[Milsurplus] Hawaii "Stairway to Heaven" to be dismantled
Nick England
navy.radio at gmail.com
Sat Sep 25 19:44:15 EDT 2021
There are some additional photos and info here.
https://web.archive.org/web/20140208005452/http://www.haikuvalley.com/
There was a VLF transmitter at Lualualei, but after the Dec 7 attack, both
it and the receiver site at Wailupe were thought vulnerable.
Original Pearl Harbor transmitter site
https://www.navy-radio.com/commsta/pearl.htm
Lualualei transmitter site
https://www.navy-radio.com/commsta/lualualei.htm
Wailupe receiver site
https://www.navy-radio.com/commsta/wailupe.htm
History of Naval Radio in Hawaii
https://www.navy-radio.com/commsta/todd-hawaii-01.pdf
Cheers
Nick
On Sat, Sep 25, 2021 at 6:06 PM Hubert Miller <Kargo_cult at msn.com> wrote:
> Read this morning in the New York Times, 23 September 2021 this article,
> "Hawaii 'Stairway to Heaven'
>
> Is Deemed Too Dangerous and Will Be Dismantled". Okay, Hawaii subject is
> interesting to me anyway,
>
> but reading it, I learned this "3922 step ascent crosses mountains and
> attracts hikers" was built by
>
> the Navy in 1943 for access to a radio station. Altho not specified, I
> think probably more likely, access
>
> to the antenna. Wiki has this article,
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku_Stairs
>
>
>
> The relevant part of the Wiki article is,
>
>
>
> "In 1942, contractors for the U.S. Navy began construction of the Haʻikū
> Radio Station, a top secret facility
>
> that was to be used to transmit radio signals to Navy ships that were then
> operating throughout the Pacific.[3]
>
> In order to obtain the necessary height for the antennae, the Navy
> stretched them across Haʻikū Valley, a natural
>
> amphitheater. Some remnant parts of the wooden ladder may still be seen
> beside the metal steps.
>
>
>
> The radio station was commissioned in 1943. To transmit such a powerful
> signal, the Navy needed a transmitter
>
> of greater capability than possible with vacuum tube technology at the
> time. They therefore decided upon an
>
> Alexanderson alternator, a huge device capable of generating powerful
> low-frequency radio signals, and requiring
>
> a large antenna.[3]
>
>
>
> When the Naval base was decommissioned in the 1950s, the U.S. Coast Guard
> used the site for an Omega Navigation
>
> System station. In the mid-1950s, the wooden stairs were replaced by
> sections of metal steps and ramps — by one
>
> count, 3,922 steps. The Coast Guard allowed access in the 1970s but
> stopped after an appearance on Magnum P.I.
>
> show increased visitation.[4] The station and trail were closed to the
> public in 1987.[5]"
>
>
>
> Reference [ 3 ] is: "History of the haiku stairs". haikustairs.org.
> Retrieved January 8, 2015.
>
>
>
> [image: A picture containing outdoor, mountain, nature, hillside
> Description automatically generated]
>
>
>
> The antenna and Alexanderson generator says to me, VLF. Altho I would have
> thought the Navy already had
>
> capable Pacific VLF in place already, before the war. I'd like to know
> more about this. The antenna reminds
>
> me of the similar mountain – valley VLF antenna at Navy radio NLK at Jim
> Creek, near Oso, Washington.
>
>
>
> In my high school years, many decades ago, I had a QSL from Navy Radio
> NPM, Hawaii, 19.8 kHz, 500 kW.
>
> The QSL signer thanked me for my "valuable report". Single tube receiver,
> built from a QST article, "An
>
> NAA Receiver". Very good for CW practice, in those days. "VVV VVV VVV
> NPG/NLK" is ingrained in my
>
> memory forever, and without that, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't know the
> Morse for symbol " / ".
>
>
>
> The stated reasons for removing the stairway are liability and safety
> concerns, and that there is no actual
>
> public access; people access it crossing private property. You can imagine
> the aggravation that causes.
>
> -Hue Miller
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--
Nick England K4NYW
www.navy-radio.com
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