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AN/FPS-24 Radar Tower, Mt. Umunhum, Los Gatos, CA, 2024.
Most of the pixels, none of the TV interference, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/53796724938
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this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2024
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Photography
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This is a stitched imaged made from two captures with the Rodenstock 70mm/5.6 HR-Digaron-W lens, Phase One IQ4-150 digital back (@ ISO 50), and a Cambo WRS 1250 camera, shifted left/right 15mm, producing a 230MP final image.
Note that the full resolution version isn't currently up on flickr due to a bug preventing the upload of very large images there. Currently a large (but reduced size, 100MP) version occupies a placeholder there.
From 1958 through 1980, this incongruous four story monolith was the centerpiece of the "Alameda Air Force Station", a long-range radar site that was part of NORAD's SAGE early warning system. The blast-hardened concrete building served as the platform for an FPS-24 radar system, a massive 120 foot wide reflector that emitted a 5 megawatt VHF pulse, continuously rotating at 5 RPM.
Notoriously, the signal disrupted TV and radio reception throughout the San Jose area.
It's unclear if the SAGE system would have actually been effective in detecting incoming bombers, which presumably would have employed radar jammers. Fortunately, we never found out.
The antenna was removed shortly after the site's decommissioning in 1980, but the building, a prominent local landmark visible from downtown San Jose, has been preserved.
@mattblaze@federate.social For more on SAGE, see https://www.ll.mit.edu/about/history/sage-semi-automatic-ground-environment-air-defense-system