Discovery of Outside North Commo Pit (Signal Corps Man Hole)
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| Conduits from the commo pit just outside of the north store room exit into this outside commo pit. Use 519's Blueprints for reference. | ||||
| Standing north of the pit looking south |
Standing west of the pit looking east (toward 519) |
Standing east of the pit looking west (toward trail) | Closeup of modern cable |
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| Modern cable that exits east out of the pit and goes into 519's north gun room entrance |
Looking west at the trail from east of the pit | Looking at the pit from the trail |
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WHAT WAS KNOWN BEFORE 10-23-2009
A large (50 pair??) modern black cable was found in the vicinity of where the commo pit should be. (08-15-2009) A cable of similar size exits the battery through the blocked up entrance to the north gun room. A cable of similar size can be seen in the north commo recess in the hallway oposite of the north gun room. No modern cables can be found in the inside commo conduit system other than this recess. There are 4 directions of conduit travel from this recess. 1. Far north gunroom wall (single conduit). 2. north gun pit (2 parallel conduits). 3. north M/G room (single conduit). 4. north hallway commo pit, just outside of the north store room (2 parallel conduits). The gunroom wall and M/G room have been ruled out. The gun pit is possible but unlikely. This leaves the north hallway commo pit which has yet to be opened. There are 3 directions of conduit travel from this commo pit. 1. To/from the recess described above. (2 parallel conduits) 2. Continuing down the hallway. (2 parallel conduits) 3. Outside (2/3 parallel conduits). There are no modern cables at the next pit down the hallway under terminal block 2. This leaves two options for the modern cable in the recess. 1. Being chopped off in the north pit. 2. Exiting to the outside. With everything above in mind this leaves several possibilities for the large black cable found outside. 1. The other end of the cable going through the blocked up wall. 2. The large black cable in the north recess coming out through the outside pit. 3. A cable coming from afar out through the pit to the surface. Either chopped off or going to the block wall. DISCOVERY PROCESS AND FINDINGS 10-23-2009 The large black cable outside was traced to the blocked up entrance on one end. The other end was dug up until a bearing could be established. From this bearing the area was explored until hollow sounding ground was found. A strike with a shovel in the hollow sounding area made a large hollow sounding metalic thud. The area was dug out to reveal the commo pit being searched for. The other end of the large black cable outside does infact go into a modern splice in the newly found pit. This cable appears to exit the west side of the pit through a newer hole. No modern cables come into the pit from the original conduits inside the battery. Several old cables come into the pit but have been chopped off. The pit is filled at least half full with sand. SEARCHES AND FINDINGS 10-24&25-2009 519's Plotting and Spotting Room was searched for modern cables. None were found. Cable Hut B west of the cantonment area was searched for modern cables. None were found. Examination of photos taken of the north commo pit shows modern cables most likely do not go through conduits. Original cables may be in conduits buried under sand in pit. Labels in the Cable Hut support this. UPDATE 12-04-2009 The north hallway commo pit is now open. TASKS FOR A LATER DATE 1. Dig out sand (and possibly remove water?) from pit and explore. 2. Test to see if connections can be made to Cable Hut B. 3. Test to see if conduits run continuous to Cable Hut B. 4. Determine the feasability of running new cable (or fiber) between the pit and Cable Hut B. 5. Trace out existing modern cable and try to find where the other end leads to. |
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