Recent Photos of Painesdale GFA, MI
From the USACE FUDS Report
Jan 2001 photos contributed by Tom Scanlan
Presently a transmitter site for WBKP television.
Old Gap Filler Radar Building, showing front door open. About 40" of
snow on the ground. Two rooms - front, housing equipment; rear, housing
diesel generator, HVAC equipment, shop. Currently houses FM, TV, and NOAA
weather transmitters.
Radar building, with self-supporting radar tower in rear with 900 MHz
audio intercity microwave link antenna. Original radar antenna`s whereabouts
are unknown. New 500 foot tower for TV and FM shown to the right. Fence has
been repaired; original USAF fence was left in disrepair from 1968 until
1996. Fence was repaired using material from closed KI Sawyer AFB,
Marquette, MI. Top of mountain - Tolonen Hill - is 1,509 feet high - tallest
point in Keweenaw Ridge along Lake Superior from Wisconsin border to Copper
Harbor, at the tip of the peninsula. When it was a Gap Filler Site, it
augmented coverage of Calumet AFS, Michigan and similar site at Finland AFS, Minnesota.
New sign warning trespassers that it is a federal offense to enter upon
FCC licensed equipment used in public safety applications.
40" of snow on ground...January, 2001. New TV tower shown in front of
old USAF Radar tower.
Showing Lake Superior to the Northwest...Gap Filler site is 1,509 feet
AMSL...Lake Superior is 602 feet.