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RADAR
While the capability of today's US Navy radar has left TEXAS radar in the distant past, the fundamental principal in 1939 is still the same that being a burst of energy is transmitted (TEXAS being radio and microwave). When the energy strikes an object, some of the energy is reflected back and and electronically displayed.
As of October 1944
. Install Remove A S Frequency (mhz) Maker Equipment Location
CXZ Late 1938 - Jan 1939 1st qtr 1939 X . 400 RCA Main deck - on wheels
CXAM-1 Oct 1941 Aug 1942 X . 200 RCA Signal Bridge
SC-1 Aug- 1942 Feb 1944 X . 200 General Electric Signal Bridge and Navigation Bridge Radio Rm Radar Plot-summer 1943 (renamed CIC)
SG 1st unit - 1st qtr 1943 2nd unit summer 1943 .. . X 3000 Raytheon 1st unit: Navigation Bridge Radio Rm Radar Plot (renamed CIC)- summer 1943 2ND unit: Radar Room, 2nd deck - summer 1943
SK summer 1943 ... X . 200 General Electric Radar Room - 2nd deck
  CXZ:  Early 1939  
 from 1947 RCA history "HOW RADAR CAME INTO BEING"

In early 1939, two ship borne radar types were tested, CXZ on BB35 and XAF on BB34 with XAF had longer range CXZ had better definition. 
RCA took the best features of both and developed the next shipborne radar, CXAM
  CXZ was developed by RCA in late 1938. The RCA unit incorporates the antenna and control together as one unit, mounted on wheels and located on the main deck XAF  Aboard New York the antenna mounted on foremast, above the Pilot House. Developed by the Naval Research Laboratories, XAF operated on 200 megacycles  
   
  CXAM-1:  October 1941 to August 1942  
CXAM-1, developed and built by RCA, incorporated the better definition of their CXZ and longer range of the Naval Research Laboratories unit XAF.  Initial contracts for production of six sets of CXAM installed on USS California, Yorktown and four cruisers. A second contract was let shortly afterward for an additional fourteen sets of a slightly revised version known as the CXAM-1, one of which was placed on board Texas in October 1941,Norfolk Navy Yard. When America entered the war, these twenty sets were the only search radars in use by the U.S. Navy. Texas was the first ship in the Atlantic Squadron to have radar permanently installed on board.
CXAM-1 was replaced in August-October 1942 with SC-1
 


Signal Bridge
What had previously been the Flag Lieutenant’s Cabin on the port side of the Signal Bridge was modified into the new Radar Control Room where the transmitter, receiver and indicator of the CXAM-1, mounted together as one unit, were installed












1947 RCA history "HOW RADAR CAME INTO BEING"
   
 
  SC-1:  October 1942 to February 1944  
In August-October 1942,  in Norfolk Navy Yard, CXAM-1 was replaced with Model SC-1, a new improved air search radar built by General Electric.
SC-1 was removed during the 23 January to 25 February 1944 period in the Boston Navy Yard.
  Fall 1942 - summer 1943

SIGNAL BRIDGE - transmitter and receiver
BRIDGE RADIO - radar indicator
ANTENNA: Large square in the back of the photo. It was attached with a hinge so that it could be folded over to pass under the Brooklyn Bridge

 
March 1943 - January 1944

SC-1 equipment relocated to the new CIC
 
  SG-1(1st unit):  March 1943 - 1945  

First (third operational radar aboard) installed 8 - 15 March 1943, Norfolk Navy Yard.

 Second in the summer of 1943.  

 

Built by Raytheon, the Model SG utilized the multicavity type magnetron, a technological breakthrough developed by the British that allowed for the production of higher frequencies. The SG was the first US radar to operate within the microwave range, producing a 2 microsecond burst at a frequency of 3000 MHz.

The indicator was crammed in with the SC-1 in Bridge Radio.
The space was so crowded the radar operator had to step aside out of the main passage to allow others to pass between the bridge and the chart room
   
 
  23 January - 25 February 1944  
Boston Navy Yard, the SC-1 radar was removed and the SG antenna relocated to the top of the foremast.
  SG (2nd unit) and SK  
Summer 1943 
  2nd SG installed with antenna on the main mast
The SK radar was installed at the same time
The operating equipment for both located in the new "Radar Room Aux CIC", on 2nd deck.
 
As of summer 1943
  September - October 1944  
SG antenna relocated above the SK antenna
     
   RADAR II & AUX CIC - 2nd Deck  
Shortly after the 1943 construction of Radar Plot on board the Texas, the print shop on the second deck was remodeled into radar room and auxiliary cic. The exact date is still unknown. Based on known photo dates, the installation date was during a June 1943 stay in the Boston Navy Yard or a mid July-mid August 1943 New York Navy Yard period. The space later doubled as the auxiliary CIC.

The space was outfitted with a second SG and a new air search radar called the SK. Adapted from the original CXAM and SC-1, the SK radar had a maximum detection range of 150 miles, earning a reputation as one of the best long-range air search radars of the war. The radars in this space remanded unchanged for the rest of the war.

One of the key advancements of the Model SK radar was the addition of a plan position indicator (PPI). Earlier radars had utilized an A-scope on which the energy spikes were displayed, the length between the transmission spike and the return spike providing a distance to the target. While adequate for some applications, this method was at great disadvantage when tracking numerous pips. To solve this problem, the Naval Research Laboratory developed the PPI. This round display had a continuous sweep, synchronized to the rotation of the antenna, and portrayed all pips on the screen in relation to their position to the ship.
1. Duplexing Unit for BL
2. Navigation table
3. BL Unit
4. Safety Switch - After & Emergency boards
5. Frequency range meter
6. TBS Speaker
7. Safety Switch - Fwd & After Boards
8. SK Transmitter
9. Tube Locker
10. Radar Power Panel
11. SK Dehydrator
12. 24MC Speaker
13. 20MC Speaker
14. Telephone & Communication Table
15. TBS Control Unit
16. Radar II Gear Locker
17. Vent System Exhaust
18. Air or Surface Plotting Table
19. Repeater Compass
20. Pitometer Log
21. Clock
21. Clock
22. BN
23 BL & BN Duplexing Unit
24. Magnetic Controller for SK
25. Motor Dynamo Amplifier Unit
26. 5 racks for spare parts boxes
27. SK
28. SK Supply Voltage Controller
29. Receiver Junction Box for SK
30. SK Gyro Switch
31. SK MG Switch
32. SG Supply Voltage Controller
33. SG Gyro Switch
34. Remote PPI Adapter
35. SG
36. SG Antenna Controller Unit
37. SG Lever Switch
38. SG MG Switch
39. Curtain Rod
40. SG Transmitter
41. Antenna Coax
42. SK Duplexer
The Radar Room underwent extensive restoration in 1993 -1994.  The photo is after the restoration.
The SK unit is behind the chair and the SG is on the left.

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Started 11 May 1999 Chuck Moore, FTV (1st Texas Volunteers) BB35 volunteer group