Mystery FAA Site - Springtown, TX

[w6pc]

Forum Members ----- Someone out there knows !!!

I discovered an FAA RCO (RCAG) type site 3 ~ 4 miles north of Springtown, Tx while cruising the countryside., Located at intersection of Texas FM 51 & Parker County Rd 4797. There are at least 4 different microwave paths converging there as well as the usual compliment of short towers with VHF and UHF vertical dipole antennas.

It is about 37 SM from this site to Ft Worth center's main microwave hub, so most likely a single hop. The antenna facing FTW is an 8' category A antenna, most likely 5~6 GHz hop.

Lat 33-01-14.81 N x 97-40-08.90 W (on Google earth)

I cannot find it listed the database here. I have not tried to scan it yet, as I do not live that close to it.

Any ideas what it is or how it is listed? Looking for frequencies in use there. Typical compliment of VHF & UHF FAA ground to air antennas.

I have looked at all the RCO's lited in the ZFW (Ft Worth) ARTCC and see nothing that might be this site.

Thanks

Mark

 

[nd5y]

Does it look new? There used to be one in far north Fort Worth on FM 156 that was dismantled years ago. Maybe they moved it there.
Since the ATA-100 data is no longer available to the general public there is no way I know of to tell what is there.

 

[w6pc]

Age of site

Thanks for the reply.

There is a church across the street, and I spoke to the Pastor who has been there 4 years, he said is was there when he came to the church.

Based on my physical inspection from the confines of outside the fence, it is definitely not new. Based on the condition and the Pastor's comments, I would say between 5 ~ 10 years old. That is, of course, strictly a guess.

If the site is that old, would it be in old ATA-100 data?

Thanks,

Mark

 

[BMT]

Can't find anything from my last FAA RCAG dump by LAT/LON or Springtown.
This list is also just as bad as the ATA-100.

BMT

 

[burner50]

I live near there.... just a few miles away... but I wouldn't have the slightest idea of what to listen for out of that site

 

[alphazulu]

A search between 118.0 and 138.0 (the aviation VHF frequencies) should do the trick. (.025 steps)

 

[nd5y]

It probably has UHF (225-400 MHz, 25 kHz steps) frequencies too.
About the only way to tell is by searching or sit next to it with close call.

It was there in 1995 according to Google Earth historical imagery.

 

[crayon]

Here is a list of frequencies that could potentially be in use at this site:

239.0500
290.2500
353.6500
360.2000
379.9000
1090.0000
7805.0000
7845.0000
7893.0000
8170.0000
8290.0000
8330.0000

The microwave dishes could be providing a UHF feed for an RTR or they could be in use as a video relay point for long range radar data.

 

[crayon]

FWIW ..

According to my records, the 1090.0 frequency has an ERP of 200 watts and I speculate that it is being used as a GBT (Ground Based Transmitter) to transmit ADS-B FIS-B (Flight Information Service - Broadcast) messages.

As I am sure that you are aware, there is a "cone of silence" above and below an omni-directional antenna so you may need to back off from the site somewhat to actually monitor the frequencies.

I would be curious to know if the UHF ones are operational. They have an ERP of 10 watts. Hope that helps and good hunting!

 

[nd5y]

239.0500 NASFW GCA
290.2500 NASFW GCA
353.6500 NASFW GCA
360.2000 ?
379.9000 DFW regional a/d southwest

 

[w6pc]

Further detail on Springtown RCAG Site

I studied the photos of the antenna array at Springtown that I took.

It appears there are 6 VHF antennas and 4 UHF antennas in addition to the microwave dishes. Compared to other RCAG photos I have seen, this one looks pretty standard to the FAA "cookie-cutter" design for this class of site.

Does anyone have contacts at the Fort Worth Airways Facility office? They could answer all the questions in about 30 seconds? The one contact I had there passed away last year.

Note to Burner50 (member) - I sent an email to you regarding meeting up, as I also live in the imediate area, but not as close as you....look for it.

Thanks to all who are helping....lets figure it out.

Mark

 

[N1XDS]

It's the Kezer Air Ranch in Springtown, Texas.

http://www.airport-data.com/airport/61TE/

 

[burner50]

I think you've misunderstood the topic of the thread. Nobody is asking about an airport as those are fairly plain to see what they're used for.

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