Originally Posted by
munnst
I was wondering if CHAIN has anything to do with the Chain Home radar network?
BTW is DECCA the same DECCA as in the records?
Iit was the same Decca. They had a number of various specialist companies including a radar company, a communications company and MARNS (Mandatory Air Radio Navigation Systems) who amongst other things, manufactured NDBs. The Decca Navigator system was used for the D-day landings because of its accuracy, which I read was needed to get landing craft to the right spots where mines had been cleared. Post war, it was used in aircraft - there were various Decca chains ( a chain was three stations) throughout much of the world. It was used a lot by fishermen, with coverage up into the White Sea. Decca never sold the receivers but rented them out. When the patents ran out and other companies started providing cheap competition, Decca announced theyw ere shutting the Decca chain transmitters down: this caused such an uproar that the UK government paid Decca to run the chains for a year or two. They've all been gone for well over 25 years now.. Another Decca navigation system was HiFix, which got used in several parts of the world for accurate surveying for oil exploration in the days before GPS. Decca went bust, pulled down - I believe if my memory is correct., by losses on the recording side. Racal got the rest, but now they've gone and I think that whatever is still left is now Thales..