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72-533: The Signal Corps had been experimenting with some radar concepts as early as the late 1920s, under the direction of Colonel William R. Blair , director of the Signal Corps Laboratories at Fort Monmouth , New Jersey . While most of the Corps' efforts revolved around infra-red detection systems (a popular idea at the time), as well as a newer generation of sound detectors, they also maintained

144-402: A tractor-trailer which is a combination of a tractor unit and semi-trailer , whereas a tractor unit describes only the tractor portion. Tractor units typically have large-displacement diesel engines for power, durability, and economy; several axles ; and a multi-ratio transmission (10, 13, or 18 gears) for maximum flexibility in gearing. The tractor–trailer combination distributes

216-459: A combat zone was installed in Ba Queo, near Saigon , led by Warrant Officer Jack Inman. This enabled trustworthy communications to Hawaii, and thereby to Washington, D.C. From north to south, communicating across the varied landscapes of Vietnam presented a variety of challenges, from mountains to jungle. The answer came by utilizing the technology of "troposcatter". A radio signal beamed up into

288-459: A large base platform, mounting long cross-arms extending from the midpoint of the upright pedestal. The antenna system was about forty feet wide and ten feet high overall. Both the pedestal and the cross-arm could be rotated around their axis for aiming, in azimuth and altitude respectively. The left side of the cross arm, as seen from the back, contained a set of dipoles that were set to be sensitive in angle, while almost insensitive to elevation. It

360-404: A load across multiple axles while being more maneuverable than an equivalently sized rigid truck . The most common trailer attachment system is a fifth-wheel coupling , allowing a rapid shift between trailers performing different functions, such as a bulk tipper and box trailer . Trailers containing differing cargos can be rapidly swapped between tractors, eliminating downtime while a trailer

432-736: A more capable fleet as described in The Signal Corps: The Outcome (Mid-1943 Through 1945) : The first task was to obtain ships more suitable than the Harold or the Argosy . Such a ship was the freighterpassenger, FP-47, acquired by Signal Corps in March 1944, at Sydney. The Army had built her in the United States in 1942, a sturdy, wooden, diesel-driven vessel only 114 feet long, but broad, of 370 tons, intended for use in

504-566: A regular Signal Corps for the duration of the war. Some 2,900 officers and enlisted men served, although not at any single time, in the Civil War Signal Corps. Myer's Civil War innovations included an unsuccessful balloon experiment at First Bull Run , and, in response to McClellan's desire for a Signal Corps field telegraph train, an electric telegraph in the form of the Beardslee magnetoelectric telegraph machine . Even in

576-733: A seamless global information network that supports knowledge dominance for Army, joint and coalition operations. While serving as a medical officer in Texas in 1856, Albert James Myer proposed that the Army use his visual communications system, called aerial telegraphy (or "wig-wag"). When the Army adopted his system on 21 June 1860, the Signal Corps was born with Myer as the first and only Signal Officer. Major Myer first used his visual signaling system on active service in New Mexico during

648-495: A searchlight the gun's existing optical equipment could "fine tune" the radar's guidance. The radar operated at 205 MHz with a PRF of 4098 pulses per second of 6 μS (microsecond) duration, with an inter-pulse time of 240 μS. Radio waves (light) travel at about 0.093 miles/μS round-trip, so the system had a 22 miles (35 km) maximum range (240 × 0.093). It broadcast about 75 kW of power, which was, in theory, more than enough to offer longer range. The radar

720-402: A similar wheel. The accuracy of the antennas themselves was not very high, about 9-12 degrees, so simply rotating the antenna and looking for a maximum would not point it very accurately. To help with this the antennas were deliberately designed to have two directions of high sensitivity, or "lobes". Signals from both lobes were displayed, slightly separated, on the layer's displays. By adjusting

792-1112: A single radio signal, increasing security and range and relieving frequency spectrum crowding. In December 1942, the War Department directed the Signal Corps General Development Laboratories and the Camp Evans Signal Lab to combine into the Signal Corps Ground Service (SCGS) with headquarters at Bradley Beach, New Jersey (Hotel Grossman). The Department also directed the Signal Corps Ground Service to cut total military and civilian personnel from 14,518 military and civilian personnel to 8,879 by August 1943. In June 1944, "Signees", former Italian prisoners of war , arrived at Fort Monmouth to perform housekeeping duties. A lieutenant colonel and 500 enlisted men became hospital, mess, and repair shop attendants, relieving American soldiers from these duties. One of

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864-540: A small program of research on microwave radars based on the "beat principle", in which an aircraft would cause two signals to interfere. Low generator efficiency and a lack of ranging capability made these efforts impractical. In 1935 one of Blair's recent arrivals, Roger B. Colton, convinced him to send an engineer to investigate the US Navy 's CXAM radar project. The navy's system traced its development from experiments conducted by Albert H. Taylor and Leo C. Young at

936-534: A spy ring still existed in the Signal Corps labs. At first, McCarthy conducted his hearings behind closed doors, but opened them to the public on 24 November 1953. Extensive Congressional hearings were continued in 1955 under the chairmanship of Senator John McClellan of Arkansas. In the 1950s the Army Pictorial Service produced a series of television programs called The Big Picture that were often aired on American television. The last episode

1008-486: A team operating a searchlight , and when it was turned on the bomber was seen to be centered in the beam. It was later learned that the target had been blown off course, making the demonstration all the more impressive. Development of this system was slowed to some degree when a long range early-warning radar became a higher priority and parts of the prototype were salvaged for the SCR-270 they were building. Nevertheless,

1080-692: Is a branch of the United States Army that creates and manages communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of Major Albert J. Myer , and had an important role in the American Civil War . Over its history, it had the initial responsibility for portfolios and new technologies that were eventually transferred to other U.S. government entities. Such responsibilities included military intelligence , weather forecasting , and aviation . Support for

1152-432: Is a characteristically heavy-duty towing engine that provides motive power for hauling a towed or trailered load. These fall into two categories: heavy- and medium-duty military and commercial rear-wheel-drive semi-tractors used for hauling semi-trailers , and very heavy-duty typically off-road -capable, often 6×6 , military and commercial tractor units, including ballast tractors . It should not be confused with

1224-409: Is to say, a unit whose only mission is to provide communications links between the Army units in their area of operations and other signal nodes in further areas served by other signal units. Sending radio signals across the vast Pacific Ocean had always been unreliable. In August 1964, radio communications across the sea were given a huge boost in quality: The first satellite terminal ever installed in

1296-524: Is unloaded or loaded. Drawbar couplings are also found, particularly in dedicated exceptionally heavy-duty ballast tractors and as a means to connect intermediate fifth-wheel dollies for pulling multiple semi-trailers. Most tractor units are based on the chassis of a large truck (Class 8 in North America) minus the cargo body, with shorter frames used for cabovers and day-cab tractors, and longer frames used for Sleeper cab tractors, to accommodate

1368-563: The Army Air Service . During World War I. Chief Signal Officer George Owen Squier worked closely with private industry to perfect radio tubes while creating a major signal laboratory at Camp Alfred Vail ( Fort Monmouth ). Early radiotelephones developed by the Signal Corps were introduced into the European theater in 1918. While the new American voice radios were superior to the radiotelegraph sets, telephone and telegraph remained

1440-541: The Army Ground Forces and the Army Air Forces . The Army Chief Signal Officer (CSO) was responsible for establishing and maintaining communications service schools for officers and enlisted soldiers, ranging in qualifications from those holding doctorates to functional illiterates. The single pre-war Signal training site was Fort Monmouth , New Jersey. To keep up with the demand for more signallers,

1512-1100: The SYNCOM satellite communications service, and a commercial fixed-station system known as the Integrated Wideband Communications System, the Southeast Asia link in the Defense Communications System . During the Korean War and Vietnam War the Signal Corps operated officer candidate schools initially at Fort Monmouth in 1950–1953, graduating 1,234 officers, and at Fort Gordon in 1965–1968, which produced 2,213 signal officers. (The World War II Signal OCS program at Fort Monmouth, from 1941–1946 graduated 21,033 Signal Corps officers.) Modern warfare utilizes three main sorts of signal soldiers. Some are assigned to specific military bases ("Base Ops"), and they are charged with installation, operation and maintenance of

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1584-660: The Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) formed a fleet, unofficially known as the "Catboat Flotilla" and formally as the CP fleet, that served as command and communication vessels during amphibious operations, starting with two Australian schooners Harold and Argosy Lemal acquired by the Army and converted during the first half of 1943 by Australian firms into communications ships with AWA radio sets built by Amalgamated Wireless of Australia installed. These initial vessels were joined by Geoanna , Volador and later by

1656-522: The Spanish–American War of 1898 and the subsequent Philippine Insurrection was on a grander scale than it had been in the Civil War. In addition to visual signaling, including heliograph , the corps supplied telephone and telegraph wire lines and cable communications, fostered the use of telephones in combat, employed combat photography , and renewed the use of balloons. Shortly after the war,

1728-574: The United States Naval Research Laboratory in the early 1920s. William D. Hershberger duly went to see what they had, and returned an extremely positive report. They decided to try to find a need for such a unit in order to gain funding, and eventually received a "request" by the Chief of Coast Artillery on February 1, 1936 for a gunlaying system with a range of 15,000 yards through rain, mist, smoke or fog. Gaining

1800-718: The anti-aircraft artillery and guided missile firing systems. Following the arrest of the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1950, two former Fort Monmouth scientists, Joel Barr and Alfred Sarant , defected to the Soviet Union. On 31 August 1953, having received word of possible subversive activities from Fort Monmouth's commanding general, Kirke B. Lawton, the Chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), Senator Joseph McCarthy , suspected

1872-645: The early 1860s Navajo expedition . Using flags for daytime signaling and a torch at night, wigwag was tested in Civil War combat in June 1861 to direct the fire of a harbor battery at Fort Wool against the Confederate positions opposite Fort Monroe . For nearly three years, Myer was forced to rely on detailed personnel, although he envisioned a separate, trained professional military signal service. Myer's vision came true on 3 March 1863, when Congress authorized

1944-569: The transistor , Fort Monmouth scientists were among the first to recognize its importance, particularly in military applications, and did pioneer significant improvements in its composition and production. Everything was to change as world tensions increased with the Cold War and the Berlin Airlift . To sustain the Army's worldwide commitments, it again became necessary to enlarge the capacity of every activity on-post. In June 1950, with

2016-539: The 1930s, radar was the most important communications development of World War II. During World War I, women switchboard operators, known as the " Hello Girls ", were sworn into the U.S. Army Signal Corps. Despite the fact that they wore U.S. Army uniforms and were subject to Army regulations (Chief Operator Grace Banker received the Distinguished Service Medal ), they were not given honorable discharges but were considered "civilians" employed by

2088-515: The 3rd Radio Research Unit of the United States Army Security Agency . Prime mover (tractor unit) A tractor unit , also known as a truck unit , lorry unit , power unit , prime mover , ten-wheeler , semi-tractor , semi-truck , semi-lorry , tractor cab , truck cab , lorry cab , big rig tractor , big rig truck or big rig lorry or simply a tractor , truck , lorry , semi , big rig or rig ,

2160-539: The Aleutians. Instead she had sailed to Australia as a tug. The Signal Corps fitted her with Australian transmitters and receivers, also with an SCR-300 walkietalkie, two SCR-808's, and an SCR-608, plus power equipment, antennas, and, finally, quarters for the Signal Corps operators. The Australian sets were intended for long-range CW signals operating in the high frequencies; the SCRs were short-range VHF FM radios for use in

2232-556: The Army Pictorial Service (APS) to produce motion pictures for the training, indoctrination, and entertainment of the American forces and their Allies . The APS took over Kaufman Astoria Studios in 1942 and produced over 2,500 films during the war with over 1,000 redubbed in other languages. The Army left Astoria studios and film production in 1971. Julius Rosenberg worked for the Signal Corps Labs from 1940 to 1945. He

SCR-268 radar - Misplaced Pages Continue

2304-507: The Army, with the rank of Colonel. To confuse things even more, the 6 officers and 100 men authorized for the Signal Corp were to be chosen from the Corps of Engineers. Thus the Signal Corps was officially born. The electric telegraph, in addition to visual signaling, became a Signal Corps responsibility in 1867. Within 12 years, the Signal Corps had constructed, and was maintaining and operating, some 4,000 miles of telegraph lines along

2376-498: The CSO opened more training facilities: Camp Crowder , Missouri; Camp Kohler , California; and Camp Murphy , Florida. The Eastern Signal Corps Training Center at Fort Monmouth consisted of an officers' school, an officer candidate school , an enlisted school and a basic training center at subpost Camp Wood. The officer candidate school operated from 1941 to 1946 and graduated 21,033 Signal Corps second lieutenants. The term " RADAR "

2448-661: The Civil War, the wigwag system, restricted to line-of-sight communications, was waning in the face of the electric telegraph. Initially, Myer used his office downtown in Washington, D.C. to house the Signal Corps School. When it was found to need additional space, he sought out other locations. First came Fort Greble , one of the Defenses of Washington during the Civil War, and when that proved inadequate, Myer chose Fort Whipple , on Arlington Heights overlooking

2520-508: The FP-47 moved early in September, this one ship handled an average of 7,000 to 11,000 code groups a day. Many film industry personalities served in the Signal Corps, including Stan Lee , an American comic book writer, Tony Randall , the actor, and Jean Shepherd , radio storyteller, author and narrator of A Christmas Story . In 1942 General George C. Marshall ordered the creation of

2592-719: The Signal Corps constructed the Washington-Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System (WAMCATS) , also known as the Alaska Communications System (ACS), introducing the first wireless telegraph in the Western Hemisphere . In October 1903, Congress handed the then Chief Signal Officer Brigadier General Adolphus Greely what may be considered the supreme challenge. Accompanied by an appropriation of US$ 25,000 (equivalent to $ 0.85   million in 2023), it decreed that

2664-600: The Signal Corps participated in the First International Polar Year . One of the groups under the command of LT Adolphus Greely was to write another grueling chapter of suffering and extinction in the history of the Arctic. Greely's Signal Corps volunteers became separated from their base camp and were marooned on a huge ice floe. They were decimated by starvation and drowning; of the original 25 volunteers, only 7 survived. The Signal Corps' role in

2736-479: The Vietnam War caused an increasing need for more communications infrastructure. In the spring of 1966 the assorted Signal units were reassigned to the newly formed 1st Signal Brigade . By the close of 1968 this brigade consisted of six signal groups, and 22 signal battalions—roughly 23,000 soldiers. The first Vietnam War death on the battlefield was a Signal Corps radio operator, SP4 James Thomas Davis of

2808-403: The antenna until the returns from both were equally strong, accuracies of about one degree were possible. Range information was taken from the elevation array, and worked, as it did for most radars of the era, by triggering the trace on an "A-line" oscilloscope and read against a scale at the bottom. A second blip was also generated by equipment attached to the rangefinder's handwheel. By rotating

2880-421: The atmosphere is "bounced" back down to Earth with astonishingly good results, bypassing debilitating terrain. The Army had little experience with this technology, so they contracted the development of the systems to Page Engineering. In January 1962, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara approved the system of troposcatter units under the operational name of BACKPORCH. The escalation of the number of troops in

2952-412: The base communications infrastructure along with hired civilian contracted companies. Others are members of non-signal Army units, providing communications capability for those with other jobs to accomplish (e.g. infantry, medical, armor, etc.) in much the same way as, say, the unit supply sections, unit clerks, or chemical specialists. The third major sort of signaleer is one assigned to a signal unit. That

SCR-268 radar - Misplaced Pages Continue

3024-400: The broadcasting array which created a circular beam about 10 degrees wide. The three radar operators sat at consoles mounted on the pedestal just below the antenna cross-arm, each with their own oscilloscope display. One controlled the azimuth, another the elevation, and the third measured the range. Pointing the antenna was controlled by rotating large handwheels, the range being reported by

3096-627: The command and control of combined arms forces. Signal support includes network operations (information assurance, information dissemination management, and network management) and management of the electromagnetic spectrum. Signal support encompasses all aspects of designing, installing, data communications networks that employ single and multi-channel satellite, tropospheric scatter, terrestrial microwave, switching, messaging, video-teleconferencing, visual information, and other related systems. They integrate tactical, strategic and sustaining base communications, information processing and management systems into

3168-438: The country's western frontier. In 1870, the Signal Corps established a congressionally mandated national weather service . Within a decade, with the assistance of Lieutenant Adolphus Greely , Myer commanded a weather service of international acclaim until his death in 1880. The Weather Bureau became part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1891, while the corps retained responsibility for military meteorology. In 1881,

3240-640: The defensive need to counter the possibility of massive aerial bombardment . In 1941, the laboratories at Fort Monmouth developed the SCR-300 , the first FM backpack radio. Its pioneering frequency modulation circuits provided front-line troops with reliable, static-free communications. The labs also fielded multichannel FM radio relay sets (e.g., AN/TRC-1) in the European Theater of Operations as early as 1943. Multichannel radio broadcasting allowed several channels of communications to be broadcast over

3312-405: The driven axle. The 6×6 units have three axles, all can be driven, and 8×6 units have four axles, with either the rear three driven and the front axle not, or the front and rear-most two axles powered and an unpowered lifting center axle to spread the load when needed. The 8×8 units also have four axles, but with all of them driven, and 10×8 units have five axles with the rear four usually driven and

3384-710: The enemy, and the resultant need to quickly locate and destroy the mortar sites resulted in development of the Mortar-Radar Locator AN/MPQ-3 and AN/MPQ-10 at the Communications Electronics Research and Development Engineering Center, better known as the Albert J. Myer Center, or simply, the Hexagon. Korea's terrain and road nets, along with the distance and speed with which communications were forced to travel, limited

3456-428: The fleet net and for ship-toshore channels. Armed with antiaircraft weapons and machine guns (served by 12 enlisted men of the Army ship and gun crews), navigated by a crew of 6 Army Transport Service officers and the 12 men already mentioned, the FP-47 was ready for service in June. Her Signal Corps complement consisted of one officer and 12 men. The facilities of FP-47 were needed immediately at Hollandia to supplement

3528-440: The front axle for steering. All five axles of 10×10 units are driven. The front two axles are usually both steer axles. The axle configurations are usually based on axle load legislation, and maximum gross vehicle weight ratings (BDM). Heavier versions of tractor units, such as those used in heavy haulage and road trains , tend to have four or more axles, with more than two axles driven. In certain countries (such as Switzerland),

3600-447: The handwheel until the reference blip overlapped the one returned from the antenna, the timing could be read from the wheel. Range accuracy was about plus or minus 200 yards. The system also included two sets of "repeaters" that sent the directional information to a searchlight, and both the directional and range (as dialed in on the rangefinder's handwheel) to a gun. The accuracy was not enough for direct gunlaying, but in combination with

3672-464: The heavily loaded signal nets that could hardly carry the message burden imposed by the invasion and the subsequent build-up there of a great base. Arriving on 25 June, she anchored offshore and ran cables to the message centers on land. Her powerful transmitters opened new channels to SWPA headquarters in Brisbane and to the advance headquarters still at Port Moresby. At Hollandia, and at Biak, to which

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3744-418: The longer cabin. There have been three common cab configurations used in tractors, two are still widely used. A tractor unit can have many axles depending on axle load legislation . The most common varieties are those of 4×2, 6×2, and 6×4 types . However, some manufacturers offer 4×4, 6×6, 8x4, 8×6, 8×8, 10×8, and 10×10 axle configurations. A 6×4 has three axles, normally an undriven front steer axle and

3816-503: The major technology of World War I. A pioneer in radar , Colonel William Blair , director of the Signal Corps laboratories at Fort Monmouth, patented the first Army radar demonstrated in May 1937. Even before the United States entered World War II, mass production of two radar sets, the SCR-268 and the SCR-270 , had begun. Along with the Signal Corps' tactical FM radio , also developed in

3888-441: The manufacture of electronic components, and made the United States largely independent of foreign imports for this critical mineral. In 1949 the first auto-assembly of printed circuits was invented. A technique for assembling electronic parts on a printed circuit board, developed by Fort Monmouth engineers, pioneered the development and fabrication of miniature circuits for both military and civilian use. Although they did not invent

3960-465: The military should "build a flying machine for war purposes". Needless to say, the first attempts at flying were failures, but Greely handed the contract to the Wright brothers who piloted the first aircraft at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. For more details on this topic, see Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps and Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps On 1 August 1907, an Aeronautical Division

4032-548: The military, because Army regulations specified the male gender. Not until 1978—the 60th anniversary of the end of World War I—did Congress approve veteran status/honorable discharges for the remaining "Hello Girls". When the War Department was reorganized on 9 March 1942, the Signal Corps became one of the technical services in the Services of Supply (later Army Service Forces ). Its organized components served both

4104-638: The more unusual units of the Signal Corps were the Joint Assault Signal Company (JASCOs). These companies were Signal Corps units that were made up of several hundred Army , Air Corps , and United States Navy communications specialists specially trained to link land, sea and air operational elements. They saw combat throughout the Pacific and European theaters during World War II in late 1943. JASCOs were much larger than normal signal companies. The joint assault signal companies were

4176-523: The national capital. The size and location were outstanding. The school remained there for over 20 years and ultimately was renamed Fort Myer . Signal Corps detachments participated in campaigns fighting Native Americans in the west, such as the Powder River Expedition of 1865 . In July 1866, Congress decided that there should be a unit or at least a Cadre of Signal even in peace time. It thereupon provided: One Chief Signal Officer of

4248-625: The onset of the Korean War , President Harry S. Truman quickly received the necessary authorization to call the National Guard and Organized Reserves to 21 months of active duty. He also signed a bill extending the Selective Service Act until 9 July 1951. The Officer Candidate School was reestablished. The fighting in Korea brought to light the need for new techniques in the conduct of modern warfare. The use of mortars by

4320-494: The predecessor to the Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company that exists today. JASCOs represented but one of many unprecedented Signal Corps' activities in the Pacific theater. Shipboard fighting was a new kind of combat for Signal Corps soldiers. Army communicators sometimes plied their trade aboard Navy and civilian ships. Signal Corps personnel also served on Army communications ships. In particular

4392-620: The radar itself. The SCR-268 was combined with the Sperry M-4 gun director to create automatic radar-controlled gun laying; however, the relatively long wavelength (1.5 meters) resulted in poor accuracy. This system was eclipsed by the SCR-584 , which utilized a 3 GHz magnetron oscillator from Britain, completely automatic tracking, and the Bell Telephone Laboratories electronic M9 gun director . The SCR-268

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4464-629: The support of James B. Allison, the Chief Signal Officer, they managed to gather a small amount of funding and "stole" some more from other projects. By December 1936 they had a working prototype, which they continued to work on and improve. On May 26, 1937 they were able to show the prototype in a convincing demonstration. After failing to find their target Martin B-10 bomber where it was supposed to be, they started "hunting" for it and found it 10 miles off course. The radar fed pointing data to

4536-415: The system entered production at Western Electric about the same time as the -270 in 1939. The radar entered service in 1940, and about 3100 were produced by the end of the war. The SCR-268 antenna system consisted of a number of dipole elements arranged in three groups, each in front of a passive reflector, mounted on a large aimable cross. The cross consisted of a short upright pedestal sitting on top of

4608-479: The two rear axles driven. 6×4 units are more common in long-distance haulage in larger countries such as the United States and Australia. In Europe , the 4×2 and 6×2 variants are more commonplace. Tractors with three axles or more can have more than one steering axle, which can also be driven. Most 6×2 units allow the undriven rear axle to be raised when lightly loaded, or running without a trailer, to save tire wear, save toll road fees, and increase traction on

4680-604: The use of wire. The Signal Corps' VHF radio became the "backbone" of tactical communications throughout the war. The development of new equipment, however, placed requirements on the Signal Corps to provide increased numbers of trained electronics personnel to work in the fire control and guided missiles firing battery systems. To meet this need, Signal Corps Training Units—the 9614th and 9615th—were established at Aberdeen , Maryland and Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. These units provided instruction on electronics equipment used in

4752-399: Was arranged six dipoles wide and four dipoles high, each with its own reflector. On the far right side was a similar, but smaller, arrangement rotated 90 degrees in order to be sensitive in elevation and not angle. This portion was two dipoles wide and six dipoles high with corresponding reflectors. Finally in the "middle" of the cross, between the upright pedestal and the elevation antenna, was

4824-519: Was coined by the Navy in 1940 and agreed to by the Army in 1941. The first Signal Corps Field Manual on Aircraft Warning Service defined RADAR as "a term used to designate radio sets SCR ( Signal Corps Radio )-268 and SCR-270 and similar equipment". The SCR-268 and 270 were not radios at all, but were designated as such to keep their actual function secret . Although important offensive applications have since been developed, radar emerged historically from

4896-593: Was dismissed early in 1945 when it was learned he had been a member of the Communist Party USA secret apparatus , and had passed to the Soviet Union the secret of the proximity fuze . The Signal Corps' Project Diana , in 1946, successfully bounced radar signals off the moon, paving the way for space communications. In 1948 researchers at Fort Monmouth grew the first synthetically produced large quartz crystals. The crystals were able to be used in

4968-539: Was established within the Office of the Chief Signal Officer (OCSO). In 1908, on Fort Myer , Virginia, the Wright brothers made test flights of the Army's first airplane built to Signal Corps' specifications. Reflecting the need for an official pilot rating, War Department Bulletin No. 2, released on 24 February 1911, established a "Military Aviator" rating. Army aviation remained within the Signal Corps until 1918, when it became

5040-533: Was mobile, requiring four prime movers for support. Two towed the radar base and the antennas themselves, another pulled a K-34 trailer van providing power, and the fourth a van that converted the power to high voltage for the radio equipment. In total, including the trucks, the SCR-268 weighed 82,315 pounds. That the system was mobile at all was more a testament to the US's overwhelming industrial might than any quality of

5112-431: Was one of the first radar sets to use lobe switching of its receiving antennas as a means to aim AA (anti-aircraft) searchlight beams at aircraft. Since it did not lobe-switch its transmitted signal it would be classed as one of the first LORO ( lobe-on-receive-only ) radars. There are no known surviving examples of this array. Signal Corps (United States Army) The United States Army Signal Corps ( USASC )

5184-558: Was produced in 1971. On 18 December 1958, with Air Force assistance, the Signal Corps launched its first communications satellite , Project SCORE , demonstrating the feasibility of worldwide communications in delayed and real-time mode by means of relatively simple active satellite relays. The Vietnam War's requirement for high-quality telephone and message circuits led to the Signal Corps' deployment of tropospheric-scatter radio links that could provide many circuits between locations more than 200 miles apart. Other developments included

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