Tyler FAA Radar Site
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Tyler FAA Radar Site (circa 1980-Active) - A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Long Range Radar (LLR) site established circa 1979-1980 near Tyler, Pipestone County, Minnesota. 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 an FAA ID of ZQJC. Active FAA Radar Site. HistoryThis site became an FAA radar site circa 1979-1980, furnishing radar track data to the FAA ARTCC's and to USAF Direction Centers. The initial FAA ARSR-2 search radar remained in operation until it was modified to become a Common Air Route Surveillance Radar (CARSR) with a 7172 antenna reportedly as of 18 Jan 2012. Mode S Beacon SystemThe Tyler FAA Radar Site was selected in the 1990s to become one of 21 long-range radar sites to have a Mode S radar beacon system installed. The Mode S system allowed operation in the existing beacon modes but added features to improve beacon operation by allowing aircraft identification with a single interrogation and two-way digital communication between controllers and pilots. Besides the 21 long-range sites there were other radars to be upgraded and there were 137 sites on the implementation list. Tyler was #116 on the implementation list, scheduled to receive the Mode S equipment on 30 Mar 1995. Installation required interfacing with the radar system, addition of a beacon antenna on top of the search radar antenna, interface with the Common Digitizer (CD-2) and additional communication lines and equipment. The Mode S system remains in operation today. CARSR RadarThe nationwide replacement program converting FAA legacy radar systems to the CARSR radar configuration was completed by 17 Aug 2015 and Tyler FAA Radar Site was a part of that program. Legacy FAA radars underwent a Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) that replaced key components in the vintage ARSR-1, ARSR-2, FPS-20, FPS-66 and FPS-67 radars. The CARSR program replaced legacy klystron radar transmitters with a solid-state transmitter as well as renovating the radar receiver and signal processor. The CARSR modification also included common digitizer functionality making a separate common digitizer unnecessary. The Tyler FAA Radar Site is now operating with the CARSR radar. 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 Minneapolis ARTCC (ZMP) and adjacent ARTCCs. Other federal agencies have access to the data under the Homeland Security umbrella.
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