Show Fi i g F Fn n 1 r r dully i NA K 9 f i f ft l 4 w a s p as rr I 1 A s rr 4 THE FEDERAL Aviation Administration radio station about four miles southwest of Myton aids route en-route en route air traffic from small general aviation planes to jetliners and military aircraft The station provides navigation tion and communication assistance FAA My Myton ton station aids air traffic MYTON-A MYTON Federal Aviation Ad- Ad Administration Administration ministration station near here aids general aviation pilots as well as high high- highflying flying commercial aircraft with navigation navigation tion and weather information The station belongs to a network of similar facilities that allow pilots to talk with FAA facilities in Salt Lake City Denver and Grand Junction Colo The three technicians who operate the station also have to take care of radio equipment in Vernal and in Carbon Coun Coun- Coun County ty including a set of radio transmitters at the top of a mountain feet up The building they work in is about three or four miles southwest of here on ona ona a plateau filled with sagebrush The white building has a unique appearance because of a shaped cone rotating anten na sticking up from the center of the roof My Myton ton a tiny community could be considered a remote place to work and live For Ken Lawson and Lynn LYM Alex Alex- Alexander Alexander ander however Roosevelt is their home hometown hometown I AlexI town Alexander has worked at the theMy My Myton ton station for 11 years while Lawson has been there since 1977 Keith Barker Barkert t has also worked there since 1971 after transferring from an FAA job in California They work generally five days a week during traditional work hours though the schedule can vary depending on maintenance that has to be done at the outlying sites As winter approaches the most difficult of the routine chores will be looking after the equipment on top of Sunnyside Peak miles away in Car Car- Carbon Carbon bon County The only way to get up the mountain with snow on the ground is in ina ina a tracked vehicle called a snow cat There are times where we couldn't even get to the top because of the weather said Alexander Last spring there was a boulder in the road the size of this building Lawson said many people may not know that the FAA has many stations similar to the place where they work to help air traffic in the skies between air air- airports airports ports For example he said the FAA has hasa hasa a station in the remote southern Utah community of Hanksville in Wayne County The FAA operates a radar station near Douglas Pass in western Colorado bet bet- between between Rangely and Grand Junction Lawson and his workers co-workers have many years of electronics training including sessions at the FAA academy in Oklahoma City Since Ive I've been out of high school Ive I've had about eight years in electronics schools said Alexander Equipment functions The My Myton ton technicians take care of equipment with four functions In their operations the FAA places the highest priority on the transmitters on Sunnyside Peak because of their importance to the Salt Lake City and Denver air traffic control centers Known as Three technicians work here and maintain equipment in Vernal and Carbon County They can leave the station at night because the equipment can be monitored electronically by FAA person person- personnel personnel nel on duty elsewhere remote communication air to ground ground- the mountaintop station provides a radio relay between commercial and military aircraft and the air traffic control centers The station provides two chan chan- channels channels nels to Salt Lake City and one to Denver A fourth channel belongs to a system knows as EF en en AS-en route advisory which service provides weather information The My Myton ton station has back up transmitters The controllers in Salt Lake City and Denver can switch from one system to another by remote control A second kind of equipment called for Tactical Aerial Navigation acts as a homing device for lost general aviation aircraft which fly at lower altitudes The My Myton ton station also has very high VOR VOm equipment and older version of T ACAN equipment indicates a direction in degl degrees s azimuth and distance in relation to the signal VOR indicates only whether or not an aircraft has flown past the signal The FM FAA maintains VOR stations near the Vernal and Price airports The FAA also has a distance measuring station at Price As the name implies the tells a pilot the distance from the signal The fhe navigation equipment acts with decoding equipment on airplanes In the case of TA N explained Alexander e ander t I II I Ic J 1 c 5 1 r- r ri rM J i LJ M M Mr r w r w r f I n II I 11 t i I I i i 1 1 S t ti i I I 0 I o s sw n I J I I I w r we r a J l J l L M t Y f I I 4 F M R h 9 I tI ft w 1 I t r t r W i f v d 1 1 5 Q Q f fI J I 0 J hf I f r ta li I FAA TECHNICIAN Ken Lawson stands in front of the tactical aerial navigation system Known as it broadcasts two signals decoded on onboard I board a plane into distance and a degree heading The Tho watt transmitter broadcasts a pulse for each of degrees in direction through an antenna that turns times a minute the amount of time taken for a signal to reach an aircraft translates into distance The FAA has replaced older equip equip- equipment equipment ment at many sites with more compact solid state equipment that takes up a half to a third as much space The older tube tube- style equipment becomes expensive to replace because few parts are made said Barker Tubes that cost 67 cents apiece now cost 3 he said 4 S 1 j IS I d 4 1 n nI nI I E I l 19 I ff tAr ii l ti THIS SET OF antennas for remote communication ground to air has to be installed on a wooden platform to prevent interference A set of equipment occupies three cabinets one for the power supply supply ly a second for transmitting the signal and a third for tor monitoring the signal The station includes backup back and VOR systems Modernization delayed The modernization has yet to catch up to the My Myton ton station however The FAA delayed the move last month said Alexander Improving the equipment also means a reduction in manpower Lawson Alex Alex- Alexander Alexander ander and Baker indicated that they'll wait until the time comes before making decisions about the future A fourth equipment feature is remote communications which outlet allows pilots to talk with the FAA flight service station in Grand Junction by way of a cable link The Vernal VOR station includes this feature w a iii 4 L or r rj I j k I I I If f r J JS S a IJ S r r S 5 t tW ti r Ii ii bE bEs s q 4 kd A 4 N 5 r J S 55 t tI tk I f 4 w k 1 v vS S 5 t W r J I 5 1 j I r 1 k 1 w tiff L I Ij dr e Ii I j Y I I it I J KEITH BARKER left and Lynn Alexander check 50 watts of which power sends a signal a lot lota lota a communication system that allows airline pilots farther than people may think Similar equip equip- to talk with controllers in Salt Lake City or ment is at the top of Sunnyside Peak Carbon Denver Each of the three transmitters put out County |