FARK.com: (7101769) What the heck is this thing? A decommissioned radar assembly or a shrine to the god of bowling? DIT

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		What the heck is this thing? A decommissioned radar assembly or a shrine to the god of bowling? DIT (maps.google.com)		81
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7769 clicks; posted to Geek » on 12 May 2012 at 9:45 AM | Favorite | share:

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maxheck		2012-05-12 12:31:52 AM

For years I've visited a friend, and every time I do I drive past this odd-looking structure. From Rt. 32 it looks like a giant bowling pin. It's shaped that way, it is white with a red stripe around the top, heck, it's a giant bowling pin.

But people don't usually build giant bowling pins. For whatever reason, I figured it was some sort of chimney. The shape wasn't wrong for say, a kiln of some sort.

Years went by, and then Google Earth came out, and I finally thought to look at it from above.

Aha! That isn't a kiln, at least. Shrine to The God of Bowling is still possible.

I've thought of simply pulling over and wandering up to look at it firsthand, but A) it's gated off, and B) the people around there are very good, kind sorts, but they do not take kindly to trespassing, especially where they take the trouble to post signs saying "NO TRESPASSING."

My best guess currently is a radar assembly that once had a geodesic dome, but I'd like to hear from any more knowledgeable Farkers.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=39.49492 5, +-76.978769&sll=39.483856,-76.963584&sspn=0.0079,0.013078&vpsrc=6&t=h& gl=us&ie=UTF8&ll=39.495083,-76.978755&spn=0.007898,0.013078&z=17&iwloc =A" if I screwed up the OP.

MaudlinMutantMollusk		2012-05-12 12:43:57 AM

Hard to tell from that angle, but it looks sort of like a radio telescope dish

costermonger		2012-05-12 12:56:36 AM

It's a VOR.

Wiki.

violentsalvation		2012-05-12 01:01:01 AM

Sundial for the astronauts.

maxheck		2012-05-12 01:02:03 AM

MaudlinMutantMollusk:

Hard to tell from that angle, but it looks sort of like a radio telescope dish

Understood, but the platform is flat so far as one can see from the road, which is to say you can't see it from the road. A working dish would have a curve. My suspicion is that it might have once held a dish.

If you look at the shadows you can sorta tell the shape of the central column. i.e. Bowling pin shaped with a flat circular grid thing on a square plot of bare land.

costermonger		2012-05-12 01:05:54 AM

It's not radar, it's a navigation facility for aircraft.

Staffist		2012-05-12 01:09:12 AM

costermonger: It's a VOR.

Wiki.

It is this. Also, pay no attention to the possible proximity to Camp David. It could also be a sunlight and rain collection measuring device for the USDA.

costermonger		2012-05-12 01:09:20 AM

Looks like that, right?

maxheck		2012-05-12 01:15:32 AM

costermonger:

It's a VOR.

Wiki.

Thank you, good Sir or Madam, and now I know.

No, really. THANK YOU. It's not often I use TF, but this one has been bugging me for years.

MaudlinMutantMollusk		2012-05-12 01:20:34 AM

yep, costermonger has definitely identified it

junkmetal		2012-05-12 01:45:13 AM

Doppler radar for weather.

Chariset		2012-05-12 02:25:44 AM

Growing up in Idaho we used to drive past one of those -- we always thought it was a bowling pin too. I suppose the cropdusters must have used it.

DON.MAC		2012-05-12 02:53:20 AM

Not only is it a VOR its a TACAN as well. Its the EMI VORTAC. Better known to pilots as "Westminster VOR". These define the "highways in the sky" for pilots.
Linky

costermonger		2012-05-12 07:12:55 AM

DON.MAC: Not only is it a VOR its a TACAN as well. Its the EMI VORTAC. Better known to pilots as "Westminster VOR". These define the "highways in the sky" for pilots.
Linky

Yeah, good point. The TACAN on top is what gives it the bowling pin shape.

cretinbob		2012-05-12 07:21:41 AM

ATC nerds......

edmo		2012-05-12 08:26:50 AM

I live close to the Troy VORTAC (TOY). I wonder how many more years these will be around given the FAA's push to use GPS more and more.

Mr. Potatoass		2012-05-12 09:51:33 AM

Damn. I was going to say "Abortion clinic for 14 year olds".

scapes23		2012-05-12 10:04:19 AM

costermonger: It's a VOR.

Wiki.

I would like to thank you for wasting about two hours of my life. Wikipedia is the devil. I had about 22 different tabs open on my browser at one point, and now I know more about aircraft navigation than I ever wanted to.

costermonger		2012-05-12 10:04:40 AM

edmo: I live close to the Troy VORTAC (TOY). I wonder how many more years these will be around given the FAA's push to use GPS more and more.

I think it'll be a while before they're *all* gone, but they'll reduce their numbers slowly for a long time, I'd suspect. GPS is fantastic, but there's still a need for some level of redundancy, which can be provided by the traditional systems like these.

It's probably already been the better part of a decade since I flew a trip relying on VOR navigation, but I flew 3 VOR approaches yesterday.. They have their use.

db2		2012-05-12 10:10:17 AM

It's an additional pylon.

Charlie Freak		2012-05-12 10:18:12 AM

My favorite VOR (yes, I have a favorite) is OBK, or "Northbrook" in Vernon Hills, IL. I tried to link a pic from the iPad, but it was rejected, so you'll just have to do a GIS.

When they elevate a VOR for whatever reason (usually to increase its range or coverage due to surrounding obstacles or terrain), they have to build a giant ground plane under it. OBK is situated on the site of an old Naval air station and is surround by ball fields and houses, unfortunately for the neighbors it's a major navaid for many arrivals and approaches into O'Hare, so they needed to get it up off the ground.

The Boulder City (BLD) VOR outside of vegas has a similar structure but it's built on the peak of a mountain.

VOR approaches were always my favorite because they usually bring you in at an offset angle to the runway. I used to shoot them without DME (Distance Measuring Equipment) or a second VOR with which to gauge distance or get a crossing fix, just using the single VOR and the second hand on the aircraft clock for timing.

/NDB approaches were even more (and less) fun
//adjusts the onion while I can before someone in here comes in talking about shooting LORAN or doing OMEGA nav.
///misses those days

MadUncleEoin		2012-05-12 10:23:40 AM

I was born in Westminster, MD, but I don't remember that thing. I moved away when I was 3.

elkev		2012-05-12 10:27:40 AM

Used pass by this fairly regularly. Sometimes I miss Carroll County.

maxheck		2012-05-12 10:33:03 AM

There's always going to be a part of me that thinks it's a shrine to the lesser-known Lovecraftian god Earl The Bowler, where his devotees go to pray and hasten his return to this plane in otherworldly-colored shoes.

Tobin_Lam		2012-05-12 10:39:00 AM

Charlie Freak: My favorite VOR (yes, I have a favorite) is OBK, or "Northbrook" in Vernon Hills, IL. I tried to link a pic from the iPad, but it was rejected, so you'll just have to do a GIS.

When they elevate a VOR for whatever reason (usually to increase its range or coverage due to surrounding obstacles or terrain), they have to build a giant ground plane under it. OBK is situated on the site of an old Naval air station and is surround by ball fields and houses, unfortunately for the neighbors it's a major navaid for many arrivals and approaches into O'Hare, so they needed to get it up off the ground.

The Boulder City (BLD) VOR outside of vegas has a similar structure but it's built on the peak of a mountain.

VOR approaches were always my favorite because they usually bring you in at an offset angle to the runway. I used to shoot them without DME (Distance Measuring Equipment) or a second VOR with which to gauge distance or get a crossing fix, just using the single VOR and the second hand on the aircraft clock for timing.

/NDB approaches were even more (and less) fun
//adjusts the onion while I can before someone in here comes in talking about shooting LORAN or doing OMEGA nav.
///misses those days

One of the entrances to DFW International is under an elevated VOR.

Suede head		2012-05-12 10:44:47 AM

Man, I love surfing Google Earth for weird shiat or just taking a virtual drive down some obscure back road in one country or another, making snooty remarks to myself about the locals. A few weeks ago I found some huge facility in China, in a desert with no towns or cities nearby is a series of vast bright blue rectangles with a big network of pipes and buildings and roads. No idea what it is, obviously I though a water treatment works or desalination plant of something but the blue is so bright it doesn't look like water. Just had a quick look for it but can't see it agina, it's getting down towards India/Nepal way.

Any Pie Left		2012-05-12 10:49:51 AM

Suede head, that's probably a lithium mine; they precipitate it out like salt.

rogue49		2012-05-12 10:51:13 AM

I'm near enough...something to look at.

crab66		2012-05-12 11:05:27 AM

Entrance to an underground FEMA camp?

maxheck		2012-05-12 11:15:33 AM

elkev:

Used pass by this fairly regularly. Sometimes I miss Carroll County.

I can understand that... It's a nice place. My quondam G/F and I had a house in Sykesville for 6 years. We were effectively the wild bohemian couple in Squaresville.

HotIgneous Intruder		2012-05-12 11:18:42 AM

OMG, the Amish have DirecTV!

violentsalvation		2012-05-12 11:20:39 AM

Suede head: Man, I love surfing Google Earth for weird shiat or just taking a virtual drive down some obscure back road in one country or another, making snooty remarks to myself about the locals. A few weeks ago I found some huge facility in China, in a desert with no towns or cities nearby is a series of vast bright blue rectangles with a big network of pipes and buildings and roads. No idea what it is, obviously I though a water treatment works or desalination plant of something but the blue is so bright it doesn't look like water. Just had a quick lo

Link

People think they are used to calibrate and target the optics on satellites, The huge blue one is supposed to be a potash plant.

Link

GoOutBlazing		2012-05-12 11:20:57 AM

VORTAC: omni direction and distance measuring for when you are out airplane riding and following a victor airway.

styckx		2012-05-12 11:34:35 AM

Finally, I can dial my browsers OBS knob and follow the radial out of here.

geezergeek		2012-05-12 11:37:05 AM

Cool, came here to say what it was but lots beat me to it.

I used to operate/maintain them when I worked for Transport Canada (like the FAA) in the 70's (a whole bunch of jobs ago).

The one I worked on at the time was all vacuum tubes - the Tacan transmitter was a Klystron!

The power supply alone for that puppy was the size of 2 refrigerators and ran off 550 V 3 Phase - there were interlocks and warning signs all over, lots of places you could touch would kill you instantly! Made for slow and careful work habits :-)

edmo		2012-05-12 11:54:48 AM

Tobin_Lam: One of the entrances to DFW International is under an elevated VOR.

That's the most unusual one I've ever seen. It's called "Cowboy."

www.lancesanders.com

maxheck		2012-05-12 12:00:58 PM

rogue49:

I'm near enough...something to look at.

If you do drive all the way up there, stop at Sykesville, park at E. W. Becks', and take a stroll west along the railroad tracks. Within a mile or so you'll come to both an abandoned water pumping station (be careful, there's a 40' drop in the middle of the floor) and a picturesque railroad tunnel.

When you come back, get a burger at Beck's... Darn good burgers.

/ This information is 10 years out of date and may have changed.

dionysusaur		2012-05-12 12:05:03 PM

MaudlinMutantMollusk: yep, costermonger has definitely identified it

Now I need to know what a coster is, and how they are sold (monged).

Branniganslaw		2012-05-12 12:22:09 PM

looks they are just preparing the wasteland a bit early

lh3.googleusercontent.com

el_dudarino		2012-05-12 12:26:41 PM

It's a streetlight. Obviously.

SuperSix-Two		2012-05-12 12:28:55 PM

As stated earlier, yes. VOR.

If you zoom out, look to the East of 32, you'll see the outline of a decommissioned airport. It likely was the VOR for that.

maxheck		2012-05-12 12:40:50 PM

SuperSix-Two

As stated earlier, yes. VOR.

If you zoom out, look to the East of 32, you'll see the outline of a decommissioned airport. It likely was the VOR for that.

There's actually a number of working small civilian fields in the vicinity which I would assume use it. Go S along Rt. 97 and N on Rt. 27 and you'll see 'em.

CT Zeal		2012-05-12 01:02:25 PM

It should be a shrine to Malachi.

studebaker hoch		2012-05-12 01:18:22 PM

It's a shrine to the gods of IFR navigation.

Argoran		2012-05-12 01:19:44 PM

Came for "streetlight," leaving satisfied.

/thanks, el_dudarino!

maxheck		2012-05-12 01:37:18 PM

geezergeek:

Cool, came here to say what it was but lots beat me to it.

I used to operate/maintain them when I worked for Transport Canada (like the FAA) in the 70's (a whole bunch of jobs ago).

The one I worked on at the time was all vacuum tubes - the Tacan transmitter was a Klystron!

The power supply alone for that puppy was the size of 2 refrigerators and ran off 550 V 3 Phase - there were interlocks and warning signs all over, lots of places you could touch would kill you instantly! Made for slow and careful work habits :-)

I used to work for a Beltway Bandit that (ostensibly) only did civilian work. I was just a warehouse grunt at the time, (I teased the hell out of the engineers by guessing what they were working on by their pars orders) but you would be surprised at the things I had to pack, including klystrons as tall as I am.

maxheck		2012-05-12 01:41:10 PM

Well, pook. "pars" = "parts" and "pack" = "unpack" and my last post will make more sense.

/ Jeepers. I can manage "ostensibly" but not "parts"

Wireless Joe		2012-05-12 02:10:26 PM

Already been identified, but if you used a real maps provider, you'd have a better view.

lowbrowdotorg		2012-05-12 02:21:59 PM

This is why I love Fark - I learn obscure, yet cool facts. Now I hope I run into one of these out the middle of nowhere so I can impress everyone in the car with my new found knowledge.