What is White Alice in Alaska?
What is White Alice in Alaska?
The White Alice Communications System (WACS, “White Alice” colloq.) was a United States Air Force telecommunication network with 80 radio stations constructed in Alaska during the Cold War. It used tropospheric scatter for over-the-horizon links and microwave relay for shorter line-of-sight links.
Who lives on Shemya Island?
Shemya Island became the home of the 28th Bomber Group, and later the 343rd Fighter Group.
Who owns Shemya Island?
However, it is still owned by the USAF and is operated by the USAF 611th Air Support Squadron at Elmendorf AFB for refueling purposes. It also serves as a diversion airport for civilian aircraft.
What is a White Alice Site?
The White Alice Communications System (WACS) was a United States Air Force telecommunication link system constructed in Alaska during the Cold War. It featured tropospheric scatter links and line-of-sight microwave radio links.
What is Nomehenge?
The four tall and towering structures on top of Anvil Mountain are known as the White Alice Communications (WACs) system, which were originally installed by the U.S. military in the mid-1950s. Many locals call this area “Nomehenge.” The towers operated for roughly twenty years during the height of the Cold War.
What is a troposcatter system?
Tropospheric scatter, also known as troposcatter, is a method of communicating with microwave radio signals over considerable distances – often up to 300 kilometres (190 mi), and further depending on terrain and climate factors. Troposcatter allows microwave communication beyond the horizon.
How big is Shemya?
5.903 sq mi
It has a land area of 5.903 sq mi (15.29 km2), and is about 1,200 miles (1,900 km) southwest of Anchorage, Alaska. It is 2.73 miles (4.39 km) wide and 4.32 miles (6.95 km) long.
Where is Amchitka?
Amchitka Island is near the western end of the Aleutian Island chain and is the largest island in the Rat Island Group. The island is located about 1,340 miles west-southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, and 870 miles east of the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia.
What is tropospheric bending?
Radio waves can propagate over the horizon when the lower atmosphere of the earth bends, scatters, and/or reflects the electromagnetic fields. These effects are collectively known as tropospheric propagation, or tropo for short. This effect is known as tropospheric scatter, or troposcatter.
How does Tropo communication work?
Troposcatter (short for tropospheric scatter) technology uses particles that make up the Earth’s atmosphere as a reflector for microwave radio signals. As they pass through the troposphere, some of the energy is scattered back toward the Earth, allowing the receiver station to pick up the signal.
What does Alice stand for in Alaska?
Some sources suggest that Alice is an acronym for Alaska Integrated Communications Enterprise. Other sources suggest that the system would have been named Alice White had there not been an actress with that name at the time.
What is the White Alice?
The second segment of White Alice was a pair of TD-2 microwave radio links that supported the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) at Clear Air Force Station. This section provided two routes from Alaska to NORAD in Colorado, for this reason it was also known as the Rearward Communications System.
Where was the White Alice site located?
The AC&W site was located in the crater of an extinct volcano. The White Alice site was perched on, I believe, the west rim of the crater. / 61.10611°N 155.61000°W / 61.10611; -155.61000
Where are the stretchouts in Alaska?
Beaver Creek, Canyon Creek, Cathedral, Delta Junction, Gerstle River, Gold King Creek, Knob Ridge, Tok Junction Project Stretchout began in 1959 and finished in the mid-1960s. It was the extension of White Alice to the Alaska Peninsula including the Aleutian DEW Line system.
