Point Arena Air Force Station
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Point Arena Air Force Station | |
|---|---|
| Part of Aerospace Defense Command | |
| Type | Long Range Radar Site |
| Coordinates | |
| Built | |
| In use | 1951 - 1980 |
Point Arena Air Force Station was a US Air Force early warning radar base in operation from December 1951 to the mid 1980s. It was originally located at Hill Peak Road (now Eureka Hill Road) at 40.333722, -124.10104. Its Air Force Callsign was "Madam". The station was manned by the 776th Radar Squadron until the unit was deactivated around 1980 and an element of the 26th Air Defense Squadron continued operations. A reorganization in 1987 placed the site under the Southwest Air Defense Sector of the 25th Air Division. The site is now closed, replaced by FAA/USAF JSS site at Rainbow Ridge, CA (J-83A), with an ARSR-4 radar."
The road leading to the site was originally known as Hill Peak Road but at some point changed names to Eureka Hill Road. In addition to the site's radars, it also supplied ground-to-air communications to aircraft within its operating area. The radio equipment was located at the GATR (ground air transmitter and receiver) site, located at the crest of Eureka Hill Road, a few miles from the actual radar site. The GATR site was remotely located from the radar site to minimize interference from the radars into the radio gear.
