Wullenwever antenna
In the wullenweber is an antenna array , a spatially adjacent arrangement of several antennas which is used primarily to radio signals to target and by triangulation to locate.
history
This type of antenna was developed in the first years of the Second World War by the communications test command (NVK) of the German Navy and Telefunken . The inventor was the NVK group leader Hans Rindfleisch, who worked as technical director for the NDR after the war . Technical group leaders were Joachim Pietzner, Hans Schellhoss and Maximilian Wächtler, who in 1954 became department head at Plath GmbH and later a consultant to Plath and Telefunken. The name "Wullenwever" (Low German for "wool weaver") was chosen as a cover name and is not assigned to any real person.
The Wullenwever antenna was built during the war in Skibsby , northeast of the town of Hjørring ( 57 ° 29 ′ 4 ″ N , 10 ° 1 ′ 11 ″ E ). 40 vertical radiator elements were used, which were arranged on an arc with a diameter of 120 meters. In an inner circle, 40 reflectors were placed behind the radiator elements, which were suspended from a structure made of round wooden support posts with a diameter of 112.5 meters. To make it easier to get an accurate geographic bearing, the north and south elements have been aligned precisely on the north-south meridian.
In the 1950s, at least 30 pitcher antenna arrays ( Russian круг = circle) were set up throughout the Soviet Union, including its allied countries. That was before the US military took an interest in this technology and developed its own Wullenwever antennas. The Soviets erected some pitcher antennas in pairs, less than 10 kilometers apart, apparently for navigation purposes. At least 4 jugs were erected near Moscow . Exactly to the north, east and south of the city. ( Krug facility south of Moscow ) They were used to track the early Sputnik satellites with their 10 and 20 MHz radio signals and were used to determine the re-entry point.
technology
A different phase position and amplitude of the signal for each individual radiator of the antenna results in a steerable directivity , similar to a phased array antenna . Both the azimuth and the elevation of a signal can be determined. Mixed signals can also be separated. You can use the MUSIC algorithm for this, for example .
application areas
- military radio reconnaissance and civil radio surveillance
- navigation
Locations
Map with all coordinates: 
Germany
Systems of this type are, for example, the BND branch in Gablingen ( 48 ° 27 ′ 4 ″ N , 10 ° 51 ′ 46 ″ E ), the radio observation center II of the Federal Police ( 50 ° 41 ′ 54 ″ N , 6 ° 53 ′ 8 ″ E ) near Swisttal - Heimerzheim at the exit of the “Straßfeld” district and the “Kastagnette” large direction finder ( 54 ° 51 ′ 26 ″ N , 9 ° 4 ′ 2 ″ E ) in Bramstedtlund .
The Federal Network Agency maintains an antenna ( 47 ° 41 ′ 16.7 ″ N , 9 ° 11 ′ 59.5 ″ E ) near Constance .
Italy
In southern Italy there was also such an antenna on the former military airfield San Vito dei Normanni ( 40 ° 38 ′ 51 ″ N , 17 ° 50 ′ 25 ″ E )
China
Another DF antenna ( 23 ° 19 ′ 32.1 ″ N , 113 ° 5 ′ 5.9 ″ E ) is located near Huadu , Guangzhou in China.
Diego Garcia
At the British-American military base Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean there was a Wullenwever antenna ( 7 ° 16 ′ 45 ″ S , 72 ° 22 ′ 9 ″ O ) with a diameter of about 300 meters. The plant was dismantled in September 2005.
Japan
Itself (in Japan is such an antenna ' "2.3 42 ° 51 N , 141 ° 43' 51.8" O ) on the bottom Self-Defense Forces -Stützpunkt Higashi-Chitose at Chitose and another ( 35 ° 30 '40.3 " N , 133 ° 13 '22.3 " O ) of the communication station Miho ( 美保通信所 ) near the air self-defense forces -Stützpunkt Miho in Sakaiminato .
Until 2007, the Sobe ( 楚 辺 通信 所 , English Sobe Communication Site ) of the US Navy was in the village of Yomitan with another Wullenwever antenna ( 26 ° 24 ′ 2 ″ N , 127 ° 43 ′ 48 ″ E ). Until 2014 there was a Wullenwever circular antenna system ( 40 ° 43 ′ 22 ″ N , 141 ° 19 ′ 44 ″ E ) of the type AN / FLR-9 with a diameter of 440 m at Misawa Air Base .
Canada
Such an antenna ( 48 ° 57 ′ 4 ″ N , 54 ° 31 ′ 30 ″ W ) is installed about 1.5 kilometers east of Gander Airport .
Spain
A very large antenna of this type is located south of Mahón on Menorca ( 39 ° 51 ′ 23 ″ N , 4 ° 17 ′ 28 ″ E ).
literature
- Frank Adcock: British patent GB 130490, 1919. (PDF)
- Hans Rindfleisch: The large base direction finding system 'Wullenwever' . In: Nachrichtenentechnische Zeitung . No. 9 , 1956, pp. 119-123 .
Web links
- Archive ( Memento from August 6, 2013 on WebCite )
- Wullenweber antenna type AN / FLR-9
- Antenna type AN / FRD-10 Classic Bullseye
- USN CDAAs (Wullenwever Antennas): End of an Era
Individual evidence
- ↑ NAVSECGRU Diego Garcia was disestablished in September 2005 on fas.org
- ↑ 象 の オ リ . In: 愛媛 新聞 社 ONLINE . Ehime Shimbun-sha, October 8, 2012, archived from the original on October 10, 2012 ; Retrieved November 3, 2012 (Japanese).
- ↑ US military's 'Elephant Cage' antenna to be razed . In: The Japan Times Online . November 22, 2012, ISSN 0447-5763 ( japantimes.co.jp [accessed March 25, 2018]).