The frontiersman., 1957-04-18
Kiwapians Tour
White Alice Site

Kiwanis club and their wives en-
.5oyed conducted tour of the
White Alice installation in Was
lila this past Saturday. Walter
y. Gutman, site supervisor, and
John E. Croul, Jr., safety and
security supervisor, accompanied
the groups through the complicat-
sed and extensive plant, explain
ling the various functions of this
project which provides part of a
reliable communication network
which covers most of Alaska.
Under contract with the u. s..
Air Force, the Federal Electric
Corporation has been given the
responsibility for maintaining
and operating the White Alice
Communications Network. The
FEC is a wholly owned subsidiary
Df the international Telephone
and Telegraph Corporation OF
New York. Some 200 skilled tech
nicians. with from three to five
years of electronic experience
will be required to man and OPP
serte White Alice stations scatter
aed throughout the Territory.
The primary purpose OF the
network is to provide reliable
communication facilities vitality
needed for the continents defense
against air attack from the north.
Major user of the facilities will
he the Alaska Air Command.
Other users will include Army
and Navy organizations in Alas
ka. White Alice will also serve
The CAA, ACS, and other govern
anent agencies where combined
service will result in an overall
Saving to the government.
Public use of the facilities is
made possible through the ACS,
(which provides commercial long
distance telephone and telegraph
service to the Alaskan public.
The completion date for all White
Alice installations is scheduled
for 1858.
Tropo is the name commonly
applied to a brand new type OF
radio transmission. It's full tech
mical name is forward propaga-
ltion tropospheric scatter" It is.
also called over-the-horizon radio
The White Alice network is the
largest over-the-horizon system
ever constructed. The 'sTropo" an
Aenna reflectors resemble out
udUGr movie screens, are so feet
high and weigh more than 100
toms each. A narrow beam of ra-
z daio energy is aimed toward re-
.reIYing station which may be 200
mikes away. Precise antenna
alignment is a complex problem
Tor engineers and construction
forces. n
AT a transmitting station scores
'N0f separate telephone and tele-
graph messages are combined in
ito "a single radio signal. High
powered radio signals from the
aTanSmitter are conveyed to a
Heedhorn by means of wave
guide, which is just hollow rec
tangular copper pipe. The feed
horn sprays the radio energy
iagamst the surface of the anten-
Ina reflector.
TTne curved antenna reflector
causes the radio energy to be
formed into a narrow beam point
ed at the distant station. While
nndSt of the transmitted energy
MS lost, ssUrne scattering" occurs
I'm the troposhere, the layer of air
nearest the earth's surface The
scatter" signal received is ex-
sfremely weak and must be put
through special amplifiers before
ut can be utilized The successful
development of the ''Tropo" scat
ter system used in White Alice
represents a chronological break
Through which has tremendous
possibilities for future applica-
11iOns.
The White Alice system is eS-
ssssHntially a 'long-lines" commun-
aCations system with circuitry OF
the highest quality. It is an i'm
portant segment of the tremend-
d,us National Defense effort and
will serve at the same time to
mntegrate and expand facilities to
inject civilian communications re-
auuirements in the Territory.