What I "think" was an early attempt at OTH radar was about 15 NE of Roswell
NM.
The facility was military property and protected by USAF Air Police. Saw
nothing
over in that area the last time I drove through there. It was about 2 miles
from the
Walker AFB VOR.
I got to tour it before my serious, inquisitive days.
The OIC of the facility had a pair of VERY large EIMAC 4CX25000A3 (?)
bookends
on his desk. I believe the transmitters were Collins, and I got a quick
peek at them
before the door was slammed in my face. The rig was on and the plates were
glowing.
The most impressive antenna, easily visible from the VOR, was the largest
helix I
have ever seen. My best recollection was the turns had a diameter on the
order
of 20-30 feet with, maybe, 3 turns of two parallel and strapped copper tubes
about 2 inches in diameter fed by quite large coaxial cable. The Helix'
screen
was fitted to a circular rail so that it could be rotated. I asked one of
the airmen
if it would go down to 20 meters; his reply, "At least, sir!"
Nearby were some tulip/curtain arrays fed by small RG-58 sized coax. They
were
oriented orthogonally.
My NCOIC reported that they (SAC) shut the facility down shortly thereafter,
between
Feb 1963 and Nov 63.
I was not on the air at that time nor did I know any active hams there; so
no reports
on hearing this thing were available.
Warren; W7WY
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