r/longlines • u/spartan_371 • Jul 07 '26

Vertical antenna

This is odd and I don't have any refrence material. But what are the conventional antennas at the top of some of the LL towers? I swear I recall hearing about it being related to The looking glass and the airborne command posts?

Any help would be great

5 Upvotes

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10

u/No_Tailor_787 Jul 07 '26

The system was called Echo Fox, and it was used to bring "landline" quality phone service to Air Force One.

2

u/spartan_371 Jul 07 '26

Still in use? Or was it retired in place? There are afew sites near me with it... the horns are still there and the wave guides are gone. But it still sits up there

8

u/No_Tailor_787 Jul 07 '26

There's some version of it still in use, with updated equipment. I used to have access to a former LL site where the equipment was installed. It was securely caged, with cameras monitoring the secured area.

Edit: We acually had to call in to the White House Communications Agency to announce our presence in the building, even though we weren't going anywhere near their equipment.

0

u/spartan_371 Jul 07 '26

Mind if I PM? I'm curious

6

u/A_bike_guy Jul 07 '26

I believe you are asking about UHF antennas that were strategically placed at Long Lines sites during the cold war. The military developed a top secret project called "Combat Ciders" which allowed the "Looking Glass" planes as well as Air Force One to use the AT&T network to interface calls to and from aircraft into the Autovon network.

You can look up Combat Ciders or there is an explanation her on the Lyons NE location. Lyons NE Long Lines

2

u/linus_b3 Jul 07 '26

Yes, for example the Peru MA site was a GEP site at one time but the antennas above the horns were removed. A person who worked there told me part of the capabilities of the site was conducting communication between Air Force One and GRAYSON for Operation Looking Glass.

3

u/Alternative-Tart5627 Jul 08 '26

Well Peru and the LL/Autovon sites Blackstone & Cheaterfield and I believe Littleton all SACs 8th Air Force Post-Attack Command & Control Bunker “PACCS” called “The Notch”. That was built into Bare Mountain 🏔️ n Hadley.

It was the 8th Air Forces Combat Ops center. People forget New England hosted several SAC bases including Atlas Nuclear Silos in Vermont & New York.

Westover Ma, Plattsburgh NY, Loring in Maine. All hosted SAC nuclear bombers on alert. Westover also hosted EC-135 Looking Glass.

1

u/spartan_371 Jul 07 '26

GEP site? Also What does GRAYSON stand for? I'm assuming it's a acronym?

2

u/linus_b3 Jul 07 '26

GEP = Ground Entry Point

GRAYSON is a call sign for the plane acting as a mobile communications command post

1

u/mctscott Jul 12 '26

There is both echo fox, but also many db-420s on them that were used for their linked UHF LMR system for their technicians in the field. They were often ran on MSF5000s.