European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 5, 1964, Darmstadt, Hesse                              By Wallace Madrid Bac Loback Ropo Shields under construction at microwave disc of Minorca picks up signals from 1964 fanatical horse player might be Temple y a million to one but no rambler would consider u proposition that promised u return of Only 10 this is the percentage that comes through when the air Force communications service arcs chunks up its Ropo scatter system and blasts away at the but the messages come through loud and its something like spraying a fire Hose against the Selling to fill up a shot Glass on the other tide of the explained one theres a tremendous amount of but it to link up the Spain United kingdom network with the Middle a new Chain of Ropo and microwave stations is being Strung across the Mediterranean to the tune of several million Dol when these Are it will be possible to pick up a phone in Madrid und talk with Ankara on a Clear line without a second Al explained col commander of the communications the men of the h89th will Man four of the new while the 2189th so in Italy will take cure of both units belong to the Spanish communications part of the european Mediterranean troop emt communications to get the Ungar bled word from Madrid Over to the italian it is Nec Essary for the message to make a car of shot no Pool player would the Blastoff Point is a Ropo station named i Umosa near Torrejon air from the message takes its first Bounce off the troposphere about feel and comes Down at some 150 Miles away in northeastern another transmitter fires the dispatch out Over the water to the Island of mul a jump of about 230 Here we have a the Pink at Mallor Ca Doest have room for both a receiver and a so the super charged message must gel a lateral this is done by to i microwave setup that relays the from Mallorca to the Island of Menorca do Miles this is a straight shot without u Ricochet off the at the troop system picks ii up again for a 275 mile shot to Sar where it will be bounced another 280 Miles to after crossing the the message continues on to Iriece and finally to where it plugs into the eight of the tur key since this All lakes place us the Speed of Light Miles a second the Man making the Call really nets his Nickels just what is Ropo the answer Stag the stars and stripes lers the imagination of the 3ven after it is explained to there is Likely to be a hidden conviction in the Iven after it is explained to there i Likely to be a hidden conviction in the Back of your mind thai it  pos Sibly it goes something like this an Ultra High frequency boosted by a massive electrical is fired from a curved galvanized steel trans Mission Antenna some 60 feet As the signal passes through the troop an infinitesimal is de by particles and Back to Earth and is receive by a huge shield identical Ullh the transmission Asik this we rent complicated the superhighway of the air has from 24 to 84 voice channels open at the same get this gentle repeat voice Channel can be used to Curry up to u teletype and on top of All the same shield can be used for transmitting and receiving at the same different frequencies make this the mechanics of  Scal Ier May be likened to the experience of seeing a Searchlight beam in the night explained Muj Keith director of telecoms for the Spanish communications we see the beam when Small amounts of Light Are scattered by particles in the air even though we cannot see the or search he pointed out that the Ropo system provides reliable communications for  distances of up to 500 regardless of the Sun magnetic storms and such that play havoc with regular High frequency radio transmissions do not affect the High flying Trono needless to the giant steel trans Miller Piid receiver Antenna must be zeroed in on each other with fantastic otherwise the messages would sail out into the troposphere and Bounce Buck to i aver so Lovla instead of to the Ralph in Engineer from the company of the firm in stalling the antennas at sex there must be no More thaa u 4 Mili Melcor difference on the during the u contour Check is made every Ihrer getting the massive Shields properly in place is Only Purl of the since hey arc usually located on High the engineers must make sure they Are anchored Well enough to take the High winds that lash the Mountain they must also he grounded As Protection a gaunt each installation normally requires about 24 men and n number of civilian Bennett the Navy is in charge of the physical con then the air Force checks on the specifications and accepts other contractors install the electrical 13