IFC Battery Control (original) (raw)

This is where the Battery Commander (or Battery Control Officer) and the Acquisition Operator sat. This was the central command place of the battery. Summations of the status of other places of the battery arrived here, and commands to battery components went out from here.

Visitors could view this area, but only after various charts and documents were covered, such as:

- The main plotting boards often contained diagrams of safe zones, ... visible under the thin transluctent plotting paper.

This is a diagram of the work place. The battery switchboard is just to the right, and the computer cabinets are to the right rear.

Image from Rolf Goerigk

1. Plotting board, thin paper & ink, largest ring is 200,000 yds (over 110 miles)
2. T1 quick disconnect (T1 was a van that generated simulated aircraft echos and ECM interference for training purposes)
3. IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) control panel (the latest version with the Siemens IFF/SIF) (more)
4. ACQ control panel - control the LOPAR radar (more)
5. HIPAR control panel - control the HIPAR radar (more))
6. Precision Indicator (PI) - (expanded view of the PPI -about 22 degrees wide 10,000 yards long)
   - also sent to the Target Tracking operators in the Radar Control van
7. Target Designator Panel - paints a ring and azimuth line to indicate designated target to Target Tracking operators
8. Plan Position Indicator (PPI) ("radar scope") more
9. Tactical control indicator (more)
10. BCC indicator panel (more)
11. Vertical plotting board 200 kyds / 100 kft (more)
12. Status indicator lights, (White, Yellow, Red, Blue)
13. Target detected speaker (to help arouse sleepy operator)

Plotting Equipment

Horz Plot Arms used green ink	Example Nike Ajax tracking

from Michael Keller - Nike Hercules -Nov 2017

This is a later version of the altitude plotting Board, showing the remark in the middle part �UPPER SCALE FOR BALLISTIC MODE� MWO Y28-W28 (ca. 1960) and Y81-W7 removes the LOW-ALTITUDE mode from the system.So, my idea is that the two dead-zones are the same, the smaller one is for the much greater (BALLISTIC) scale, and the bigger for the normal SURFACE-to-AIR scale. Both arcs are under their respective 30000 ft lines.From my understanding, Ballistic in this case means Anti-Tactical-Ballistic-Missile Mission. (ATBM). So this is a new Mission mode, added with the NIKE-ATBM Version. (ca 1962?)Why was the Altitude Plotting Board changed then? - (or at last the scale of the height lines) If you want to intercept a missile, comming in fast, you need more time in advance - or a bigger scale. Even the HIPAR reflector was chopped for this steeper angle.So this is not to confuse with the original SS Mission, which has rather normal trajectory just with a heigth displacement point and a dive and a 180 degree flipover and a baro burst.

Practical use of the above charting equipment is provided by the records of a Short Notice Annual Proficiency provided by Earl Close.

From Ted Willes

I was looking at the picture of the Battery Control Van. Didn't the computer operator sit just to the right of the BCO? I recall that he was there to relay azimuth data to the LCT for emergency procedures purposes. The s/w operator was to his right. (Or is my memory even worse than I thought?) As I recall, the BCO was on the MM circut, the ACQ operator on the Command loop, and the computer operator on the tech loop. The BCO had a switch that allowed him to talk on any loop.

Part of the digital modernization (about 1980)
I received these from digitized Italian Nike site, Ramiro Carli Ballola
see Nike Hercules Updates

	LOPAR HV Rectifiers		BC Van Console Lopar Section
	BC Van Console TCO & Comp Section		BC Van BTE 77
	LOPAR HV Power Supply		plotting boards in darkened BC Van normal in operation to better see the radar scopes

Now for a little embarrassment - I forgot where I got these images, or who to give credit to -