“Later I got the tour for the VLA (Very Large Array) site West of Socorro, NM on the plains of Saint Augustine.”
I was there a few months back.
I saw it some time in 1985 or earlier. Cannot recall the exact year. Got to go to the lab/workshop, saw all the monitors in the operating position, the Vault door with finger stock to seal the inside RF stages where it was phased together.
They only had 3 dishes working then.
Those were good days and good memories. My ham friends there were some of the best engineers, technicians and physicists in the world. Great group.