San Pedro Hill Air Force Station

San Pedro Hill Air Force Station (1961-1976) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1961 near San Pedro, Los Angeles County, California. Named San Pedro Hill Air Force Station after the location. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of RP-39, later a Sage ID of Z-39 and a JSS ID of J-31. Became an FAA site in 1976 with USAF Height finders manned by a USAF detachment. Now known as San Pedro Hill FAA Radar Site. San Pedro Hill Radar Station, FPS-26 Tower on the Left, ARSR-1E Tower on Right History San Pedro Hill Radar Site FPS-26A Tower San Pedro Hill Radar Site Overview 2008 Established in 1960 as a joint use (FAA/USAF/Army) site and became operational in 1961 as San Pedro Hill Air Force Station manned by the 670th AC&W Squadron. Initial equipment included an FAA ARSR-1C search radar, a USAF FPS-6 height-finder and a USAF FPS-26A height-finder. SAGE System Transition The 670th AC&W Squadron moved from San Clemente Island to new facilities on San Pedro Hill to begin SAGE operations. The SAGE system used the FST-2 coordinate data transmitter to digitized the radar returns and transmitted them to the SAGE direction center. Under the SAGE system, interceptor aircraft were directed to their targets by the direction center computers and controllers, greatly reducing the need for local controllers and equipment at every radar station. The FST-2 was a very large digital system using vacuum tube technology. Over 6900 vacuum tubes were used in each FST-2 requiring 21 air-conditioned cabinets, 40 tons of air conditioning, 43.5 kva of prime power and usually a large new addition to the operations building. The FST-2B modification added two more cabinets but with newer solid state (transistor) technology to process coded responses from aircraft transponders. The FST-2 was replaced in the 1970s by the FYQ-47 Common digitizer. SAGE System Operation The site began operation as a SAGE site in 1961 initially feeding the Norton SAGE Direction Center DC-17. With the closure of DC-17 on 25 Jun 1966 control was transferred to Luke SAGE Direction Center DC-21 at Phoenix, Arizona. Closure San Pedro Hill AFS and the 670th Radar Squadron were deactivated 1 Apr 1976 and the site was turned over to the FAA. San Pedro Hill FAA Radar Site With the FAA operating the site and the search radar, the height-finder radars were operated by a USAF detachment headquartered at Luke AFB, AZ until they were later removed. The site became joint-use site JSS J-31 furnishing data to Luke SAGE Direction Center DC-21 and Los Angeles ARTCC. The JSS J-31 designation was removed and then assigned as site J-31A to a US Navy ARSR-4) radar on San Clement Island. The San Pedro FAA Radar Site was now just data tied to the JSS system until the designation was restored after 911. The ARSR-1 search radar was upgraded over the years to an ARSR-1E before being reconfigured circa 2012 as a new CARSR radar with a 7172 antenna. The site beacon set was also upgraded to an ATCBI-6. San Pedro Hill AFS Major Equipment List Search Radar HF Radar Data Systems IFF/SIF/Beacon ARSR-1C FAA ARSR-1E FAA FPS-27 FPS-6A FPS-90 FPS-26A FPS-116 FST-2/A/B FYQ-47 CD-2 ATCBI-6 Unit Designations 670th Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Sqdn (1951-1961) 670th Radar Squadron (SAGE) (1961-1974) 670th Radar Squadron (1974-1976) 670th Assignments 1 Jan 1951 Assigned as 670th AC&W Squadron to Camp Cooke, CA 1 Jan 1951 - 6 Feb 1952 Assigned to 544th AC&W Group 1 Feb 1952 Moved to San Clemente Island, CA 6 Feb 1952 - 1 Oct 1959 Assigned to 27th AD 1 Oct 1959 - 1 Apr 1966 Assigned to Los Angeles ADS Apr 1961 Moved to Fort MacArthur AI (San Pedro Hill AFS) 1 Apr 1961 Redesignated 670th Radar Squadron (SAGE) 1 Apr 1966 - 19 Nov 1969 Assigned to 27th AD 19 Nov 1969 - 1 Apr 1976 Assigned to 26th AD 1 Feb 1974 Redesignated 670th Radar Squadron 1 Apr 1976 Deactivated Current Status Now San Pedro Hill FAA Radar Site Joint Use site J-31 on San Pedro Hill in Los Angeles County, California. {"selectable":false,"height":"-500","width":"-500"} Location: San Pedro Hill in Los Angeles County, California. Maps & Images Lat: 33.74611 Long: -118.33611 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 1,427' See Also: SAGE System BUIC System JSS System Permanent System Radar Sites US Radar Sets Los Angeles ARTCC Norton SAGE Direction Center DC-17 Luke SAGE Direction Center DC-21 Sources: Cornett, Lloyd H. & Johnson, Mildred W., A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization (1946-1980), Office of History ADC, Peterson AFB, Colorado, 31 Dec 1980, 179 pages, Pdf, page 159 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 103 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 Links: Radomes - San Pedro Hill Air Force Station Wikipedia - Ground Equipment Facility J-31 Visited: Area 5 Oct 2014