AN/GRC-242 UHF Radio Set Base Station

CSEL AN/GRC-242 UHF Radio Set Base Station.

Today in WW II: 22 May 1939 Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany sign the Pact of Steel, a declaration of trust and cooperation that also included secret provisions on military and economic matters.

CSEL AN/GRC-242 UHF Radio Set Base Station

Satellite dishes at the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Pacific. CSEL AN/GRC-242 UHF Radio Set Base Stations are co-located at NCTAMS facilities.

The Combat Survival Evader Locator (CSEL) Over the Horizon (OTH) Segment consists of four UHF Base Stations (UBS), composed of AN/GRC-242 radio sets located to provide world-wide coverage of the CSEL system. The UBS is the hub of the CSEL over-the-horizon command and control architecture. The OTH Segment communicates over military UHF SATCOM system and the civilian Search & Rescue Satellite Assisted Tracking (Cospas-Sarsat) system.

The CSEL UBSs are co-located with Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station (NCTAMS) facilities (photo above).

The UHF SATCOM mode supports two-way secure data communications between a UBS and the Combat Survival Evader Locator (CSEL) AN/PRQ-7 Handheld Radio (HHR) over a dedicated 5 KHz channel. Messages are responded to by the Joint Search & Rescue Center (JSRC) or component RCC controller via a UBS secure UHF SATCOM data transmission.

AN/GRC-242 Radio Set Base Station Console

The UBS Console measures 84 inches high, 22.5 inches wide, and 30 inches deep (42 inches deep with the keyboard extended), and weighs 300 pounds (top photo). It requires a conventional 20 ampere electrical supply of 115 Volts Alternating Current at 60 Hertz (Hz). The power supply supports two independent sources of electrical current for high-availability operation.