New 350,000-kw generating station installed at Sewaren, N J .

Sewaren Generating Station, as seen from the Arthur Kill

The Public Service Electric and Gas Co., Newark, N.J., has recently put into oper­ation a 350,000-kw generator unit at the Sewaren Generating Station, Sewaren, N.J. The installation of the new unit brings the capacity of the Sewaren sta­tion to 830,000 kw, making it the largest station in the Public Service system.

Since the end of World War II, Pub­lic Service has more than tripled the generating capacity of its system; four completely new stations have been built and additional units installed at existing stations; today, the company has a total generating capacity of more than 4 mil­lion kw, A new Hudson Generating Sta­tion is under construction in Jersey City and will be ready late in 1964.

The approximate cost of the new unit was $60 million; expenditures of more than $1 billion for new construction are planned for the next ten years.

The unit will be controlled by a digi­tal computer that will follow pre-estab­lished programming.

Lightweight radio unit planned for antiguerrilla parachutists Field testing has commenced of a new radio pack to be carried by a parachutist. The new pack permits antiguerilla fighters, while operating behind enemy lines, to maintain contact with friendly forces, base headquarters, field personnel, and aircraft pilots.

The pack weighs 37 pounds and con­sists of four separate two-channel trans­ceivers (a combination of a transmitter and a receiver). Its performance can equal that of one parachutist, dropped behind enemy lines with sufficient radio equipment to operate a forward control command post.

One man has full flexibility in the field both to control aircraft troops and to coordinate their efforts toward a single goal. Depending on the radio equipment in available aircraft, the forward air con­troller can communicate with pilots with­in sight up to 100 miles by means of three transceivers, two of which are very high frequency (38-140 mc) and one is ultrahigh-frequency (250-350 mc). He can also communicate with ground troops up to 25 miles away on one of the VHF transceivers, and with his base station or other ground stations within a radius of approximately 300 miles, and under favorable ionospheric conditions up to 500 miles on a high-frequency transceiver (4-20 mc) .

The set, which has a power output of seven watts for voice communications, also can be used for continuous wave Morse code keying with up to five watts of power. It is designed to provide a beam on which aircraft can "home in" on the controller. The other units offer from one to three watts of output power, and are intended for voice communication only.

Each of the sealed transceivers, water­tight and corrosion-resistant, contains its own battery supply, and can be used in­dependently or in any combination. A special headset is capable of monitoring

two channels simultantously, and a switch permits transmissions on either of the fre­quencies to which the controller is listen­ing.

The pack handles are designed to pro­tect the control panels and the majority of the shock-resistant circuits use semi­conductors such as transistors and diodes. All channels are crystal controlled to eliminate tuning. The VHF and UHF units plus the accessory case are identical in size: IVi inches thick, 10 inches high, and 11 inches long. The high-frequency unit is the same height and length, but is three inches wider.

The set of transceivers can be carried on a parachutist's back or in a general-purpose bag strapped in front. Once on the ground, the controller need only un­strap the unit, plug in the antenna and

headset, and begin transmitting and re­ceiving.

Each of the four transceivers has 12-volt silver-zinc alkaline rechargeable batteries capable of operating for four continuous hours. An accessory case con­tains a special headset capable of moni­toring two channels simultaneously, a microphone, and antennas. Any combina­tion of transceivers can be carried in a special backpack or fitted into a general purpose bag (TRC-7 type) for parachute drop. Transceiver handles are designed to provide protection to controls and switches.

The h-f set is supplied with a 45-foot wire antenna with counterpoise. The others come equipped with 11-, 27-, and 40-inch leaf antennas. The radio sets which can be employed independently or in any combination, are intended for voice communication, although the h-f transceiver is capable of continuous-wave keyed operation. Any transceiver can be operated to receive or transmit on either

Artistes conception of parachutist behind enemy lines using his Sylvania radio command pack to communicate with planes, base headquarters, and field personnel

JUNE 1963 o ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING · 421