it's interesting stuff .    on your page  bg.htm ,
some of the equipment at the bottom of the page 
might be fairly recently installed because it looks
like some of the newest generation UWB equipment
the military is implementing .  that lp gas tank 
looking  inflatable  " radome "  is exactly the same look of field
mobile  UWB 3d color radars I have seen demonstrated.
and those antennas with the lights , the ones with the
enlarged bottom or " bulge bottom " , look to be new
generation UWB data network /  satellite interrogation
equipment that is all  the new rage with the military. 

those are interesting because , unlike equipment that came before ,
the transmitters and much of the receivers are wholly contained in
that bulge at the bottom of the radiating element.  the whole
set of equipment , seen in those pictures at the lower part of your
page could  be a  uwb 3d color radar system , one with 
unmanned remote  control / command capabilities.  this is 
usually accomplished  via  ultra high speed satellite up and down 
links to some remote command center .  that " isopole like "  antenna
( the one with the wires that go out and back to it like a diamond
shape ) is a familiar look to broadband antennas meant for  VHF /
short wave  usages. could be intended to be some sort of local /
network  VHF / UHF link for compatible local system components ( other
similar sites, additional remotely located antennae , mobile field
units or aircraft  in proximity association with this equipment ) 




the new military UWB equipment is intended for use in a
" theater " all encompassing environment.  this is an
environment where all the players and " all " the equipment
deployed is engaged in the " theater ". planes , local
control points and regional / pentagon control points all
sharing air and ground based  instantaneous battlefield info.
commanders and  planes can see the data from ground based  radars,
live video feeds  from forward battlefield elements and regional
control links. 
ALL battlefield resources  ( ammo , humvees , tanks , radars etc )
are RFID tagged and show on the battle field displays at all times.
commanders can clearly see where and how all resources are deployed
and  what remains in reserve.  ( even boxes of ammo and missiles have
RFID tags now ) because all " friendly " resources are RFID tagged,
it's also easy to decern the " enemy " resources and what is going on
with them too.  this whole system  was  basically / mostly satellite
driven  with satellites providing the RFID tag illumination and 
high speed data / video / wideband communications up and down links .
but talk is that " ground " illumination of RFID tags along with
horizontal  UWB  ' wi-fi like " links are now being incorporated into
this once " vertical " system for additional robustness of the system
and to provide wi-fi looking " star - link "   server style   networks
to supplement and beef up the communications links.
 ( that  antenna with the wires ?  )     

this " theater " style battlefield lends it's self well to " live
simulation " type exercises and  eco sensitive /  low munitions
 cost   field training exercises. this allowing  " theater ' field
training using the actual equipment to be deployed in actual battle
field situation, for the most part  and wasting less money on training
/ field exercise evaluations ( and keeping the tree huggers happy ) .
the military considers it as revolutionary in it's own right , as the 
" miles " lasar systems were , when they came along.  coupled with
the ( now ) networked  miles systems , the sky is the limit .    

it's bold new world , out there !  




rfid tags
http://www.multispectral.com/
soldiervision and uwb
http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/200210/msg00067.html




On 19 Oct 2005 00:51:07 -0700, miso@sushi.com wrote:

There is plenty of VHF radar around the Nellis range
http://www.lazygranch.com/bg.htm
I think it isn't likely they would reflect low frequency radar off that
reflector. The base certainly doesn't need it since they have the Bald
Mountain facility. If they want to paint a plane with VHF radar, they
would fly the plane over the back gate range, or if they care, move the
radar to Groom and test it there.

Groom Lake has some serious territory to cover. Their trunk system goes

>from the TTR, Basecamp, Beatty, and of course the base. Groom runs 8

trunk systems, or 9 if you count the system at Nellis AFB. The relay
can be over landlines or microwave. For such remote areas, I suspect
microwave, so a microflector isn't out of the question.

Think about this. The photo was done at the power line overlook. The
view is somewhat on edge, so this panel would reflect a signal from the
south to the base. The USAF has gear on Angel Peak. Angel peak should
have line of sight to that hill. [From the power line overlook, I can
hit ham repeaters on Angel Peak, and that hill is just as high plus 20
miles closer to the peak.

krackula wrote:

some observations about that  thing on the hill.

if it is a passive  microwave reflector then it appears to
be set to  reflect signals in certain ways.  most
microwave screens on hilltops are either perfectly vertical or lean
forward slightly.  all depending upon where the signal comes from and
is  expected to go to.  panels on hilltops often act as a reflector
from one valley , over a hill top / mountain top  , to another
location in a valley. these panels generally lean forward slightly.

panels on lesser elevated locations often act as a reflector to
redirect a signal from one equal or slightly less elevated location to
another or , in some cases  act as a " radar " retroreflector "
to protect aircraft from flying into the hill  . in both cases , this
type of reflector generally is seen to be mounted vertically.

the panel in that picture is leaning slightly backward. this suggests
that it is intended to reflect a signal from one hill top / mountain
top to another hill top / mountain top , or ..... reflect a signal
from a mountain top to a much lower valley. another application
could  be for  ( taking into account the location of this panel )
reflecting  ( say ) aircraft radar signals into a valley located
receiving location or  even for reflecting a signal produced from a
valley up into the distant  horizon in a direction the valley
location can't directly see ! ( giving it more distance abilities )

the angle  of this panel would preclude it's use as a  reflector
from one valley location to another valley location and would
only work as a retroreflector for aircraft that were fairly high above
the horizon.

it is also rather large if used as a reflecting panel. panels at 10
gigs or more are usually only a couple of  square feet  ( the size of
the  square is a direct product of the reflected signal's wavelength )
even signals at  2.4  gigs , 3 to  4  square feet of  reflector  is
plenty. ( ala those  screen reflectors on 2.4 gig wi-fi links )
the massive size of this screen suggests that it might have been used
back on the " ole days  " , when radar signals were in the 145 mhz
band ( WWI and early korean war era ).   or possibly even used now ,
if they are still playing with those old signals.  other possibilities
include  applications where the panel is a resonant ( gain )screen
with a  LNA positioned near the bottom, slightly away from the panel
and is used as a OTR radar screen or low orbit satellite antenna.
( ala those old , square , flat , " dew line " screens used back in
the nuke era )

interesting .





On 12 Oct 2005 20:33:30 -0700, miso@sushi.com wrote:

http://www.lazygranch.com/images/a51pan/thing_plo.jpg
As seen from the power line overlook when back lit by the setting sun.
It's probably 15 to 20ft tall based on Joshua trees as seen on the
lower ridge in the photograph.