Fort Lonesome FAA Radar Site

 (1980-1998) - A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Long Range Radar (LRR) site first established in 1980 in Manatee County, Florida near the town of Fort Lonesome. The site is used to identify and track military and civilian aircraft movements within a 200-mile radius and to provide air-ground radio communication with those aircraft. Assigned a SAGE System ID of Z-330, a JSS ID of J-09, and an FAA ID of QJT. Closed FAA Radar Site.

History
This site became an FAA radar site in 1980, furnishing radar track data to the FAA ARTCCs and to USAF Direction Centers. This site replaced the USAF MacDill Air Force Base Radar Site that closed on 15 Nov 1980. Construction on the new $2.6 million FAA radar site began in April 1978 and was completed in 1980.

The site operated as JSS site J-09 and NORAD Sage System site Z-330, In 1982 the FPS-116 height finder was supported by USAF operating location OLAD 20th ADS with 6 USAF civilian operations personnel. The FPS-116 height-finder required the Military Interface Modification (MIM) to connect to the digitizer functionality in the ARSR-3 radar. The modification allowed height-finder operators to process height requests and return height data to USAF direction centers. The FPS-116 was removed about 1988.

The initial FAA ARSR-3 search radar remained in operation until the site was replaced by the brand new ARSR-4 Fort Green FAA Radar Site just 10 miles away. A USAF FPS-116 height-finder was in place from 1980 to 1988 operated by OLAD 20th ADS.

This JSS site fed data to USAF Command Posts as well as to the FAA Miami ARTCC and adjacent ARTCCs until it was replaced by the new Fort Green FAA Radar Site in 1998.

Current Status
Closed FAA facility in Manatee County, Florida, near the town of Fort Lonesome. The site has been leveled.

{| See Also:
 * MacDill Air Force Base Radar Site
 * Fort Green FAA Radar Site
 * Miami ARTCC
 * JSS System
 * FAA Air Route Traffic Control Centers
 * US Radar Sets

Sources:
 * , page 109.
 * Stuben, Nash, FAA Radar Facilities Moving To Manatee, The Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Florida), 3 May 1978, page 18.
 * Radar Tower, The Tampa Times (Tampa, Florida), 21 Mar 1979, page 35. (Picture & caption)
 * Gale, Mark, Air Activity monitored by station: Remote Fort Lonesome is now radar site, The Tampa Times (Tampa, Florida), 7 Aug 1980, page 12. (Pictures)


 * , page 42.

Links:
 * Radomes - Fort Lonesome FAA Radar Site
 * Wikipedia - Joint Surveillance System