjoyed it.

  • @a2phil
    @a2phil Рік тому +1

    I remember growing up in Michigan in the.'70s, the military (one branch or another, if not all) was wanting to set up an ELF station in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but the "treehuggers" (Dad's name for them) didn't want it built. Don't recall hearing about it getting approved, and if so, is it still there?? I think it'll be an interesting visit!!!

    • @thederangedwartomato5383
      @thederangedwartomato5383 Рік тому +1

      Yes ELF was active for a few years. Control was on K.I. Sawyer A.F.B.. Transmitter was outside of Republic MI. I has been deactivated since the early 1990's. KI Sawyer AFB closed in 1995.

    • @a2phil
      @a2phil Рік тому

      @@thederangedwartomato5383 i've got a cousin not too far from Sawyer AFB!!!
      ROAD TRIP!!!!

  • @Ztbmrc1
    @Ztbmrc1 Рік тому

    Very interesting. I did not know these existed. I only know the vdf antennas at airports tuned to the vhf airband so the controllers see a bearing of the speaking airplane on their screen.

  • @Chaeuraersat
    @Chaeuraersat Рік тому +3

    Hello everyone!

  • @joeblow8593
    @joeblow8593 Рік тому

    Excellent research and great video. Thanks

  • @mahaloaina2290
    @mahaloaina2290 Рік тому

    Very interesting video. Thank you!

  • @IndependentNewsMedia
    @IndependentNewsMedia Рік тому +1

    Nice video 👍

  • @tomweickmann6414
    @tomweickmann6414 2 місяці тому

    Good video. Thank you.
    Even Uncle Sam can't control sunspot activity.
    Besides, with satellites and trunked systems, the old ways become passe'.
    Anyone grab some of these leftover goodies at a surplus sale?

  • @gordonstockley6747
    @gordonstockley6747 9 місяців тому

    The location in gander is nicknamed the Turkey farm, it always fascinated me growing up, we would always drive by the entrance road heading to the old railway tracks to ride quads and dirt bikes, seeing the department of defence signs while riding last always peaked my interest so much.
    Such a great find, love the content of this channel, if any fellow Newfie’s wanna chat about it, feel free to message!

  • @glenbirbeck4098
    @glenbirbeck4098 9 місяців тому

    CTR and a plank holder at NSG Rota.

  • @davidsradioroom9678
    @davidsradioroom9678 Рік тому +1

    An excellent video, as always. It does bring one question: What is the US military using in its place?

    • @RandySpangler
      @RandySpangler Рік тому +1

      These antennas were only for HF signals in the 3-30 Mhz range. Now, most military comms are much higher frequencies or satellite based, so there isn't much need for HF direction finding anymore.

  • @kilcar
    @kilcar 2 місяці тому

    Back during the height of the Cold War, just photographing that would have landed one under arrest and an FBI raid of home and work

  • @hvcomputech
    @hvcomputech Рік тому

    Great research. Very interesting.

  • @pastlifeofficial
    @pastlifeofficial Рік тому +6

    I did some research on these things years ago! Really interesting!

  • @winstonchurchill6506
    @winstonchurchill6506 Рік тому +1

    Just remember lewis you get nothing for two in the bed.general jim bowen,have a good week sir

  • @claudio6493
    @claudio6493 Рік тому +5

    Would be great to know what kind of Hf receivers they are currently using for SIGINT purposes, any pics available somewhere? Thanks for these videos!

    • @wes11bravo
      @wes11bravo Рік тому +5

      I was wondering the same thing. Probably racks of R390As then later R1051s? It would be amazing to have access to an array like that.

    • @dirtyeric
      @dirtyeric Рік тому +4

      Most of the newer receivers are SDR and modular, I have been out of that business 20+ years so I am pretty dated as well. Pretty much what we see today, in the civilian world, had its roots in the technological developments funded by DARPA, NRL and the NSA.

  • @Allan_aka_RocKITEman
    @Allan_aka_RocKITEman Рік тому

    FWIW: I was living in northern Dade County, Florida when Hurricane Andrew struck in 1992. The city of Homestead is located in southern Dade County.
    Going through a Hurricane is similar to how a US Navy recruiter once described boot camp to me:
    *_"It's not an orgasmic experience."_*

  • @chrisdaniel2759
    @chrisdaniel2759 Рік тому

    Generations of SEAL candidates would run from BUDs in Coronado down to and around the elephant cage in Imperial Beach.

  • @bobroberts2371
    @bobroberts2371 Рік тому

    3:15 Sonic fence from the TV show " Lost " .

  • @phoneticau
    @phoneticau Рік тому

    today a network of network based software defined radios are used

  • @richardh3754
    @richardh3754 Рік тому +1

    What was the one at NSGA Kamiseya Japan

  • @billyhatcher643
    @billyhatcher643 Рік тому +2

    i wish they could have just kept these places up as a monument or something instead of demolishing them i also find it odd how canadians still use their stuff compared to america

  • @RandomRetr0
    @RandomRetr0 Рік тому

    Are you going to do a video on the smaller replacements, the AN/AX-16 PUSHER?

  • @Icycoldcoke
    @Icycoldcoke Рік тому +1

    Gee how would you like to hook up with full us legal power 1500 watts for a contest to one of these

  • @petevenuti7355
    @petevenuti7355 Рік тому +1

    I want to understand how they work and why so many have been decommissioned‽

    • @sararevesz8926
      @sararevesz8926 Рік тому

      Just posted a tip to TymexComputing above. Happy hunting.

    • @RandySpangler
      @RandySpangler Рік тому +2

      For a very simple explanation, it simulated a spinning flat antenna array. If you lined up eight or more monopole antennas and spaced them just right, then the reception pattern was a very narrow beam perpendicular to the array's axis. Now, picture that flat array spinning around like a paint mixer on the end of a drill, picking up signals almost like a radar beam in reverse. Mix it with some electronic magic and you could tell from which direction a signal was being transmitted.

  • @paulsengupta971
    @paulsengupta971 Рік тому

    There's a round antenna mark at the old GCHQ site at the old RAF Blakehill Farm, near Swindon. Any info on that?

  • @setil77
    @setil77 Рік тому

    Augsburg is still active according wiki for BND