Radio Central Photos - USS Missouri - KH6BB
KH6BB
USS Missouri Radio Room Photos
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There are three main radio compartments on the ship. "Radio Central," on the main deck, is the administrative and message processing center. Just aft of it is Facilities Control 1 ("FACCON 1"), a compartment with the HF receivers, switching equipment, and miscellaneous electronics. Down two decks is the transmitting compartment, which contained the HF transmitters and all the VHF/UHF transceivers.
For USS Missouri Antenna Photos CLICK HERE
View of the inboard bulkhead in Radio Central. Most of the NAVMACS automated message processing system was located here. Although it was nearly all removed on decommissioning, we have been able to restore many of the components. The principal items that are visible are the three AN/USQ-69 data terminal sets with keyboard and CRT display, and an AN/UYK-20 computer (between the middle and right-hand data terminals). These racks also contain test and other auxiliary equipment. Equipment with red panels or red handsets was used to handle secure communications. To the right of the NAVMACS racks is the original Radio Central HF monitoring desk that is sometimes used as a second KH6BB operating position.
A view inside the AN-UYK/20 computer used in the NAVMACS message processing system, showing the control panel with switches and lights for individual bits. This computer has 64K of memory (that's kilobytes, not megabytes) and about one five-hundredth of the power of a modern PC.
This left-most rack in the NAVMACS system contains a paper tape reader/punch. Yes, even in the mid 1980's the AN/UYK-20 computers were programmed using paper tape.
The NAVMACS system handled messages on paper. These large and heavy page printers in the middle of Radio Central were used to print out messages on multi-part paper forms. Messages were then copied further on copy machines in the compartment and placed in slots for distribution.
The main KH6BB operating position is now located in Radio Central on the port side. Current equipment is usually Kenwood followed by an AEA linear amplifier and AEA antenna tuner (all donated by the Navy League), but the Collins S-line gear has been restored by Pete KH6GRT and is used from time to time. The rack to the immediate right of the operator's chair contains, from top to bottom, a frequency counter, Collins 651S-1 receiver, teletype converters, a Motorola R-390 receiver, and a Harris RF preselector (very useful in the noisy RF environment in Pearl Harbor). The receivers and preselector were donated to the USS Missouri by Mike Taylor AL1N and are in perfect operating condition.
This rack to the right of a former KH6BB operating position in Radio Central contains a working Harris R-2368 HF receiver, and a complete Harris AN/URT-23 HF exciter and 2.5 KW power amplifier, both donated to the USS Missouri by Mike Taylor AL1N. The transmitter is the same type as the transmitters that were removed from the ship.
Seven racks of Teletype Model 40 equipment in Radio Central, along the forward bulkhead. This was a secondary messaging system, used primarily for ship-to-ship traffic.
Close-up of Teletype Model 40 keyboard and CRT display, with keyboard/printer to the right. This system used cassette tapes for message storage.
A rack of R-1051G HF receivers in FACCON 1. The ship has sixteen of these, plus three Watkins-Johnson URR-74 HF receivers. All were rendered inoperable when the ship was decommissioned.
One of the sixteen R-1051G HF receivers in FACCON 1 after decommissioning. All of the R-1051 receiver PC cards and tuning assemblies were removed.
There were 19 HF receivers, all with independent sidebands. These three racks of switches in FACCON 1 were used to route the 38 audio outputs to various destinations. A similar bank of switches was used to route inputs to the 11 HF transmitters.
There was a secure (encrypted) telephone system on board, and this rack in FACCON 1 is the main switchboard. Also known as the "Coke machine." Red colors in general indicate equipment used for secure communications.
A view inside the transmitting compartment on 3 deck (two decks below Radio Central). All equipment in the transmitting compartment was removed at decommissioning. A bank of ten 2.5 KW HF transmitters was mounted here, two high by five wide
The transmitter compartment termination of the 1 5/8" Heliax transmission line to the wire fan transmitting antenna, with a temporary connection to a patch cable back to FACCON 1. Large diameter Heliax cable was used for most transmitting antennas, not so much because of its low loss but because the SWR was generally high and so high voltage peaks were likely.
For Mighty MO Antenna Photos CLICK HERE
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