Read about the new Base Camp land grab here:
CIA "Plan Columbia" aircraft at Base Camp
CIA Paratrooper Exercise at Base Camp
Mysterious Civilian C-130 (L-328G) at Base Camp
Base Camp is rumored to be the back-up landing strip for Area 51.This rumor is based on the orientation of the runway being similar to that of Groom Lake. Rather than perpetuate this rumor, consider two things. First, the runway at Basecamp was built by the Atomic Energy Commission, which has nothing to do with the operation near Groom Lake. Second, runways are designed to be in the direction of prevailing winds, not aligned with unrelated runways far away.
(click on image for large photo)
The cross or X on both sides of the runway indicates it is closed.
Main base on left and housing on the right.
Halligan Mesa on the Acme Mapper
Basecamp is located by highway 6 at roughly these coordinates: N38 18 47.2 W116 16 25.0 . From Area 51, take the ET highway towards route 6 (Warm Springs), then turn right until you see the Base Camp sign. The airstrip shows up on USGS topo maps, yet the airport doesn't show up in the usual online databases such as www.airnav.com or www.penguinair.com The sign for Tybo Hot Creek means you are in luck. To get to Tybo Hot Creek you have to drive right through Base Camp.
You can't have much of an airfield without some instrument navigation electronics (either TACAN or VORTAC). Here is the Base Camp Vortac, which operates on 113.9Mhz. . The VOR does not run all the time. At one time, the VOR used to broadcast "AEC" in Morse code, where. AEC dates back to the days when the Atomic Energy Commission owned the airfield as part of Project Faultless, one of two atomic bomb explosions in Nevada that were not performed at the Nevada Test Site. Now (at least in May 2003), the VOR sends five pulses, either Morse code for 5 or 0 depending on if the pulses are dashes or dots. Click here to hear the VOR.
Tower near the east side of the runway.
Wire between these poles is used for the NDB (non-directional beacon) . The NDB is on 209Khz. A recording can be heard here.
Here are a few panoramic photos of the area. The site is so close to the highway that they really can't put anything secret there.
Now what is this white structure? Is there a telescope in here?
This panoramic is somewhat diagonal to the base. Click on the image to get a djvu high resolution image. The new housing in at the right of the photograph. [Photograph October 2004]
A new "double wide" arrived in August 2003. It could be VIP barracks, or a building assigned to some project.
A new tank was being installed near the road to Tybo. The underground line went to the residence part of the base. Perhaps it will hold heating oil.
Note the big HF antenna here. Is this for emergency use or normal operation? This antenna is an inverted conical monopole, such as those made by Antenna Products.
These photos are just close ups of some of the more interesting items around the site. OK, maybe a cammo trailer isn't all that interesting.
I've always thought these dishes are just for satellite TV, but when you have 3 different dishes, well maybe they are used for something else...
These look like the "water buffalos" the USAF place around events in the dessert so you can refill your canteens, water bottle, etc.
Now for the mysterious security cameras. Why as they mysterious? Well, the showed up for a while, then went away. The cameras were set up to monitor vehicles on the main road, the runways, and vehicles approaching from Tybo. The cameras do not move.
Apparently the repo man showed up took the cameras out. [Photo May 2003]
One theory, ok my theory, is that the cameras were set up to document the number of "visitors" to the base in order to justify stealing more Nye County land. You can read about the proposal to steal more land here.
Groom Lake helicopter tail number 90-26222 at Base Camp (October 2007)
Hey, is this the guy who chased Glen Campbell during his visit?
| Facility Name: | USAF COMMUNICATION SITE |
| Location Address: | 57 MI NE OF TONAPAH CITY INTER |
| Supplemental Address: | HWY 6 AND TYBO RD |
| City Name: | TONOPAH |
| State | NV |
| County Name: | NYE |
| ZIP/Postal Code: | 89049 |
| EPA Region: | 09 |
| Congressional District Number: | 02 |
| Legislative District Number: | |
| HUC Code: | 18090202 |
| Federal Facility: | YES |
| Federal Agency: | U.S. AIR FORCE |
| Tribal Land : | NO |
| Latitude: | |
| Longitude: | |
| Method: | |
| Reference Point Description: | |
| Duns Number: | |
| Registry ID: | 110006880161 |
| Full Name: | DET 1 A F E R E G |
| Affiliation Type: | CONTACT/OWNER |
| Delivery Point: | P O BOX 528 |
| Supplemental Address: | |
| City Name: | MERCURY |
| State Code: | NV |
| State Name: | |
| Postal Code: | 89023 |
| Country Name: |
Information from http://www.nbmg.unr.edu/dox/r47/r47.pdf , page 235
Other names: Hot Creek, Keystone, Empire, Argenta, Rattlesnake Canyon, Milk Spring, Shenandoa, Tyboe
County: Nye
Discovered: 1865
Organized: 1866
Commodities: silver, lead, zinc, gold, antimony, copper, barite
Comments: The Tybo district is in the Hot Creek Range, extending from Warm Springs on the south to Hot Creek on the north. The original district was named Empire and extended from the area of Empire Canyon south to what was later the town of Tybo. Rattlesnake Canyon district was south of Empire and may have been part of the Empire district. The northern section of district, near Hot Creek, is sometimes considered to be the separate Hot Creek district. The Territorial Enterprise (1878) used Shenandoa name for the Hot Creek section. The Argenta and Hot Creek districts were located by Lotz (1934) as being in T7-8N, R49-50E. Mercury mines in M & M Canyon on the southwestern tip of the Hot Creek Range, west of Warm Springs, were included in the Tybo district by Kral (1951) and Kleinhampl and Ziony(1984), but are now considered to be in the separate Mercury Mountain district. The historic Milk Spring area included Mercury Mountain as well as the southern tip of the present Tybo district.
References: Stretch, 1867, p. 62; White, 1869, p. 73; White, 1871, p. 91; Wheeler, 1872, p. 39, map; Whitehill, 1873, p. 108; Territorial Enterprise, May 7, 1878; Angel, 1881, p. 517, 518; Hill, 1912, p. 224; Lincoln, 1923, p. 195; Stoddard, 1932, p. 72; Lotz, 1934, p. 22; Kral, 1951, p.189; Lawrence, 1963, p. 132; Bonham, 1976; Kleinhampl and Ziony, 1984, p. 210