Deal Test Site
Encyclopedia
The Deal Test Site is located in Ocean Township
, New Jersey
.
The Joe Palaia Park was originally started as the Foxburst Farm, a 63 acres (254,952.2 m²) tract which is now the southern portion of the park. It was purchased by Western Electric
, (part of AT&T
and later Lucent), in 1919. The site was later expanded with an additional 145 acre (0.5867947 km²) purchase by AT&T in 1927. The site is bounded by three major township roads, Deal Road, Whalepond Road, and Dow Avenue. Several homes on Whalepond Road, north of Freehold Street, and Dow Avenue, from the corner of Whalepond Road to the Ocean Township School, abut the property.
After World War I
, AT&T used the site to conduct ship-to-shore
wireless experiments off the Jersey Shore
. Five large radio towers were eventually erected and used to broadcast
speech and music for a range of 1000 miles (1,609.3 km). In 1921, a two-story white building was built, which was used as a laboratory and dormitories for engineers.
Research continued through the 1930s in conjunction with Bell Telephone Laboratories (the successor to Western Electric’s research division), to use shorter wavelengths for radio transmission, this eventually led to the development of the microwave radio relay systems used to carry long distance telephone traffic in the latter half of the 20th century. The development of fiber-optic communications (also by Bell Labs) ended the widespread use of microwave
repeaters.
In 1953, the test site was sold by AT&T, and the new owners leased the property to the U.S. Army Signal Corps for tracking satellites. A 28 feet (8.5 m) dish antenna on a 40 feet (12.2 m) tower (near the Bicentennial Oak Tree) was used to pick up signals from Russian satellites Sputnik 1
and Sputnik 2
. The large circular concrete base of this antenna is still visible today.
In the 1960s, the Army transmitted the first photograph via facsimile
("fax") to Puerto Rico
from the site using the Courier satellite
.
In 1823/1824, long before the land became a test site, a Late Pleistocene
/early Holocene
mastodon
was excavated from a peat bog on the south side of Poplar Brook. Fossil
vertebrate remains were also found from the Tertiary
marl
s along the brook.
In the 1990s, the Deal test site was renamed Palaia Park, and a 3 miles (4.8 km) system of paved pathways have been laid throughout the site. The park contains soccer and baseball fields, and boasts a large festival ground that is used by the township for civic events, and cultural festivals.
The park has also hosted the USA Track & Field (USATF), USA 40 km Racewalking championships that occur in early September.
Many festivals and events take place throughout the year at the test site, including the Italian American Festival, which attracts up to 70,000 visitors over five days.
Ocean Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey
Ocean Township is a township located in east central Monmouth County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 27,291.Oakhurst and Wanamassa Ocean Township is a township located in east central Monmouth County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
.
The Joe Palaia Park was originally started as the Foxburst Farm, a 63 acres (254,952.2 m²) tract which is now the southern portion of the park. It was purchased by Western Electric
Western Electric
Western Electric Company was an American electrical engineering company, the manufacturing arm of AT&T from 1881 to 1995. It was the scene of a number of technological innovations and also some seminal developments in industrial management...
, (part of AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
and later Lucent), in 1919. The site was later expanded with an additional 145 acre (0.5867947 km²) purchase by AT&T in 1927. The site is bounded by three major township roads, Deal Road, Whalepond Road, and Dow Avenue. Several homes on Whalepond Road, north of Freehold Street, and Dow Avenue, from the corner of Whalepond Road to the Ocean Township School, abut the property.
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, AT&T used the site to conduct ship-to-shore
Marine and mobile radio telephony
The Marine Radiotelephone Service or HF ship-to-shore operates on shortwave radio frequencies, using single-sideband modulation. The usual method is that a ship calls a shore station, and the shore station's marine operator connects the caller to the public switched telephone network...
wireless experiments off the Jersey Shore
Jersey Shore
The Jersey Shore is a term used to refer to both the Atlantic coast of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the adjacent resort and residential communities. . The New Jersey State Department of Tourism considers the Shore Region, Greater Atlantic City, and the Southern Shore to be distinct, each having...
. Five large radio towers were eventually erected and used to broadcast
Broadcast
Broadcast or Broadcasting may refer to:* Broadcasting, the transmission of audio and video signals* Broadcast, an individual television program or radio program* Broadcast , an English electronic music band...
speech and music for a range of 1000 miles (1,609.3 km). In 1921, a two-story white building was built, which was used as a laboratory and dormitories for engineers.
Research continued through the 1930s in conjunction with Bell Telephone Laboratories (the successor to Western Electric’s research division), to use shorter wavelengths for radio transmission, this eventually led to the development of the microwave radio relay systems used to carry long distance telephone traffic in the latter half of the 20th century. The development of fiber-optic communications (also by Bell Labs) ended the widespread use of microwave
Microwave
Microwaves, a subset of radio waves, have wavelengths ranging from as long as one meter to as short as one millimeter, or equivalently, with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. This broad definition includes both UHF and EHF , and various sources use different boundaries...
repeaters.
In 1953, the test site was sold by AT&T, and the new owners leased the property to the U.S. Army Signal Corps for tracking satellites. A 28 feet (8.5 m) dish antenna on a 40 feet (12.2 m) tower (near the Bicentennial Oak Tree) was used to pick up signals from Russian satellites Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1
Sputnik 1 ) was the first artificial satellite to be put into Earth's orbit. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957. The unanticipated announcement of Sputnik 1s success precipitated the Sputnik crisis in the United States and ignited the Space...
and Sputnik 2
Sputnik 2
Sputnik 2 , or Prosteyshiy Sputnik 2 ), was the second spacecraft launched into Earth orbit, on November 3, 1957, and the first to carry a living animal, a dog named Laika. Sputnik 2 was a 4-meter high cone-shaped capsule with a base diameter of 2 meters...
. The large circular concrete base of this antenna is still visible today.
In the 1960s, the Army transmitted the first photograph via facsimile
Facsimile
A facsimile is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from other forms of reproduction by attempting to replicate the source as accurately as possible in terms of scale,...
("fax") to Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
from the site using the Courier satellite
Courier 1B
Courier 1B was the world's first active repeater satellite after launch on 4 October 1960. Courier was built by the Palo Alto, California–based Western Development Labs division of Philco, previously known as Army Fort Monmouth Laboratories and now the Space Systems/Loral division of Loral Space &...
.
In 1823/1824, long before the land became a test site, a Late Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
/early Holocene
Holocene
The Holocene is a geological epoch which began at the end of the Pleistocene and continues to the present. The Holocene is part of the Quaternary period. Its name comes from the Greek words and , meaning "entirely recent"...
mastodon
Mastodon
Mastodons were large tusked mammal species of the extinct genus Mammut which inhabited Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and Central America from the Oligocene through Pleistocene, 33.9 mya to 11,000 years ago. The American mastodon is the most recent and best known species of the group...
was excavated from a peat bog on the south side of Poplar Brook. Fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
vertebrate remains were also found from the Tertiary
Tertiary
The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...
marl
Marl
Marl or marlstone is a calcium carbonate or lime-rich mud or mudstone which contains variable amounts of clays and aragonite. Marl was originally an old term loosely applied to a variety of materials, most of which occur as loose, earthy deposits consisting chiefly of an intimate mixture of clay...
s along the brook.
Present day
In the 1970s, It was used for Summer Stock Plays on the outdoor stage to the south of the main road.In the 1990s, the Deal test site was renamed Palaia Park, and a 3 miles (4.8 km) system of paved pathways have been laid throughout the site. The park contains soccer and baseball fields, and boasts a large festival ground that is used by the township for civic events, and cultural festivals.
The park has also hosted the USA Track & Field (USATF), USA 40 km Racewalking championships that occur in early September.
Many festivals and events take place throughout the year at the test site, including the Italian American Festival, which attracts up to 70,000 visitors over five days.
