Site R Birdseye

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18 March 2007. Add Mapquest aerial photo:

27 December 2005. Add four photos of the north access road, structures and portals.

27 December 2005.

A. writes:

I counted over two dozen separate antenna's on the top of the mountain, including the two GWEN antenna's, four point to point microwave, two hardened concrete dishes, a dozen plus UHF/VHF antenna's. There are also several fairly large log periodic HF antennas, two cornucopia horns, at least one large yagi. Many of the "forbidden" AT&T sites and related COG locations in the DC area are also available on a the birdseye imagery series.

A2 writes:

In the 'looking south' [antennas] picture, the dominant structure is the AT&T microwave tower. At the top of the picture is a 'birdcage' antenna. The actual antenna is wires from the top and bottom of the vertical pole out to the ring. This type of 'fat' antenna is broadband and so this one is a vertically-polarized high-frequency antenna for 6 - 30 MegaHertz.
In the 'looking west' view, there is another birdcage near the top right.
To the west of the first birdcage is a vertical tower with another 'tower' section horizontally across the top. That horizontal section is the 'boom' which supports the antenna elements horizontally at right angles to the boom. The elements are longer at one end of the boom than the other which accounts for the 'offset' since the vertical tower attaches to the center-of-gravity point. This is a log-periodic antenna, uni-directional, rotatable, and for the 6 - 30 MHz range.
To the left and slightly above is a pair of towers which do not look properly vertical. They are not. This supports a set of dipoles fed in the center with different lengths of wire. Again this is 6 - 30 MHz and bi-directional.
The birdcage and log-periodics were very common at military installations but the dipole was found more at Army places like Corps of Engineers. All of these are broadband and are probably fed from underground with tuners as used on airplanes so there can be several tranceivers on each one.
Site-R had the legit callsign WAR46.

A2 writes again:

In the antenna pix, the AT&T tower has two "KS horns" on the south corners which are links to the Lewiston, Md site according to old FCC records. Lewiston is hard to find along the ridge north of Frederick, Md. If memory serves, Lewiston was linked to Finksburg and Monrovia, both interesting AT&T sites. Finksburg has a bunker and was last mentioned as the place where crypto keys are managed for the STU-III phones. Probably before that it was a tap onto the major cable route along the east coast.
Monrovia also has a bunker, a hardened microwave dish, and now at least five fiber markers around the fenceline numbered '1'.
Also on the AT&T tower are four antennas about 4-inch diameter and a few feet long. These should be the GEP antennas for the WBFM system. The Navy called theirs 'scopelight' but it was shut down around the end of the cold war. The AF still uses it for NAOC and AF-1. Site-R is backup for the NMCC in the Pentagon and the NAOC is the airborne backup for them.
On the northwest corner of the tower there may be an 'E/F' or 'nationwide' set of antennas. The suppoert structure looks right but the antennas are too small. That system was shut down years ago.
There are a few more things that might be two-way antennas but are too small to be sure.
The other microwave tower in the pix is for a government system linking sites around the DC area. Included were Ft Meade, Ft Belvoir, Andrews AFB, and the Pentagon. The dishes are Andrews-style with a ring out from the dish to cover the feed point and keep ice and snow off. The vertical spacing seems likely to be for diversity receive. An old map showed the links to be to Damascus, Md and Liberty Dam, Md. Eyeball measurements made me think this was not right and the link may have actually been to Ft Detrick and then Damascus.
Liberty Dam was virtually abandoned on my one visit there some years ago but in it's heyday may have been interesting. It had a large 'porch' on the south side of the building looking out over the valley towards DC. The microwave relay there might have been operating and it relayed to Ft Meade according to that map. I don't know if that map was ever posted on fas.org but they had it if you haven't seen it. My guess is this microwave system has been shut down as has been most of the AT&T system.

A3 writes:

It is intersting to note, in the birdseye views of the commo complex on Site R, the tower just south of the compound that is under construction is very strange. Either a image issue, or the tower looks folded over. There are 6 dishes visible in the birds eye, two periscope pointed south west, two drums on the second taller tower pointed roughly the same direction, but not the exact same I think, but where do the drums pointed southeast go? Otherwise, the site looks like a junior site C.

A4 writes:

Could this be the mysterious Site CREED, which has been the subject of much speculation and curiousity over the years? Thanks for pointing this out - If it is indeed CREED, this is the first time that I've ever seen any imagery of this facility.

A5 writes:

It's not CREED. The facility you saw on line is known as Site-RT, plus some ventillation shafts. The exact location of Site CREED is known to me & there is a very slight 'disturbance' in the tree/soil in the right areas (the hardened CREED structure plus it's asociated antenna compound hearby) when looking at the mountain with the satellite imagery, but I haven't found any sources (Google Earth, etc.) yet that gives a better view of the area in question. Several sources have several different explanations as to what CREED was, relatively recent sources seem to just confirm it's long-abandoned, but otherwise had just heard various rumors as to what it's mission had been. It may or may not be coincidence that the codename started with a C, as did all WHCA/WHMO facilities -- CROWN, CACTUS, CARBINE, CANNONBALL...

A6 writes:

The AJCC Physical Security Manual, posted on the FAS website lists this description of Site CREED:
Site CREED
The limited area on the west side of the AJCC with an underground building complex.

It would appear to me that CREED might be within the wooded area adjacent to the Site R entrance road off Harbaugh Valley RD, visible in this image:
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=39.727938~-77.433497&style=a&lvl=17&scene=1721431
There is a winding road and the remains of a clearing just south of the current entrance gate that fit with the above site description. Unfortunately the birdseye imagery does not seem to cover this.

25 December 2005

Birdseyes from http://www.local.live.com

These birdseyes were discovered by panning over the Site R aerial photo of local.live.com. Not all of the site indicates birdseyes are available.

Site R - Raven Rock

Site R (Raven Rock) is a hardened US military communications facility, the Alternate Joint Communications Center (AJCC), located beneath Raven Rock mountain, near Waynesboro, PA, reported to be the bunker used by Vice President Cheney during the months after 9/11.

More information and aerial photos at previous eyeball: http://eyeball-series.org/site-r/site-r.htm

Site R
Birdseye

West Portals and Helipad, Looking South.

Northeast Portal.

Mountaintop Antennas, At Least Seven Shown. Looking West. (Composite Photo)

Mountaintop Antennas, Looking South.

Looking Down at West Portals. Hut at lower right may be for ventilation. Matches one at the northeast, below.
These structures and the main antennas, like the portals, are enclosed with double-fencing with likely security
sensors in the intervening space.

Two Views of the Same Hut at Northeast. May be for ventilation or fire watch -- there appears to be a perimeter walk at
the upper level. Matches one at the northwest above.

North Access Road. With new construction of guard house.

North Access Road. New structure at lower right.

North Access Road. With north portals at lower right.

North Portals at Bottom. Ventilation shaft at top, termed above as the northeast hut. There appears to be an open tunnel at the clearing below the ventilation shaft.