Fall of 1957 Just before we installed the bubble on the new
FPS8 tower to the left.
Occupied by 200+ Airmen, NCO's and Officers
1970 Not much changed since 1957 except the Radars
Added one tower, the Gymnasium and some outbuildings.
^ --- 2002 above
<----2005 LEFT
FPS-117 Radar Tower and Backup Generator outbuilding is all that's left
Power is now supplied from Fairbanks. Maintenance is mostly done remotely and when necessary humans are dispatched to do onsite repairs.
Map showing the original 50 mile road from
Fairbanks to Murphy Dome
Road going north from Fairbanks and then looping west.
We did Artic Survival by the Emerg Runway next to the road
The Mail Room at 2991' (with individual mail boxes)
Bill Murphree - John Falk - Patrick Doherty - Larry Griffin
Playing Pool
9 months in '55 & '56 = $476,038.79 or $53,000/month
Remember the free Moose steaks at the NCO club???
NCO Club (straight ahead) - Airman Barracks to right
My 1/2 room on the left in '56 & '57 Note: Blackout blinds
and Indiv. 'Days on Site'/'Days to Go' Calendars on wall
When I visited Murphy Dome in 1976 the 800 mile 48" dia Trans Alaska pipeline construction was well underway. Passed just west of Fox and a few miles east of Murphy Dome. Fairbanks was like an old wild west boom town.
The road from Fairbanks had been extended from the College to the old Dome Road siding at Martin/Saulich and so the trip up to MD from there was now only a quick 8 miles.
The Commander gave me a tour of the facility. Was only one person to a room, had a refrigerator in every room, and there were WAF's there. I was there 20 years too soon.
Rotating shift work could be tough and tiring John Falk
Remotely operated and maintained radar. Techs are dispatched from Fairbanks. Automatic Generator on site backs up City Power.
Whats in the bubble now.
Many many individual Tx-Rx units allow one or several to fail and keep on going like the Enginizer Bunny. Actually the system calls in and reports failures so maintenance personel can bring the necessary spares to repair on a scheduled basis.
| Introduced | 1980 |
|---|---|
| Type | Long-Range Radar System |
| Frequency | 1215 to 1400 MHz (D/L) |
| PRF | 241 |
| Pulsewidth | 51.2 / 409.6 μS |
| RPM | 5 or 6 RPMs |
| Range | 470 km (250 nmi) |
| Altitude | 30.5 km (100,000 ft) |
| Azimuth | 0.18° at 250 km |
| Elevation | -6° to +20° |
| Power | 24.6 kw |
| Other Names | AN/TPS-77 |
For more technical info on the FPS-117 Click here
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN/FPS-117
Everything but the one radar is gone
Only one scrap of Murphy Dome Air Force Station remains