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Charivaria

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Saved by Alan Hartley-Smith
on June 15, 2012 at 7:47:23 pm
 

 

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Introduction

This page is for those bits and pieces that either don't fit exactly into any other section or spread over several or are just curiosities.

 

STOP PRESS - if they can produce a book we certainly can - The Decca Legacy

 

RDF or Radar?

To start with there is the background to these two nomenclatures. There are several claimants for the coining of RDF but the one thar seems to have the best provenance is to be found in "Britain's Shield RADAR" by David Zimmerman on page 132 - quote:

 

On 23 August (1935) Wing Commander J.O.Andrews, a staff officer at the Air Ministry, reported to Wimperis (Director of Scientific Research at the Air Ministry) that the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff had requested 'a name for this system of detection  which [did] not immediately indicate its method of operation'. Andrews suggested that they use the term 'R.D.F. (a compression of R.D and D/F) to serve as verb, noun or adjective as required.' If Wimperis agreed this term would be used in all further official documents. On 17 September Wimperis concurred with Andrews' recommendation and British radar became known as RDF. This is confirmed by the earliest document which refers to the term. This document is a paper written by Wimperis on 24 September titled 'Notes on proposed methods of plotting information received from R.D.F. stations'.

 

RDF remained the term used in Britain until Radar, standing for 'Radio Detection and Ranging', the official derivation used by the Americans as their cover for the secret work at the US Naval Research Laboratory in Washington with ranging meaning distance and direction measurement, became the generic nomenclature in 1943.

 

Marconi experimenting with radio location in 1935

 

A compendium of Marconi facts and figures

 

Marconi patents many relating to radar

 

Marconi House in London

 

Marconi Employees Manual  - those were the days

 

Marconi Centenary 1997

This is the only reference I can find to what should have been a considerable event. There were a considerable number of events in 2001 to celebrate the first wireless transmission across the Atlantic.

 

The Beginning of someone else's History

 

Pre-History!

Ian's selection of acoustic detectors

 

MRSL Mementoes

 

GEC History 1

 

GEC Archives

 

GEC Computers

 

United Kingdom Aerospace and Weapons Projects

 

RADAR EQUIPMENT - SITES & SPECIFICATIONS - references to Rotor

 

Diversions  of a radio telescope

 

Marconi Conference Centre

 

The Marconi Society

 

RAF Yatesbury

 

Royal Air Force Museum

 

The Radar War

 

Informal Radar Conference 1946

 

London Airport - a COI film - includes some very early radar footage

 

Live ATC - an eye-opener

 

CH Radar

This is a blog consisting mainly of critiques of books about radar by various authors with

some fascinating comments

 

A Commonwealth story

 

Making Vision Into Power

 

The other side of the story 1, 2

 

The National Valve Museum

Another private venture recording electronic history

 

The Virtual Valve Museum

 

A fascinating article referencing a variety of electronic warfare systems

 

Alexandra Palace at War

 

A definite oddity - Bruce Neale was involved (followup on /BTNeale2.htm and /BTNeale3.htm)

 

Daventry Anniversary

 

A rather quaint overview of wartime radar published in Flight magazine in June 1945

 

Online Air Defence Radar Museum

 

A Computer Curiosity

 

Radar Basics - an interesting if somewhat skewed educational site

 

Inforapid Knowledge Portal - a very idiosyncratic compendium

 

List of WWII electronic warfare equipment 

 

A German Compendium - includes some interesting insights 

 

 

Radar on the silver screen

At the end of the Second World War, the Air Ministry was eager to publicise the discovery of a technology that played a crucial role in assisting British forces in defending the nation against German attack: radar. A young private in the army's cinema unit, Peter Ustinov, was attached to the RAF in order to write the script and direct the film, the first of what turned out to be a substantial collection. The film was 'School for Secrets'

 

People

Figures in the story of radar other than those connected with Marconi.

 

ACM Hugh Dowding

 

Harry Wimperis

 

A P Rowe

 

Henry Tizard

 

Arnold "Skip" Wilkins

For the definitive exposition of the radar story see "The Birth of British Radar" joint-edited by our own Colin Latham especially the revised second edition

 

Sir Robert Watson-Watt

For an interesting commentary on his claim to fame see Chapter 9 "The first casualty of war" in "leaps in the dark" by John Waller - 2004 - OUP

 

Edward "Taffy" Bowen

 

Sir Edward Fennessy - an interesting comment

 

Dr E H Putley

 

Early Radar memories

 

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