National Isolated Radio Array

National Isolated Radio Array is a location in Fallout 76.

Background
Situated at the heart of the National Radio Quiet Zone, this massive radio installation was set up as a two-way transmitter, rather than merely a listening device to monitor space. The use of NIRA for this purpose was well underway in August 2076, constantly running into problems with local radio interference. To counter that and establish a clear connection for at least an hour, the crew of the site logged a request to divert power from the main Appalachian grid and use the NIRA to generate an electromagnetic radio-cancelling field. The project was successful, with the September 3, 2076 transmission at 2 PM coming in clear as day - and NIRA successfully sending out a reply. The problem was that the intensity of the field had a deleterious effect on humans: The electromagnetic radiation produced a dielectric heating effect in the brain of all people in range - as far as Clarksburg - resulting in intense migraines, nausea, and other nasty side-effects. When local media picked up on the unusual phenomena, the transmission and the generator were immediately shut down.

However, the project was not mothballed. Instead, the team at NIRA focused on trying to come up with alternative solutions for the problem while still experimenting with radio frequency cancellation. Dr Constance Nichols, a ionospheric physics PhD, was hired to help with filtering background noise to that end. Problem is, the electromagnetic radiation at the site had a consistent adverse effect on the workers on site, with pain medication and various shielded hoods being offered as a solution to the problem, due to the necessity of the cancellation equipment. Needless to say, the employees weren't thrilled, but they continued the job.

Points of interest

 * This is a large, visually stunning area with three major points of interest.
 * The office building to the southeast contained offices for the employees and researchers. It's a place with a plethora of phones to collect, two magazine spawns int he offices, and a bobblehead in the northern end. The stairwell in the northeast leads to the basement and a laboratory with the location's steamer trunk and override terminal.
 * The maintenance warehouse to the northwest contains a power armor spawn point, a weapons workbench, and two more bobblehead spawnpoints. The locked shed in the loading dock is where the bobblehead can be found awd can be opened with a key found in the office building (upstairs, southern office). The other is in the main building, up the on the catwalk shelves.
 * Finally, the massive dish in the northeast has a control hut and analysis bunker on the northern edge of the area, with another spawn for a bobblehead (in the bunker) and a magazine each.

Notable loot

 * Holotapes and notes
 * NIRA Site Doctor's Report: In the office building, upstairs, on the desk in the center office.
 * Fred's Uncertain Future: In the office building, upstairs, on a desk in the corner opposite of the working terminal.
 * Potential bobbleheads
 * By the suicidal skeleton slumped on the northern edge of the roof of the Office Building; access it via the roof of the crashed red big rig trailer.
 * On or near the metal shelving, in the northwest corner of the mezzanine upstairs balcony inside the maintenance warehouse (with the two flagpoles outside).
 * On the work surface counter, against the wall of the locked (2) maintenance warehouse side room (where a Power Armor frame may be available).
 * On top of, or on the floor near the small central mainframe computer island, inside the dish array control hut at the foot of the dish (with the flagpole outside).
 * Potential magazines
 * On the metal desk with the Bottlecap Sunglasses and Teal Rounded Vase, in the northwest upper office with the red trailer protruding through the outer wall, in the Office Building (interior).
 * On the ornate bureau, in the southwest corner of the upstairs office, with the dead potted tree outside the door, on the west side of the Office Building (interior)
 * On the metal desk by the destroyed terminal, eastern corner (left of the red machinery), inside the dish array control hut at the foot of the dish (with the flagpole outside).
 * Potential power armor
 * Inside the large metal warehouse with the two flags and a blue truck trailer.


 * Dynamic spawns

Appearances
National Isolated Radio Array appears in Fallout 76.