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Greg's Nike Utilities
Purpose: describe some systems which are not directly related to firing a missile, such as
and more directly related to firing a missile ;-))
- Van Heaters - there were no Army issued coolers :-|
- Event Recorder
- Telephone Switchboard
- Van Equipment Cooling Fans
- Generators - 60 Hz for magazine elevators, HiPar radar, & 400 Hz for most else -
- Frequency Converters - commercial power to 400 Hz
- Siren
- ...
Greg Brown ( gregorio_cafe @ comcast . net ) supplied all these images :-))
( and talk to him about additions and corrections of text or pictures ;-))
Last update Feb 3, 2014
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Van Heater![]()
Van Heater Control Panel![]()
Van Heater Blower![]()
Van Heater Blower Control![]()
Van Heater Battery Box![]()
Van Heater Battery Panel
I, Ed Thelen, know less about these heaters (stoves) than I should :-(( Ours, in cold windy Chicago, were always broken - cause, water in the gasoline collected in the glass water/sediment bowl, froze, broke the bowl, and we could not get replacements. The picture shows what appears to be a metalic sediment "bowl" which might get expanded when water froze, but might not break ??
About water in the gas - the fundamental problem was that the gasoline tanks were in the air, so that gravity flow could fill truck gas tanks. The outlets were at the bottom. As the temperature in Chicago rose, the air in the tanks expanded and some went out the vents - but when the temperature fell, wet air from Chicago flowed back into the tanks. As the temperature fell further, dew would form, drop into the gasoline, and settle to the bottom.
To try to keep the vans warm, we hardly ever turned them off in the winter, and we closed the air vents for the equipment cooling air.
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At our Nike Ajax site in Chicago in 1955-1956, we ignored the Event Recorder. we regarded the concept as rather flawed. It recorded where the computer THOUGHT that the missile and target were and the miss distance. Unfortunately, if the radars were not correctly boresighted and adjusted, (which we regarded as the major concern) the information fed into the computer, and hence into the Event Recorder were bogus - useless -. The Event Recorder didn't have film in it, and we did not order any.
In the experience of many people, the missiles did either of two things,
- Did the "Right Thing", flew and blew up where they were directed
- OR Failed immediately, did not take steering commands, went straight up - "Moon Shot"
Launcher Control Console Arming Keys
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I, Ed Thelen, know little about these, except that the "Two Man System" for nuclear warhead control was (likely) a separate system from this.