NEWSLETTER OF THE INFORMATION AGE SCIENCE HISTORY CENTER AND MUSEUMS Volume 12, Number 3 www.infoage.org July – September 2018 Photos from the NJ Historic Fred Carl has been a champion of PRESERVATION NEW JERSEY ANNOUNCES Preservation Awards ceremony and Camp Evans since 1993, when its 2018 NJ HISTORIC opening reception of the 2018 New closing under base realignment and PRESERVATION AWARDS Jersey History and Historic closure (BRAC) was announced. With Preservation Conference can be viewed the backing of Wall Township, Mr. Statewide non-profit organization at Flickr. Carl researched the creation of a recognizes achievements in historic science center that was added to the preservation the Marconi Reuse Plan in 1995. Mr. Detailed descriptions of the Carl built a consortium to preserve Leadership Awards can be found at Camp Evans that incorporated in 1998 PATERSON, NJ - Preservation New Preservation New Jersey 's website. as a not-for-profit known as the Jersey (PNJ), along with the New www.preservationnj.org InfoAge Science-History Center. With Jersey Historic Preservation Office and support from Wall Township and Historic Sites Council celebrated Monmouth County, the InfoAge individuals, organizations, and PNJ presented a Leadership Award to: Science-History Center replaced the agencies that have made a major or roofs, installed heat, and added air sustained impact within the field of conditioning to five buildings. In history and historic preservation in addition, nine restrooms were New Jersey at an awards ceremony on restored to service. InfoAge repainted Thursday at Passaic County the exteriors of the WW2 and satellite Community College's historic era buildings, and the entire interiors Hamilton Club during the 2018 New of seven buildings. Mr. Carl and his Jersey History and Historic fellow volunteers continue the work Preservation Conference. of restoration as they raise funds and "Every year, we are more and more Fred Carl – Founder, Director and COO establish educational science-history impressed by the dedication and InfoAge Science History Center programs. creativity of both the volunteer and professional preservation community Fred Carl received the Sarah B. Fiske The Board of Directors, Staff and in their efforts to save, restore, and Legacy Award, which is a lifetime volunteers wish to congratulate promote NJ's historic resources," PNJ's achievement award recognizing Fred on his award and thank him Executive Director, Courtenay Mercer important and sustained contributions for his on-going efforts to preserve said. "We are privileged and honored to the understanding and promotion of and restore Camp Evans and make to recognize these efforts through the historic preservation and history in it a home for young and old to annual NJ Historic Preservation New Jersey. learn NJ History. Awards. Internet Archeology By Ray F. Chase – New Jersey Antique Radio Club As a WWII living memorial site and a barns or basements by WWII equipment I have a daughter and grandchildren designated National Landmark based collectors. This will not get us a complete in MD and have been fortunate to on our radar history, it behooves us to system but enough bits and pieces to combine visits with them to include preserve and display early radar make a meaningful display. The on-line the acquisition of artifacts that were artifacts. But where does one get them? auction site E-Bay is a prime source but advertised on E-bay and local pick- At the end of WWII, there was a mass contact with other museums and internet up was either a condition of purchase rush to scrap out all thats now useless reflector sites are other opportunities. or an option. As I indicated, WWII mostly obsolete stuff. For the U.S. Newer social media sites can be useful as radar stuff was usually quite heavy. Navy, there were those who wanted to well. It also helps to have friends Looking at my records, I see that trips preserve some of the ships and thus scattered around the country as a few to MD have brought us a SCR-268 there are many museum ships around following examples will show. radar indicator, an APR-1 EW the country and possibly some of their Some years ago, while trolling on E-bay, receiver and a PE-110-D radars were saved. For I spied a BC-957-A indicator/receiver communication radio power supply. communications equipment, there from the SCR-547 radar. This WWII set Probably the most significant find were legions of Amateur Radio was often called the Mickey Mouse was a missing part for the SCR-268 Operators who purchased radio Radar because its two parabolic radar transmitter that I was restoring equipment from the many surplus antennae looked like Mickey Mouse’s after finding it in an old warehouse. stores that sprung up, (remember radio ears. This transmitter has three indicating row on Cortland St. in New York City). Anyway, the item was in Oregon and meters mounted on large insulators Besides, radios were usually much was listed only for local pick-up due to because they are running at a very smaller and could be useful as basic its size and weight. The seller indicated high voltage but one of the meter communications equipment for tens of that if there were no takers, it would go assemblies had been broken off and thousands of Hams. Radar equipment into the dumpster. That would be a nice was missing. This bedeviled me as it was big and heavy and had no item to have but Oregon is a long way would be difficult to reproduce and comparable peacetime use so off it off. Then I thought, our good friend its omission from the unit would went to the breakers. Ludwell Sibley lives in Oregon so I spoil its display. Then one day, So, what do we do in the 21st century contact him and turns out he was only “bingo” someone on e-bay had a to preserve the artifacts derived from about 20 miles from the seller. Lud complete meter assembly for sale. the labors of those countless early offered to pick it up and when I The odds of this item showing up engineers, workers and innovators contacted the seller to make a deal, he were extremely slim indeed, but I who produced the wonders of radar was thrilled that it was headed to a jumped on it and got it for a that did so much to win our victory in museum, so he donated it. But then how reasonable price. I figured who else the 20th century? And how do we to get it from Oregon? Well, we have would need or want it but still there preserve and display the history of another local friend, Will Donzelli who were a couple of other bidders. Camp Evans? wheels and deals in all sorts of vintage “Radio Rows” across the country are radars and computers and makes an now gone, the last remaining major annual U.S tour to pick-up or deliver surplus radar source, Radio Research results of his deals. While on a west coast Instruments in CT is gone over five leg of his trip he agreed to make a detour years ago; its 200,000 square feet of to Oregon and bring the unit back to radar equipment sold for scrap. One New Jersey where it is now on display in can probably count no more than half a the hotel. What a good friend! dozen Military museums with meaningful radar displays and another half dozen private collectors who have the energy and means to maintain private collections. One useful answer is to use the power of the internet to ferret out bits and pieces of radar equipment that one way SCR-547 Indicator/Receiver from Meter Assembly for SCR-268 or another were accumulated in attics, Oregon on Display in the Hotel Restoration 2 Army in Space – The Early Years John T. Cervini – Vice Chairman InfoAge Board of Trustees Operation Paperclip A large transmitter, receiver, and Toward the end of WWII in Europe, antenna array were constructed at the Werner Von Braun and his staff lab for the project. The transmitter, a surrendered to the Americans at highly modified World War II SCR-271 Peenemunde and were taken to Fort radar set, provided 3,000 watts at 111.5 MHz in quarter-second pulses, while Bliss, TX and ultimately Redstone Arsenal, AL to continue research on the "bedspring" dipole array antenna provided 24 dB of gain. Reflected rockets based on the V-2 model. Many signals were received about 2.5 seconds successful and unsuccessful launches Sputnik 1 Satellite took place there. But these were sub- later, with the receiver compensating orbital flights rather than “space” for Doppler modulation of the reflected signal. efforts. True space programs originated To the U.S. Army Signal Corps in the Army with the Signal Corps The ability to bounce radio waves off scientists at Camp Evans in Wall projects at Fort Monmouth and Camp a sitting target like the moon, or later, Township and Deal Test site in Ocean Evans. an artificial satellite–would make it Township, the launch was a very possible to maintain wireless personal life changing event. For communications even during solar weeks they labored marathon hours flares or geomagnetic storms. There tracking this ‘invader’ from the was also interest in using such a system Soviet Union in TOP-SECRET. Using to track radio signals from the Soviet the tracking equipment at the Diana Union and Eastern Europe early in the Site on Marconi Road and antennas Cold War, when diplomatic relations at Deal, they characterized the with the US were becoming rather Sputnik.