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HFGCS STATION PUERTO RICO

PUERTO RICO is an American Theater station on the High Frequency Global Communications System (HFGCS). It has no base of its own: it is a transmitter site at Isabela on the northwest coast and a receiver/control site at Salinas on the south coast, run remotely around the clock by the network control stations at Andrews and Grand Forks.

Station Identity

HFGCS CallsignPUERTO RICO
ALE CallsignJNR
TheaterAmerican Theater
NCS RoleGFNCS (associated with GRAND FORKS)
OperatorAir Combat Command (since October 2007), contractor-maintained

Station data from hfgcs-msl:

  Id: "9lllee2e",
  station: "JNR",
  name: "PUERTO RICO",
  ncs: "GFNCS",
  observation: "STN FVRS",
  theater: "American Theater"

JNR is the last three letters of TJNR, the ICAO code of Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, which the Navy closed on March 31, 2004. The other stations' ALE callsigns follow the same rule (RJTY → JTY, PGUA → GUA, LICZ → ICZ).

Site Locations

Like most HFGCS stations, Puerto Rico transmits and receives from separate sites, so the high-power transmitters don't desensitize the HF receivers. Here the two sites are 97 km (60 mi) apart, on opposite coasts of the island — about twice the 45 km between Offutt’s sites.

Both are former Navy radio sites. The Navy ran the station until September 2005; the mission and sites passed to the Air Force in October 2005, and Air Combat Command took over operations and maintenance of Isabela and Salinas in October 2007 (FA4890-24-R-0009 work statement). Wikipedia’s article on the Navy’s NRTF Aguada lists a 408-acre transmitter site in Isabela and a 242-acre receiver site at Campamento Santiago, Salinas, alongside the Aguada VLF mast (NAU).

Isabela Transmitter Site

FunctionHF transmission
LocationIsabela, on PR-2 at km 116.5 (Aguadilla mailing address)
Coordinates18.463767, -67.065889
Area413.18 acres (~1,672,000 m²)
Transmitter buildingFacility 3001, 28,434 sq ft (2,642 m²)
PowerFacility 3002 power plant, 1,000 kW; 10,000 gal diesel
OpenStreetMapIsabela N00207-Air Base

Antennas

  • 2 RLPA rotatable log-periodic antennas (RLPA-2, RLPA-3)
  • 5 VOBA (VOBA-2 to VOBA-6)
  • 4 SC (SC-1 to SC-4)
  • 3 HOBA (HOBA-1, HOBA-2, HOBA-6)
  • 2 M (M-1, M-5), 2 C (C-1, C-2), 1 S5
  • HF Aircom microwave relay building (facility 3003, 677 sq ft)

Antenna designators are as listed in the real-property appendix of the 2024 re-compete work statement, which lists antennas on 21 numbered facilities at Isabela. The two RLPAs are the rotatable log-periodic type used across HFGCS transmitter sites. Antenna maintenance at Isabela and Salinas is covered under Long Wave Inc.’s HFGCS antenna contract ($112.6M, through 2030), and a 2025 task order under it, FA814225F0017, is titled “Puerto Rico Transmit Site Antenna Replacement.”

The Air Force parcel measures 413 acres, against the 408 acres Wikipedia gives for the Navy’s Isabela transmitter site.

Salinas Receiver Site

FunctionHF reception and site control (paired with Isabela for TX)
LocationCamp Santiago (Puerto Rico Army National Guard training area), Salinas
Coordinates18.004801, -66.278186
Area249.4 acres (~1,009,000 m²)
Receiver buildingBuilding 600, 6,387 sq ft (593 m²)
PowerFacility 601 generator plant, 300 kW; 5,000 gal diesel
OpenStreetMapSalinas N00207-JA

Equipment

  • 5 receive antennas (facilities 636, 638, 639, 5201, 5501)
  • NSA Camp Santiago antenna array, in a 680 × 500 ft area east of Building 600

OpenStreetMap shows five masts on the parcel, the same number as the receive antennas in the work statement. The same work statement has the contractor keep the vegetation down around the NSA array next door and house the array’s UPS and equipment inside Building 600; the NSA antennas themselves are maintained separately.

The Air Force parcel measures 249.4 acres, against the 242 acres Wikipedia gives for the Navy’s receiver site at Campamento Santiago.

Maintenance