accommodation unrelated to lighthouse operations Battery Observation Post (BOP), built as a lookout during World War II to coordinate aiming and firings from the 6-inch and 12-inch guns at Bickley Battery and Oliver's Battery on the island. Plans for its restoration and opening as a tourist attraction are under consideration. Signals Building, associated with the BOP Women's Army Barracks, built to house officers and staff who operated the BOP. The building is used nowadays for occasional accommodation for University and other scientific research groups working on the island. Tourism and modern operations Wadjemup Lighthouse was converted to automatic operations in November 1986 and is currently operated to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. The last lighthouse keeper left the island in 1990. It is a popular tourist site with volunteer guides offering hourly tours of the precinct and to the top of the tower with information on the site's history. There are 155 steps to the top and the tour has views of the coastline around the island and back to the mainland around the Perth metropolitan area. The lantern is a diameter Chance Brothers device with a focal radius 8-panel catadioptric lens from the same company. It rotates once every 60 seconds on a mercury float pedestal. It is powered by 240-volt electricity from the island's mains supply and has a 2.5kVa diesel backup system. The light is above sea level and has a nominal range of and geographical range of . Its current light characteristic is a single flash of 0.07 seconds every 7.5 seconds with an eclipse of 7.43 seconds. Engineering heritage award The lighthouse and signal station received a Historic Engineering Marker from Engineers Australia as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program. See also List of lighthouses in Australia Notes References Lighthouses completed in 1896 Lighthouses in Western Australia Recipients of Engineers Australia engineering heritage markers Lighthouses completed in 1849 State Register of Heritage Places on Rottnest Island