Station HYPO

Early History

During World War II, lookouts aboard surfaced German submarines used handheld crystal-video radar receivers called ATHOS to detect pulses emitted by search radars on Allied warships and aircraft This type of receiver consisted of a tuning coil and capacitor to select the approximate radio frequency to be received; a crystal diode, usually of silicon, that acted as a one-way gate, or rectifier, and produced an audible sound; and a simple amplifier that broadcast the “detected” sounds over a headset or loudspeaker. After the war, this same technology was adopted and applied in the direction-finding systems of American warships and airplanes because of its simplicity, small size, and “wideopen” frequency-detection characteristics.

Master Chief Smith entered the Navy’s Delayed Entry Program during his junior year of high school and subsequently enlisted on 5 Jun 1984 following graduation from Mingus Union High School in Cottonwood, Arizona. Following basic training at RTC Orlando, FL, he reported to NTTC Corry Station, for Basic CTR A-school.

Reverend Arthur Jay Gowie, CTOCS, 81 passed away 23 May 2026 at the Veterans Home in Bangor, Maine. He was born on February 16, 1945, in Troy, New York, the son of Arthur and Jean Gowie.

Introduction

The way the United States perfected and used space technology to solve intelligence problems is an important story; this remarkable technology helped ensure that the Cold War never turned “hot.” In parallel with the crucially important development of ballistic missiles for our defense, there was the equally urgent program to develop reconnaissance satellites to provide advance warning of enemy military activity. Information about-military, industrial, and political activities in the Soviet Union was the key to providing the United States with a survivable nuclear retaliatory force. This story involves the challenge of collecting electronic signals being radiated from the Soviet Union using satellites in Earth orbit, some as high as geosynchronous altitude; sending those signals back to Earth; sorting and analyzing those signals with computers and with people; and providing to our national leaders the information needed to give our country a valuable advantage in confronting the threat of Soviet Communism during the most perilous times of the Cold War. The story now to be told is about the US SIGINT satellites.

NRO APPROVED FOR RELEASE 10 FEBRUARY 2016
Source: National Reconnaissance Office, The SIGINT Satellite Story

Beginning tomorrow, Station HYPO will launch a five-part series titled “The SIGINT Satellite Story.” This fascinating series is based on a historical document produced by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and officially declassified on February 10, 2016.