High powered aerial complex on West Australian Coast

Hi guys, first post here!

I did a search for this but didn't find much info so i thought i would put it out there.

I've known about the area for a little while but have just got some more information about the area that is very interesting.

This place has several tall aerials surrounding an even taller one in the centre maybe up to 300m tall.


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Underneath this aerial is a building which i have now found out to be a power station of some sort.

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Here is where it gets a little bit more interesting, the jetty seen to the right of the first picture:

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I have been told that off this jetty, cold water is pumped in over to the power station and the hot water recirculated back out into the ocean. This is also where the US navy docked to bring all the materials for the structures we see now.

So all this raises a few questions to me.

• Is this normal practice for a supposedly small power station to have such an elaborate cooling system?
  
• Why so many aerials int his area?
  
• Has this got anything to do with Tesla?
  

I think this place could be of great interest so any input would be appreciated!

Cheers

Chad


Edited to add Google Earth coordinates: 21°48'59.74"S 114°10'2.84"E



[edit on 29-5-2008 by Chadwickus]

switch on the placemarks in Google Earth and you will see what it is!

Part of the area has been deactivated. I think it has a visitor's center in the old headquarters building.

Wiki info:

en.wikipedia.org...

Official site:

www.exmouth.wa.gov.au...

Now on to your questions.

It is a larger power plant than what you think. It provided power for the whole complex, not just the beam former building and array you have pictured.

It involves radios, some stuff with radio requires big or massive, or numerous antennas. It depends on what it is doing.

Tesla has nothing to do with this, regardless of the thought process. More of a Marconi line of thought.

Keep looking on GE for more stuff.

thanks for the replys guys, seems i might have jumped the gun with the post, it was late heh.


The area does still seem very interesting though, i do know there is a guard house on the entrance road so the public can't get very close.



Cheers

Chad

reply to post by Chadwickus

Dam the secret is out now!! one of the best fishing spots of all times

I have lived in the North West for over 18 years and They say it's shut down Ha Ha and some say it's very much active Depending on who you talk to

Originally posted by duffster
reply to post by Chadwickus

 

Dam the secret is out now!! one of the best fishing spots of all times

I have lived in the North West for over 18 years and They say it's shut down Ha Ha and some say it's very much active Depending on who you talk to

Here South of Sydney theres the Caltex refinery in botany bay and they have much the same deal with the hot water outlet, so much so that the local fishermen have nicked named the spot HOT WATER because in the colder months (autum and winter ) it is quite possible to catch warm water spiecies
all year around it is one of the best fishing spots in Sydney ......but you need a boat...

well that is very interesting . here's a high powered a.m. radio station here in California and it looks nothing like that station whatsoever link: ...
so what kind of radio station needs a full on power plant to run it ? also why would it possibly need a place to dock and unload equipment when we have helicopters?
can someone tell me more about this place please
by the way excellent find ,,,, starred and flagged????
sorry link no good , how do i save and insert it here ????

[edit on 31-5-2008 by ironman433]

reply to post by ironman433


Apples and oranges type of example with comparing the station in Australia with an AM station in California.

The station in the original photo of this thread is one of several Very Low Frequency stations operated around the world for communications with submarines. Further south of this antenna array was a High Frequency Array called a "pusher" antenna used for direction finding and transmitting. This whole complex had administration buildings and support buildings. This is the reason for the power plant. It was built back when helicopters just didn't do everything that they do today. Ships were used for supplies which is why you have the dock facilities.

This station, in question, is rated at 1 megawatt. The highest powered AM station in the US is a clear channel station rated at 50,000 watts. There are some stations in Mexico rated at 100,000 and a very few at 250,000 watts. The difference of these stations is the frequency range used for broadcasting, and the media used to carry the wave. VLF is designed for water while AM is best suited for atmospheric broadcasting.

The HF side of the complex has been deactivated. The VLF array is contracted out to Boeing for operation.

i didn't realize that it was built so long ago i was thinking that it was built more recently. and i didn't know that it had anyone manning it too , my bad assumption .
as for them using the hf being an ex ham i figured that one out by the length of the array. i'm having a problem loading the page again for reference but i also had in my mind that there was a higher freq antenna but still hf , correct me if i'm wrong. and let me take a guess kfi is the 50 kilowatt am station .
thank you for the clarification and any more info about this place would be wonderful .

Theres some great info being presented here, doesn't sound like theres anything too secret going on at this place but still, quite interesting none the less!
I'm curious what Boeing would use this place for these days?
Anyone have any ideas?

The antenna are arranged in a configuration optimal for signal collection, specifically direction finding. The signal from the antenna closest to the source picks up the signal earlier than the further signals. The coast location is good for picking up Naval signals, or signals from outside the airspace of the country. These sites purposely appear low profile, low activity, seemingly retired, or for an alternate purpose. Communications includes signal reception, which would fall into an intelligence activity. Signals intelligence is a National Security activity, which is usually a good activity and is usually not something you want to disrupt.

Originally posted by Chadwickus
I'm curious what Boeing would use this place for these days?
Anyone have any ideas?

Boeing have two divisions that may be interested in its operations.
Integrated Defence Systems
Phantom Works

Boeing isnt just a commercial airline constructor, it has large defence and research divisions.