Site Layout
The overall site area of a relay node was approximately 11 acres (4.5 ha), approximately 700 feet (210 m) × 700 feet. Typical site features include a longwave transmitting tower (generally between 290 and 299 feet (88 and 91 m) tall), a backup diesel generator with a two-chambered fuel tank having a capacity of 1,020 US gallons (3,900 l), 8-foot (2.4 m) × 14-foot (4.3 m) × 8-foot antenna-tuning unit (ATU) in the center of the site, and a radio processor; electronic equipment was housed in three shelters. Two of the shelters were located inside the fenced area at the perimeter of the property, and the other at the base of the tower. The equipment area and the tower base were surrounded by locked, 8-foot-high (2.4 m) chain-link fences topped with barbed wire. In addition, each node had a UHF antenna and an LF receive antenna on a ten-foot mast located inside the equipment area. The main GWEN antenna operated intermittently in the LF band at 150 to 175 kilohertz (kHz) ( below the bottom of the AM broadcast band at 530 kHz). The peak broadcasting power was from 2,000 to 3,000 watts. The UHF antenna operated at 20 watts, between 225 and 400 megahertz (MHz).
The GWEN transmitter sites include:
- A 299-foot (91 m) broadcast antenna tower
- A large ground plane, designed for ground conductivity conditions at the site
- An antenna tuning unit enclosure at the base of the tower
- Two equipment shelters
- Electronic racks that will accept the DGPS equipment
- All utilities that are required for operation of the DGPS broadcast site
- Air conditioning and environmental controls
- Back-up power generators
- Above ground fuel storage tanks
- Security enclosures with intrusion alarms
Read more about this topic: AN/URC-117 Ground Wave Emergency Network
Famous quotes containing the word site:
“The present hour is always wealthiest when it is poorer than the future ones, as that is the pleasantest site which affords the pleasantest prospects.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)