Keno Air Force Station

 (1958-1979) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1958 near Keno, Klamath County, Oregon. Named Keno Air Force Station after the location. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of TM-180, later a Sage ID of Z-180 and a JSS ID of J-82. Deactivated by the U.S. Air Force in 1979 now operated by the FAA as Klamath Falls FAA Radar Site (LMT).

History
Established in 1958 and became operational in September 1958 as Keno Air Force Station manned by the 827th AC&W Squadron. The station initially had both a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and early warning mission. The early warning mission involved tracking and identifying all aircraft entering their airspace while the GCI mission involved guiding Air Force interceptors to any identified enemy aircraft. Controllers at the station vectored fighter aircraft at the correct course and speed to intercept enemy aircraft using voice commands via ground-to-air radio.

Initial equipment included the FPS-20A search radar and two FPS-6A height-finder radars.

SAGE System Operation
The site began operation as a SAGE site in June 1960 initially feeding the Adair SAGE Direction Center DC-13. The search radar was upgraded to an FPS-67B and a FPS-90 height-finder radar replaced one of the FPS-6A radars. With the closure of the Adair SAGE Direction Center DC-13, Keno AFS was reassigned on 15 Sep 1969 to the McChord SAGE Direction Center DC-12.

Gap Filler Radars
Keno AFS was responsible for the maintenance of two remote unattended gap-filler radar sites. The gap-fillers that Keno was responsible for were located in Yreka, California and La Pine, Oregon. The La Pine site never activate because the radar tower blew down in the winter of 1959.

BUIC System


Keno AFS became a BUIC I GCI site in 1962 and was operational as a BUIC II site on 1 Mar 1966. Keno was selected as a BUIC III site and in 1970 the 827th Radar Squadron (SAGE) became the 827th Air Defense Group (BUIC). The BUIC III system provided a backup for a SAGE direction center with the GSA-51A computer system and provided the ability to display sector-wide radar data on consoles for local weapons controllers. The system duplicated the functionality of the vacuum tube direction center computers with the more up-to-date GSA-51A computer system and replaced the FST-2 with a more up-to-date coordinate data transmitter, the FYQ-47. As the threat from a Soviet bomber fleet lessened, the decision came to mothball the BUIC system in 1974. Some sources say that the Keno BUIC System continued to operate until 1977 and was the last BUIC site to close on the west coast.

Post BUIC Operation
The site was operated as a joint-use site by the USAF/FAA starting in the early 1960s and at some point, the FAA took over operation and maintenance of the search radar FPS-67B. The FST-2 was replaced in the early 1970s by the FYQ-47. The FYQ-47 was installed in the FPS-67B tower and maintained by the FAA. The FPS-90 was removed in 1976 and sent to the JSS site at Salem (Laurel Mtn./Dallas), Oregon. In 1979 the site came under TAC jurisdiction with only the FPS-67B search radar.

Klamath Falls FAA Radar Site
With the deactivation of the USAF radar site on 30 Sept 1979, the abandoned Air Force buildings were removed in the early 1990s and a much smaller compound was established for the FAA search radar and other facilities. The site became Klamath Falls FAA Radar Site still using the FPS-67B search radar.

In 1982 an ADTAC listing of sites to be brought into the JSS System included Keno FAA Radar Site with an FPS-67B search radar, an FYQ-47 Common Digitizer, and an ATCBI-5 SIF/IFF (Beacon) set. In this listing, the site is shown as a "data-tied" (no height-finder or mode 4 capability) site with all the equipment owned and maintained by the FAA with no USAF personnel on this site.

In 1983 the SAGE System deactivated and the Keno FAA Radar Site joined the JSS System with a JSS ID of J-82 as one of the original members.

By 1990 the site was still equipped with the FPS-67B search radar but the FYQ-47 had been replaced with a CD-2A Common Digitizer. Now listed as Klamath Falls FAA Radar Site, the CD-2A was scheduled to receive an upgrade kit to implement three level weather data processing in May 1992.

On 12 Jul 2012, a Joint Tech Inspection was conducted at the site by Western Air Defenses Sector (WADS), Oregon Air National Guard (OANG) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) personnel. Photos from that inspection show the FPS-67B still in place on the old Air Force tower with a solid radome. Interior photos show the old FPS-67B search radar and ATCBI-6 beacon equipment and indicate that this is a pre CARSR configuration. The photos also show legacy Rivet Switch radios being removed after being replaced with CM-300/350 and URC-200 equipment.

CARSR Radar
At the time of the CARSR changeout, the legacy radar in place was still the FPS-67B and the secondary radar is the ATCBI-6 Beacon set.

Current Status
Now operated by the FAA as Klamath Falls FAA Radar Site. Most of the main Air Force buildings have been leveled including the operations complex, the power generation buildings, the two height-finder towers, and the dining hall. Among those USAF buildings still remaining is the motor pool building, the search radar tower, and the GATR radio site-building. Several smaller buildings associated with the infrastructure can still be seen. The smaller FAA compound is surrounded by a fence.

See Also:
 * Seattle ARTCC
 * SAGE System
 * BUIC System
 * JSS System
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * Permanent Radar System Direction Centers
 * McChord Manual Direction Center P-4
 * Adair SAGE Direction Center DC-13
 * McChord SAGE Direction Center DC-12.
 * US Radar Sets

Sources:
 * , page 150
 * , page 86, 171

Links:
 * Radomes - Keno Air Force Station
 * Wikipedia - Keno Air Force Station
 * Radomes - Keno AFS Pictures
 * Broken Link Boondog's World - 2012 Inspection Trip Photos