Q: Opana Point radar was "too high"?

[OpanaPointer]

I've seen reports that Opana Point's radar was "too high" to work effectively, and was subsequently moved to a lower elevation. Don't recall the source of that. Anybody have information to share?

[Rob Stuart]

The SCR-270 at Opana Point seems to have worked very well on 7 December. According to the Wiki article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCR-270#U ... bor_attack, which seems well written, the nominal maximum range was 150 miles and the Japanese aircraft were detected at 130 miles distance that morning. There would seem to have been no good reason to relocate it to improve its performance, let alone to a lower site. If it was in fact moved then perhaps it was for another reason, e.g., if one of the other radars on the island was sent to the South Pacific (or wherever), then the remaining Oahu-based sets might have been moved a bit to fill the gap.

[OpanaPointer]

I'll see if I can exhume a reference.