It {s recommended that the organizing of all service projects performed
by SC into a single program be continued on future operations.
Amateur radio stations should be encouraged to operate in the Forward
Area. The decided improvement of morale due to phone patch service home
cannot be ignored.
On future operations a real effort should be made in the early planning
stage to provide a more realistic shot schedule and estimate of the length
of the operation. If this could be done, it would permit greater economy
in the preparation of components and utilization of manpower.
The shortage of vehicles on Johnston Island caused real delays and
unnecessary hardships to TU-4 personnel.
4.5
TASK UNIT 5, EG&G ACTIVITIES
Timing and Firing, Communications.
The timing and firing program
conducted by TU-5 had two principal objectives:
(1)
to provide reliable
systems for arming, monitoring, and firing the devices, and (2) to provide
experimental users with a precise sequence of signals with respect to zero
time in each event.
Associated with these prime objectives were the determination of zero
time with respect to world time, provision of a voice count transmission
net synchronized to the timing signals, and determination of preliminary
yield, where applicable, by use of Bhangmeters.
Because of the complexity of the firing schedule, operation on two
atolls, and removal of the missile shots to Johnston Island, a total of seven
independent firing systems were required. The control point on Enyu was
originally scheduled to house three systems; however, with the relocation
of the DOD/ABMA effort to Johnston Island, one complete system was removed to that site, leaving two on Bikini Atoll. The control point on Parry
Island consisted of three distinct systems: one forthe DOD underwater program, one for the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory large yield devices, and
one for the Laboratory's low yield devices. The USS Boxer contained a
timing system for coordination of experimental programs with the Sandia
firing system on high altitude experiment Yucca. For distribution of signals
at the individual sites, a total of 13 distribution stations were used.
The timing system requirements for Hardtack necessitated a revision
of the standard system used on previous operations. To provide this, a
coder-decoder system was employed which greatly increased the flexibility
of the systems. All minus time signals were transmitted on a s{ngle pair
of hardwires and interpreted by the decoder at the pertinent timing station.
A patching system was used whereby a signal series would be selected for
a specific shot. The signals available were at 3-min intervals from —60
min to —2 min, and at each half-second interval from —2 min to a desired
plus time. Twenty-four independent times could be selected for any event.
To supplement the hardwire system, two radio tone timing signal sys-
tems were employed at each atoll.
In addition to this, a radio controlled
firing system was implemented on the two underwater events at Eniwetok,
and the provision for a remote control capability of operation of the Enyu
control point from the USS Boxer.
The voice count transmission was provided on two separate frequencies
and the ability to patch in the broadcast to the various command nets through
their base transmitters was maintained.
122
Jal
ay
AFWLEHO