Riverhead FAA Radar Site
Riverhead FAA Radar Site (1980-Active) - A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Long Range Radar (LRR) site first established in May 1980 near Riverhead, Suffolk County, New York. This site was originally the Ground-Air Transmitter (GAT) Site for the BOMARC Missile Annex at Suffolk County Air Force Base. The FAA 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-315, a JSS ID of J-52, and an FAA ID of QVH. Active FAA Radar Site. Also known as Suffolk FAA Radar Site.
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Riverhead FAA Radar Site.
History
This site became an FAA radar site in 1980, constructed on the former Ground-Air Transmitter (GAT) Site of the BOMARC Missile Annex at Suffolk County Air Force Base. The site was built to replace the closing Montauk Air Force Station (Z-45). The new site would furnish radar track data to the FAA ARTCCs and to USAF Direction Centers. News accounts indicate that the FAA site had a projected commissioning date in December 1980 but that Montauk would continue operations until 31 Jan 1981 and that is when the radar at Montauk shut down, 7 pm, 31 Jan 1981.
In 1982 the FPS-116 height finder was supported by USAF operating location OLAA 21st ADS with 6 USAF 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.
Initial equipment included ARSR-3 search radar and that set remained in operation until it was replaced by a ARSR-4 3D radar between 1996-1999. The Air Force operated an FPS-116 height finder on the site between 1980 and 1988.
The radar site data is now available to the USAF/NORAD Battle Control System-Fixed (BCS-F) operations centers (EADS & WADS) as well as the FAA New York ARTCC (ZNY) and adjacent ARTCCs. Other federal agencies have access to the data under the Homeland Security umbrella.
Context
Location:
Near Riverhead in Suffolk County, New York.
Lat: 40.879° Long: -72.687° Elevation: 245'
Bing, Google,
OldMapsOnline,
USGS, OHM
Current Status
Active FAA facility near Riverhead in Suffolk County, New York.
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See Also:
Sources:
- Winkler, David F., Searching the Skies: the Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program, USAF Hq Air Combat Command, 1997, 192 pages, Pdf, page 143.
- FAA - Site Listing of Legacy Radars as of 23 Dec 2016.
- U.S. DoT - Recommendation on Transition from Primary/Secondary Radar to Secondary-Only Radar Capability 1994.
- FAA - Three Level Weather For ARTCC Displays - Project Implementation Plan, FAA Order 7110.14A, 14 Feb 1990.
- FAA - SSR/DMTI Modification - Project Implementation Plan, FAA Order 6340.20, 6 Jul 1988.
- ADTAC Communications Digest, July 1982, Tactical Air Command, page 56.
Links:
Related:
ARSR-3, ARSR-4, ATCBI-6, JSS System, Montauk Air Force Station, New York ARTCC, SAGE System, US Radar Sets, FAA Air Route Traffic Control Centers,
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