Milestones:First Transpacific Reception of a Television (TV) Signal via Satellite, 1963 and Milestones:Taum Sauk Pumped-Storage Electric Power Plant, 1963: Difference between pages

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Taum Sauk Pumped-Storage Electric Power Plant, 1963

IEEE St. Louis Section, Dedication: September 2005

The Taum Sauk Plant, when it came on-line in 1963, was the largest pure pumped-storage electric power plant in North America. Other pioneering features for this pumped-storage plant were its high capacity turbine-generators and its ability to be operated remotely, 90 miles away, from St. Louis, Missouri.

The plaque can be viewed in the visitor's center at the plant, just outside of the Johnson Shut-Ins State Park, off State Highway N, Missouri.

The Taum Sauk Plant, when it came on-line in 1963, was the largest pure pumped-storage electric power plant in North America, producing 350 MW of power. Other pioneering features for this pumped-storage plant were its high capacity turbine-generators and its ability to be operated from a remote location 90 miles away in St. Louis, Missouri.

The Taum Sauk Project is located in the Ozark Highlands on the east fork of the Black River 90 miles southwest of St. Louis, Missouri. Project construction began on 1 June 1960 and the plant's two reversible pump-turbines went into commercial service on 20 December 1963. The project is used primarily to meet daily peak power demands by drawing water from the 4,350 acre-foot captive upper reservoir through the turbines. The water is then pumped back to the upper reservoir from the 6,500 acre-foot lower reservoir at night when power demand is low. The upper lake is 92 feet deep, kidney shaped, with a 55-acre surface area, is one and one-quarter miles in circumference and holds 1.5 billion gallons of water.

Full automation of the generating units and their auxiliary systems from the control room of the Osage Hydroelectric Plant, which is 100 miles away, has been achieved by push button start and stop control utilizing the utility’s microwave system. Loading and unloading of the units is accomplished by remote control from the Load Dispatchers office in St. Louis.

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-== First Transpacific Reception of a Television (TV) Signal via Satellite, 1963  ==
+== Taum Sauk Pumped-Storage Electric Power Plant, 1963  ==
-''On 23 November 1963, this site received the first transpacific transmission of a TV signal from Mojave earth station in California, U.S.A., via the Relay 1 communications satellite. The Ibaraki earth station used a 20m Cassegrain antenna, the first use of this type of antenna for commercial telecommunications. This event demonstrated the capability and impact of satellite communications and helped open a new era of intercontinental live TV programming relayed via satellite.''
+[[IEEE Saint Louis Section History|IEEE St. Louis Section]], Dedication: September 2005&nbsp;
-The milestone plaque may be viewed in the exhibition hall of previous Ibaraki Satellite Communication Center, 650, Ishitaki, Takahagi-city, Ibaraki 318-0022, Japan
+''The Taum Sauk Plant, when it came on-line in 1963, was the largest pure pumped-storage electric power plant in North America. Other pioneering features for this pumped-storage plant were its high capacity turbine-generators and its ability to be operated remotely, 90 miles away, from St. Louis, Missouri.''
-<p>Inter-continental TV program transmission over the telecommunication link is a common measure for the TV broadcasters now, but just some 45 years ago, it was not practically available and the TV broadcasters relied on long-haul aircraft which carried the news films and/or video-tapes for them. In the early 1960's, telecommunications between United States and Japan depended on narrow-band coaxial submarine cables and HF radio. Satellite communications that were being experimented at that time over the Atlantic Ocean, attracted keen interest in Japan with expectation as the overseas TV transmissions media for Tokyo Olympic Games scheduled in 1964. A joint committee consisting of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, the Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Public Corporation, NHK and KDD, was organized and therein the experimental policy and the role of each party were decided. KDD (Japanese international telecommunication carrier, currently KDDI) made its preparation of the experimental earth station from 1961 and onward, while Japan participated in the Ground Station Committee sponsored by the NASA in 1962, to use communication satellites launched and operated by the NASA. <ref name="refnum7">Satellite Communications Engineering, Chapter 1.2, Ken-ichi Miya, Lattice Co., 1975</ref> </p>
+'''The plaque can be viewed in the visitor's center at the plant, just outside of the Johnson Shut-Ins State Park, off State Highway N, Missouri.'''
-<p>Researchers and engineers of KDD in association with those of Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and NEC Corp. devoted themselves to development of the first earth station system for overseas telecommunications in Japan. Eventually, a 20-m Cassegrain antenna was installed in Ibaraki in 1963. Application of this type of antenna for commercial communications was the first in the world. The experimental earth station was completed on November 20,1963 and the public experiment of U.S.Japan TV program relay via ''Relay 1 ''satellite was announced to be on November 23. </p>
+The Taum Sauk Plant, when it came on-line in 1963, was the largest pure pumped-storage electric power plant in North America, producing 350 MW of power. Other pioneering features for this pumped-storage plant were its high capacity turbine-generators and its ability to be operated from a remote location 90 miles away in St. Louis, Missouri.
-<p>All major Japanese Newspapers reported the completion of the experimental station and the TV relay experiment schedule.<ref name="refnum1">Communication-Satellite Relaying Tests between USA and Japan, Ken-ichi Miya, Journal of Institute of Electronic Communications Engineers of Japan, April 1964</ref><ref name="refnum2">Advanced Technology in Satellite Communication Antennas, Electrical &amp;amp; Mechanical Design, Chapter 2, 2.1 Introduction, Takashi Kitsuregawa, Artech House, [[/wiki/index.php?title=Special:Booksources&amp;isbn=0890063877|ISBN 0-89006-387-7]]</ref><ref name="refnum9">"Space Signal Site Completed", "U.S. Television Test To Be Relayed Here", The Japan Times, November 20, 1963</ref><ref name="refnum10">"Adjustment on-going, No visitors", The Asahi, November 20,1963</ref><ref name="refnum11">"TV relay across the Pacific on 23'd", The Mainichi, November 20, 1963</ref><ref name="refnum12">"1 st TV relay via Relay Satellite on 23'd", "The Dawn of Space Communications", The Yomiuri, November 20,1963</ref> The very first trans-Pacific satellite communications experiment via ''Relay-1'' satellite was successfully carried out on November 23, 1963. Because this experiment schedule had been widely announced by the press beforehand and telecast nation wide as a live program, many Japanese people could witness this historic television transmission from the USA in front of home TV sets. Unexpectedly, the news of the assassination of President J.F. Kennedy, who had actively promoted space exploration including satellite communications, was conveyed as the first TV program transmission over the Pacific. Japanese Newspapers reported the successful TV relay experiment along side with big coverage of President Kennedy's assassination. The fact that the very first trans-Pacific TV program transmission was the most tragic news that had happened only moments before has deeply stuck in the memory of Japanese people.<ref name="refnum3">NASA Space Chronology (Excerpts for 2007-2008), page 19, CHRONOLOGY - November 2008; 45 years ago 1963; Nov. 22</ref><ref name="refnum4">US-Japan Satellite Relay Broadcast and Apollo 11, [http://www.nhk.or.jp/strl/aboutstrl/evolution-of-tv-en/p11lindex.html http://www.nhk.or.jp/strl/aboutstrl/evolution-of-tv-en/p11lindex.html]</ref><ref name="refnum5">Satellite Communications in Japan, Toshio Kurimura, IEEE Transactions on Communications, Vol. Com-20, No.4, August 1972</ref><ref name="refnum13">"U.S. to Send President's TV Salute via Space Today", The Japan Times, November 23, 1963</ref><ref name="refnum14">"U.S.-&amp;gt; Japan TV Relay via Communications Satellite to be experimented this morning", The Mainichi, November 23, 1963</ref><ref name="refnum15">"U.S. - Japan TV Relay This Morning", "Preliminary Tests 100% Successful", The Yomiuri, November 23,1963</ref><ref name="refnum16">"U.S. - Japan TV Relay Successful", "Vivid News of Assassination", The Asahi, Evening Edition, November 23,1963</ref><ref name="refnum17">"Successful U.S.-&amp;gt;Japan TV Relay Experiment via Communications Satellite", "Tragic News hits 1st TV Relay Experiment", "Picture Better than Expected", The Mainichi, Extra Issue and Evening Edition, November 23, 1963</ref><ref name="refnum18">"Space Communication carried Tragic News", "1 st U.S. - Japan TV Relay This Morning", The Yomiuri, Evening Edition, November 23,1963</ref><ref name="refnum19">"Satellite TV Relay To Japan Successful", The Japan Times, November 24, 1963</ref> &lt;p&gt;Following the experimental earth station, the second antenna installed in Ibaraki called "Ibaraki-2A" was approved as the first Intelsat standard-A antenna in the world in 1968. Since then, Ibaraki Satellite Communication Center (ISCC) played a key role as the Japanese gateway to the USA and countries in the Pacific Rim with the growing demand of international telecommunications including telephone, television, high-speed data transmission through 1970s-1980s. The number of satellite circuit through ISCC peaked in mid 1980 with nearly 4000 circuits, Ibaraki-4A antenna (with 32m diameter) started its operation in 1984 when the traffic through ISCC was the busiest.<ref name="refnum2" /><ref name="refnum5" /> It also contributed to many innovations in satellite communications technology giving basic development facilities to researchers and engineers. It continued until satellite communications handed over its seat as the primary transmission media for overseas telecommunications to high-capacity submarine optical fiber systems in the late 1990's. </p>
+The Taum Sauk Project is located in the Ozark Highlands on the east fork of the Black River 90 miles southwest of St. Louis, Missouri. Project construction began on 1 June 1960 and the plant's two reversible pump-turbines went into commercial service on 20 December 1963. The project is used primarily to meet daily peak power demands by drawing water from the 4,350 acre-foot captive upper reservoir through the turbines. The water is then pumped back to the upper reservoir from the 6,500 acre-foot lower reservoir at night when power demand is low. The upper lake is 92 feet deep, kidney shaped, with a 55-acre surface area, is one and one-quarter miles in circumference and holds 1.5 billion gallons of water.
-<p>1. The very first trans-Pacific TV signal transmission from U.S.A. to Japan via satellite was achieved just one year after the first trans-Atlantic TV transmission in 1962. It strongly impressed the mind of Japanese people as a "milestone" when a new age of real-time overseas TV transmission was ushered.<ref name="refnum3" /><ref name="refnum4" /><ref name="refnum5" /><ref name="refnum9" /><ref name="refnum10" /><ref name="refnum11" /><ref name="refnum12" /><ref name="refnum13" /><ref name="refnum14" /><ref name="refnum15" /><ref name="refnum16" /><ref name="refnum17" /><ref name="refnum18" /><ref name="refnum19" /></p>
+Full automation of the generating units and their auxiliary systems from the control room of the Osage Hydroelectric Plant, which is 100 miles away, has been achieved by push button start and stop control utilizing the utility’s microwave system. Loading and unloading of the units is accomplished by remote control from the Load Dispatchers office in St. Louis.
-<p><br>2. Application of Cassegrain antennas to commercial telecommunications was the first in the world, since prime-feed parabola or gigantic horn reflectors had been used in preceding satellite communication trials in other countries. From technical view point, the Cassegrain antenna intrinsically has an advantage of low-noise, since the spill-over from the edge of sub-reflector is being directed to the cold sky. Furthermore, the Cassegrain antenna is suitable for a very large earth station, because it can locate bulky communications equipment at the back of main reflector, which the conventional prime-feed type parabola being incapable of.<ref name="refnum1" /><ref name="refnum20">"Presentation on Ibaraki Satellite Communication Center, First Transpacific TV Signal Reception via Satellite", Yasuo Hirata, July 2008</ref></p>
-<p>3. The Cassegrain antenna at Ibaraki was further improved later by introducing features such as 4-reflector beam-waveguide feed system and struts with a novel shape to support sub-reflector. The 4-reflector beam-waveguide feed system was designed to extend the radio frequency path between the feed horn and subreflector of Cassegrain antenna without the use of conventional waveguides, With this invention, the feed horn, low noise amplifiers and high power amplifiers with huge weight can be accommodated in a room on the ground, and high capacity earth station could be easily achieved. The beam-waveguide type design became the de-facto standard of today's large earth station antennas in the world, The 4 struts to support sub-reflector is sometimes called Godzilla-stay from their appearance. They are uniquely shaped to scatter the reflected rays to reduce wide-angle sidelobes. <ref name="refnum6">Development of Earth Station Antennas, Shin-ichi Betsudan, Space Japan Review, No. 49, October/November 2006</ref><ref name="refnum8">Side-lobe Reduction of Earth Station Antenna by Means of Improved Struts Shape, Toshio Satoh et ai, KDD Technical Journal No. 111, Jan. 1982</ref> </p>
-== References  ==
-<p><references /> </p>
 == Map ==
-{{#display_map:36.697371, 140.708953~ ~ ~ ~ ~Ishitaki, Takahagi-city, Ibaraki, Japan|height=250|zoom=10|static=yes|center=36.697371, 140.708953}}
+{{#display_map:37.32703, -91.02427~ ~ ~ ~ ~Taum Sauk Power Plant, Reynolds County, Missouri, U.S.A.|height=250|zoom=10|static=yes|center=37.32703, -91.02427}}
-[[Category:TV|Satellite]] [[Category:Aerospace engineering|Satellite]] [[Category:Satellites|Satellite]]
+[[Category:Energy|{{PAGENAME}}]]
+[[Category:Pumps|{{PAGENAME}}]]
+[[Category:Power_generation|{{PAGENAME}}]]