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Introduction |
Dan Vesper was there |
Date: Wed, 07 Apr 1999 16:09:15 -0700 From: Dan Vesper danvesper (at) argohouston.com Subject: Long Island Info Joe: I apoligize for not writing sooner. Since I received your letter of 3-7-99, I have mentally composed several letters to you, but that is as far as I've gone. My problem is that I'm getting old (76) and my memory is not as good as I would like. And, of course, while I was there, I was not particularly interested in making mental notes of details of where I was, or just what I was doing. I just wanted to serve my time and get back home. I hope you can understand that. Before I get started on my story, I want you to feel free to use any or all of the information that I pass on to you. The Coast Artillary unit that I was assigned to after graduating from Radar Maintenance School was originally Florida National Guard, located in the Keys. At the time I joined tham, they were located at Fort Hancock, New Jersey, guarding the harbour of New York City. The SCR-582 that I was assigned to, was located above the crown of Highlands. It was on a high bluff overlooking the harbour. I can't even remember our Unit's designation. It was something like 286th CA Bn You might have this info in your files since we kept the same designation when we arrive in Kodiak. In late 1943, we were told to pack up and get ready to head west. Along with 10 officers and 14 other non-coms (I was a buck Sgt) were on the advanced detail that preceeded the Bn. to Seattle. I remember that we just west of Chicago on New Years Eve. After a week in Seattle, we boarded ship and set sail for Kodiak. At that time, we didn't know our destination. At least I didn't. The ship we sailed on was not very large. It held only about 150 troops plus the naval crew. Two holds, each holding about 75 GI's crammed together. We set sail late one evening. As the ship moved, lights on shore could be seen. After a little bit, it appeared to me that I was seeing the same lights over and over again. As it turned out, we were going around and around in Puget Sound, because our rudder had stuck. The finally got it fixed around dawn and we were on our way. About the third day out, we ran into one heck of a storm. The sea swells were higher than the ship. As the ship would crest a swell, the propeller would come out of the water and the engine would speed up and then load down again when the ship dove down the back side of the swell. There were only a handful of us that did not get sea sick. A very memorable experience. I believe the trip took us about 7 days. We landed at Kodiak and went directly to Fort Greeley. I don't remember the name of the ship we sailed on, but it was definitely an Aleut name. It and a sister ship were originally German Coast Guard ships that were seized after WW 1. You might have their names in your files. To be continued...... Dan P.S. Several weeks ago, while scanning Kodiak Web Sites, I found a map of Long Island. I printed it. Now, I'm trying to find the map again, but with no success. Could you give me clue as to where it might be? I've been in contact with a lady that lived in Kodiak from 1946 to 1972. She said she spent Summer Camps on Long Island in the 50's & 60's. Her name is Zelanna Copsey, her e-mail address is: czcopsey (at) aol.com I do have some pictures that were taken on Long Island as well as Kodiak. They are not very good. I might try to e-mail you a couple and then send you the rest. You can return them when you are finished with them. I am having difficulty in trying to identify just where the pictures were taken. Date: Thu, 08 Apr 1999 17:18:25 -0700 From: Dan Vesper danvesper (at) argohouston.com Subject: SCR-582 Joe: Thanks for your letter of 4-7-99. It helps me to know just what info you are looking for. Maybe the following will be of some use to you. At the time, Jan. 1943, the word RADAR was not widely known. As a matter of fact, when I started school, we were not even told what we were to be learning. The term 'Radio Detection' was used. If we knew the word 'Radar', we were warned about disclosing it to anyone. However, about 6 weeks into the schoool, the Collier magazine front page touted the enclosed article 'RADAR - THE SUPER SLEUTH'. So much for secrecy... The first 8 weeks of the school was spent on basic electronics. The remaining 10 weeks were dedicated specifically to the SCR-582. It was a very accelerated course. I don't believe that there was ever a formal TM written for the 582. We were given a book of memeographed pages, held together with a metal clip. The only words on the cover page was 'CONFIDENTIAL' Each student was assigned a book and was told to guard it with our lives. I kept mine with me all through my enlisted years. Along with the prepared text, we were recommended to make our own notes where required. It was a pretty tough course. There were 51 of us that started the course, and only 9 of us graduated. The men that dropped out went on to Radar Operators School. The SCR-582 consisted of 3 basic units. (1) Control Cabinet, (2) Transmitter/Power Supply Cabinet, and (3) Antenna. The site on Long Island was located at the top of a wooden structure. I believe you have said it was 42 feet tall. There were two levels plus the roof that was used. The Antenna sat on the roof, covered by a plexiglass dome, approx 6 feet in diameter. The antenna was a 42" dia. parabolic reflector. The actual antenna was only about 1-1/2" long (1/2 wave-length) located at the focal point of the parabola. It was in a polystyrene ball about the size of your fist. The electical connection was via rigid coax pipe. Approx. 3/4 " O.D. copper tubing with a 1/8" center conductor held in place with polystyrene spacers located at some multiple of the wave-length of the transmitted signal.I believe we transmitted at 90 Mega Hz. If my memory serves me right, the SCR-286 used, what we call, a bed-spring antenna and operated at a much lower frequency. The 286 was used for fire control while the 582 was for survellance only. A pre-amp was located on the back of the reflector. It amplified the received signals before sending them down to the control cabinet. These signals, along with the rotational motor drive signals utilized a commutator/arm system. The rigid coax use a slip-joint apparatus that allowed the antenna to rotate while the connecting part remained stationary (or so intended). The stationary section extended down thru the roof and was physically/mechanically connected to the Transmitter/Power Supply Cabinet located on the top floor of the tower. The perfect alignment of the rotational and fixed portions of this coax had to be perfect. Not the case here. The wooden structure settled and moved, and the alignment deteriorated. Towards the later days of operations, arcing started to occur constantly at positions of the antenna. We were still able to operate but were bothered by several radial bright lines on the PPI scope. As much as I tried, there was no way to regain the alignment of these components. I might add that there was a trap door in the roof that allowed partial entry into the Antenna dome cover for servicing the antenna equipment. The top floor of the tower had glass windows all around. It might have been intended to be used as a spotters locale for artillary fire control. To my knowledge it was never used while I was there. As mentioned above, the Transmitter/Power Supply Cabinet was located on this floor. It had to be located exactly underneath the rotating antenna for alignment purposes. The Magnatron, Klystron and 15,000 volt power supply were in this cabinet. I won't go into details on any of these items except to say, I kept one hand in my pocket when I was working inside this cabinet. I think I'll close for this time and await your comments. Don't hesitate to comment or criticize as my whole intent is to be of assistance to you. Regards Dan Date: Sat, 10 Apr 1999 01:06:20 -0700 From: Dan Vesper danvesper (at) argohouston.com Subject: SCR-582 Part #2 Joe: Before I continue with my general information write-up, I'll try to answer the questions you posed in you letter of 4-9-99. Re: Notes on the SCR-582. The Maintenance Manual consisted of mimeographed text and a number of well prepared schematic diagrams. The manual was about an inch and a half thick. The notes that I referred to earlier were just addendums to the prepared text. Not really expansive. The manual was taken from me when we shut down the defenses of Kodiak in early August of 1944. I have no knowledge as to the original intent of the windows around the top floor of the Radar Tower. To an uninformed person, the tower could have been taken for a fire-watch tower, similar to those seen in National Forests. As I said, no one used this tower except my crew and myself. We did not have any visitors, nor were we ever 'inspected' We just did our job which appeared to be OK. The 155 mm Battery on Deer Point only held two target practices during the 7 months I was there, and no one used this 'upper' floor of the tower. The range of the radar did not deteriorate during the time it was in operations. The range was limited only to the line-of-sight to the horizon. I believe that we were able pick up 'targets' (blips) at about 40 or 50 thousand years. Of course a lot depended upon the size of the ship. The taller it was, the sooner we were able to detect it. Rain or snow did not affect the reception. The entire Radar system was housed in the wooden tower decribed earlier. The antenna on the roof, the transmitter/power Supply on the top floor and the Operators Console on the bottom floor. These floors were approx 10 ft square. The top foor only contained the Transmitter Cabinet. The Bottom floor had one corner walled off to provide a darkened niche for the Control Cabinet. I really can't remember just what the frequency was. I do remember that the actual antenna was a bi-pole (half wave length). The center conductor of the rigid coax described earlier was fastened to a small rectangle piece of metal. Two tear-drop shaped members were fastened into this rectangle piece, extending on opposing sides to form a "T" with the coax. The tear-drop members were no more than 3/4" long. As mentioned earlier, this di-pole was enclosed in a transparent polystyrene ball located at the focal point of the parabolic reflector. I do remember that we were told that this high frequency was made possible only by the use of the Magnatron system. The radar set was in operations 24 hours a day. A rotation was established so that the men would have two days off every 6 or seven days. They were free to do pretty much as they pleased. A small boat (probably about 25 foot) made several trips a day to the mainland. I have a picture of this boat that I intend to send you. This boat carried both men and supplies to the island. I probably made only 3 or 4 visits during my stay on Long Island. There really wan't much to do in town unless you liked to drink, which I didn't. There was one movie theater that I attended once or twice. We always had to return to the island in the evening bacuse we didn't have any place to stay overnight. All I remember doing on my trips to town was visit the drug store for magazines and toilet articles, walk the streets and 'window' shop. I did go into the Bank Building and saw that huge Kodiak Bear. I have a post card showing this bear. And I probably ate a greasy hamburger on occation, along with a thick chocolate malt. Since I was the only maintenance man available, I didn't feel that I could be gone too often. As far as off-duty hours..... I guess the usual things, reading, writing letters, shooting the bull, tramping the island. I really had no scheduled duties. As long at the set was working, I was pretty much free to do as I pleased. But I always managed to stay close at hand just in case. The Special Services Organization furnished us with some of the first paper-back books. These were mostly the classics. I was an avid reader and made good use of this library. I did not visit the SCR-296 installation. As a matter of fact, we were never in contact with each other, and so, I can't tell you much about it or them. I hope this has helped answer some of your questions. Please feel free to ask more and I'll do my best to answer them. I'll continue with my SCR-582 info later. Dan Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 07:54:24 -0700 From: Dan Vesper danvesper (at) argohouston.com Subject: Re: SCR-582 Info #3 Dan Vesper wrote: Joe: The Transmitter and Power Supply Cabinet, located on the top floor of the radar twoer was approx. 3 ft wide x 2-1/2 ft deep x 4 ft high. The rigid coax tubing was fastened to the top of the cabinet, but extended down to the actual transmitter equipment, which included the Magnetron and Klystron. As mentioned earlier, the coax tubing was made of approx 3/4" copper tubing with a center conductor approx 1/8" in dia. The center conductor was supported by donut shaped polystyrene spacers .located at specific intervals along the length of the tubing. These spacers had a small hole drilled thru them. A small air compressor located in the cabinet pumped air through a 9"long x 2" dia clear cylinder filled with silica gel. The intent was to dry the air and push it through the coax all the way to the polystyrene ball located at the focal point of the parabolic antenna. A small hole was drilled in the end of this ball to allow the air to escape. I assume that the designers of this equipment feared the air might condense inside the coax and cause degradation of the signals. For the most part, I didn't use this system. Mainly because we were not supplied with replacement silica gel. As far I as knew, we were never bothered with condensation in the coax. About once a month, I would get permission to 'go off the air' so that I could perform preventive maintenance. The manual that I had set forth this procedure. I don't really remember too much about this procedure, but one of the steps included 'tuning the resonent cavities'. This had to do with getting into the transmitter cabinet with a screwdriver amidst elements that carried 15,000 volts. Not much fun! I don't know the actual theory behind these resonant cavities other than to say that they were associated with the operations of the manetron to achieve the correct operating frequency. The 18 weeks of school that I had did not allow sufficient time to learn detailed theory, just practical 'hands-on' details. Another cavity was associated with the Klystron. It was tunable with a control knob on the Operator's Console. It used a small motor which rotated a small cam which in turn rested against the side of a cavity chamber. The allowable movement of the adjustable side was probably no more than 1/8". The operator could direct the radar beam to a fixed known target, and by watching the hight of the spike on the 'A' acope tune this cavity for maximum response (hight). A very strong magnet was used with the Magnatron. It was shaped like a 'D' with about a 1-1/2" gap in the rounded portion. It was approx 9" long with a 1" x 2" rectangular bar at the base. The arms of the magnet were approx. 2" in dia. We were cautioned never to allow anything to hit the magnet as it might lessen its magnetic force. When not in use, such as the spare, a metal cylindrical keeper was placed in the opening between the arms. It was really amazing just how strong these magnets were. In order to remove the keeper, you gripped the magnet base in one hand and circled the keeper with two fingers. then, by holding it against your chest, you had to exert quite a bit of force to remove the keeper. Trying to re-instal the keeper was another test. Holding the magnet in one hand and the keeper between 2 fingers of the other, you tried to slowly move them together. The problem was, the width of two fingers was slightly wider than the opening. Consequently, you usually pinched the flesh of at least one of your fingers when the two parts grabbed together. Needless to say, I didn't do this very often. If you have any questions concerning the transmitter, etc., please let me know. I'll try to continue by description of the Operator's Console later. Dan Date: Tue, 04 May 1999 03:38:19 -0700 From: Dan Vesper danvesper (at) argohouston.com Subject: SCR-582 Info #4 Joe: The operator's Console you have shown in the picture is pretty much as I remember it. Although individual details are not clear in the picture, the general overall details are visable. If my memory serves me right, I believe that we were told during our maintenance course that several different versions (Models) of the SCR-582 had been produced. The one obvious difference that I noted in the picture was the size of the PPI (Plan position Indicator) Scope. I believe the ones that I serviced were slightly larger in diameter. The one in the picture appears to be about 6" in diameter while the ones that I worked on were about 9". The PPI was the main feature used by the operator to obtain information concerning seagoing vessels entering or leaving the waterways around Kodiak. An amber rotatable disc was attached to the front of the PPI. An engraved radial line was etched or inscribed on the face of the amber disc. When a target was observed, the operator could rotate the amber disc until the etched line centered on the target. The actual azmuth or direction to the target could then be read from an engraved or painted scale, in degrees located around the outer edge of the PPI. The CRT (Cathode-ray Tube) used in the PPI had a long persistant phosophorous coating on the inside face. That is, when an object appeared on the scren it would remain visable for some 5 to 10 seconds, gradually getting dimmer during this time. A target would remain on the screen during normal rotations of the antenna. The directional rotation or position of the antenna was controled by either the small motor in the Operator's Console or manually by the Operator utilizing a small control dial, as may seen in the lower right corner of the main indicator panel (See picture).A Selsyne-Amplidyne system was incorporated to keep the antenna positioned in the same direction as the radial sweep beam shown on the PPI. Normally, the antenna rotated at about 10 to 15 times per minute. If desired, the operator could cause concentric range markers to appear on the PPI to assist in estimating the distance to the target. I believe that these markers were 10,000 yards apart. I really don't remember the maximum range of the SCR-582, but I believe it was about 60,000 yards. More later, Dan Date: Wed, 09 Jun 1999 15:09:08 -0700 From: Dan Vesper danvesper (at) argohouston.com Subject: SCR-582 Info Part #5 Joe: The "A" Scope was located in a panel above the PPI Scope, on the Operator's Console. It was similar to a current day Oscilloscope. Black or gray background with a green foreground (electron beam). It was approx. 6" in diameter. A horizontal line across the screen, near the center of the scope, was an analog representation of the radial sweep on the PPI screen. A target (ship) would appear as a vertical spike on the scope at a relative distance from the left side of the scope as the distance indicated on the PPI Scope. The "A" Scope gave a much sharper indication of the target. If two ships were traveling close together, they could appear as a single target on the PPI, but could be distinguished as two targets on the "'a" Scope. The Operator could also determine a more accurate direction to the target by using the Manual Antenna Direction Control Dial by moving the direction of the antenna back-and-forth across the target while watching the height of the vertical spike on the "A" Scope. When the spike reached its maximum height, the Operator would then note the direction on the PPI Scope. I'm having difficulty remembering what the three meters in the panel above the "a" Scope panel (see picture). I'm quite sure that they were used by the Operator and Maintenance to determine the operating conditions of the Radar System. I have seen the term "IFF' (Identification-Friend-or-Foe) in your write-ups. This subject was not taught in the Radar School I atttended. And I don't remember if my set was equipped with it or not. It has been fun trying to remember details of things that occurred 55 years ago. I'm sure that I have made many blunders in my descriptions, but I tried. I really appreciate your allowing me to be part of your very interesting WW II History Museum. Dan Date: Fri, 11 Jun 1999 13:12:26 -0700 From: Dan Vesper danvesper (at) argohouston.com Subject: Answers to questions Joe: **** Antenna Rotation System ***** In the "Automatic" mode, a small motor was geared to the 'deflection yoke' located around the neck of the PPI Scope. A saw-tooth signal was passed to the yoke, causing the electron beam to create radial paths from the center to the outer edge of the scope. The transmitter portion of the Selsyn-Amplidyne System was also geared to this mechanical system. The 'follower' of the Selsyn-Amplidyne System was located at the base of the antenna. As the motor rotated the yoke, the antenna would be rotated accordingly. I don't really know or else don't remember just how this system worked, only to state that it had something to do with 'phase' angles. You might ask some of your electronic advisors about this. In the 'manual' mode, the motor was turned off and a dial or wheel, located on the PPI panel could be used to rotate the yoke, and therefore rotate the antenna to its desired direction. I might add, that along with the above, there were additional controls located on the PPI panel, such as 'brightness control', 'range markers ON/OFF' 'focus control', etc.. **** Variac ***** Yes, that is a Variac located on the top panel. I believe that it was used to set the operating voltage for the set. The power source for the radar set at Long Island was provided from some unknown source (unknown to me, anyway). However, when I was sent to Amchitka in the fall of 1944, the SCR-682 used a local power generator (gasoline engine with generator. The Variac was used to adjust the power to the proper voltage. I believe the small meter located adjacent to the Variac was used to display this voltage. **** Shelf **** The shelf shown below the PPI Scope was made of metal. It was used as a writing surface as well as an elbow rest. As you can imagine, watching the PPI for eight hours could become quite tiring. Two men were on duty all the time, and switched duty every hour or so. **** Paint **** Yes, the equipment was painted krinkle-black. ***** Additional Info ***** The Radar School I attended was at Fort Monroe, Va., located accross the bay from Norfolk, Va. You might try to contact your counterpart there to see if they have any additional information concerning the SCR-582. Let me know if you have additional questions that I may be able to answer. Dan From: "Dan Vesper" DANVESPER (at) ARGOHOUSTON.COM Subject: Additional personal stories Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 13:34:02 -0500 Joe: I've taken too long to get back to you. Sorry. The SCR-582 was in operation when I arrived on Long Island. I had no idea as to how long it had been in operation. Several men that were operating the radar were transferred to my crew, while the rest of them were being sent elswhere. We were quartered in a quonset hut located well below the road level. It was about 150 yards west of the 155 mm Battery headquarters on Deer Point. I had 4 Operating crews (2 men per crew). Since we were operating 24 hours a day, it meant that some of the men were trying to sleep at any given time. The other men would try to keep as quiet as possible, but it was difficult to get a peaceful sleep. After a few days of this discomfort, a couple ot the men discovered an unused shack in the abandoned assembly of buildings that had been used by the construction crew (I believe they were Sea-Bee's). The shack was about 20 ft square. It was built on 6" x 6" timbers. One of my men had experience driving heavy machinery. He commanderred a bulldozer. With all of us helping, we connected chains to the 'skids' and managed to pull the shack along the road and managed to get it located on a level spot just above our quonset. If my memory serves me right, I don't believe that we received permission to move the shack, but since we needed a 'day-room', we just 'requisitioned it for our use. We connected it to the power line that fed our quonset, installed a heating oil fuel barrel for the heater, and we were in business. We found furniture in the abandoned area and helped ourselves. One of my men made a couple 'recliners' out of 3/4" plywood and padded them with 'requisitioned' heavy comforters. They did not 'recline' but were built in a reclining position. They were quite comfortable. I made good use of them. We built some bookshelves along one wall of the shack and stored the paper-back books that we got from Special Services. We also got a table, about the size of a card table and a few straight-backed chairs, on which we used to play chess, checkers, and bridge. (No poker). One of the men had a short-wave radio that we kept playing. I don't know how many stations we got, but we did get the latest news. I remember hearing about D-Day one evening. I managed to get a pair of earphones from somewhere and ran a pair of wires from the radio down to my bed in the quonset so I could listed to the radio from there. I installed a potentiometer in the line so I could control the volume. I used to go to sleep listening the the music. I still keep a pillow speaker under my pillow and listen to classical music all night long. I'm a creature of habit. One day, a couple of the men brought in a couple small raccoons. They were cute little things, but had very sharp claws and teeth. We had to handle them with heavy linemen's gloves. We decided to try to keep them for pets. The first night we left them in the dayroom. We left a window open. When we got up the next morning, we found the screen on the window torn to shreds and the raccoons gone. We assume their mother came and rescued them during the night. I'm going to send you a picture we took of one of the little fellows. I'm also sending you a picture of our dayroom. When you see the pictures, you'll notice that we installed wooden plank walkways. The ground was often quite wet and muddy. We were attached to the 155 mm Battery for all of our physical support, such as food, laundry, showers, etc.. This meant that we had to walk 150 yards for our meals in all kind of weather. It could be quite miserable at times. We didn't have much contact with the men in the Battery. I think they thought we were Yankee Nerds. They didn't mistreat us in anyway, but just avoided us as much as possible. Incidently, I just upgraded my computer system. My old 486 was giving me all sorts of trouble. I finally gave in and got a new system with a 360 megahertz processor with all the goodies. I am now using Windows 98. It's really great. I've had to call on my Son-in-law and Grandson for help in getting set up and running. I'm really getting too old for all this new stuff though. I'm going to try to send you a couple pictures under separate cover. In case I fail, I don't want to lose all of this letter. Please let me know if you receive them. Thanks Dan From: "Dan Vesper" DANVESPER (at) ARGOHOUSTON.COM Subject: Additional picture info Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 13:17:51 -0500 Joe: The picture of the dayroom (Shack) was taken from the road that ran from the Headquarters area to the Battery on Deer Point. Across the rad from the dayroom were a series of wooden steps that went up the hill to the base of the Radar Tower. I don't remember just how high these steps went. As I mentioned in one of my previous letters, the distance from our Quonset/Dayroom locale was about 1t0 yards from the Batter area (mess hall, showers, etc.) The men in my crew were quite ambitious. They built the Hitching Rail to give the appearance of a western motif. I believe that one of the men even tried to plant some flowers around the area. I don't remember if he was successful or not. The fuel oil barrel can be seen on the left side of the shack. The barrel on the right side of the picture was from trash. It was emptied every so often by Batter personnel. When we 'requisitioned' this dayroom, it contained a white enamel cook stove. One corner of the shack was walled off to provide a 'food preporating' room. It had cabinets and counter. One of the men went into town and came back with a package cake mix and proceeded to bake us a cake. If I remember right, it didn't last very long. The two men in the picture appear to be drinking beer. Again, if my memory serves me right, we were allowed to buy a case of beer once a month. The area where we found our dayroom was on the road that went to the SCR-296(?) Radar area. There were several quonset huts and other buildings in this area. If you ever have a chance to revisit this area, I would appreciate seeing pictures of the areas that I inhabited those many years ago. I am also forwarding a letter I received from a lady (Dolores L. Padilla). She seems to know some of the history of Long Island. Will write more later. Dan
![]() Dan Vesper at Long Island March 8, 1944. |
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![]() Dayroom |
Another WW II radar page with drawing of a typical SCR-582 installation. | SCR-296 Radar Tower at Chiniak | |
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http://www.kadiak.org/long_is/scr582.html This page updated 2007 February 7
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