Thanks to everyone who has replied.
From this, I gather that Pailton Radio:
- Repairs & calibrates test equipment used by NATS
- monitors field strength and frequency of nav aids and aircraft comms (including Coventry NDB for staiblity and spectrum/Mod Depth)
- sets/monitors/manages? standards for radio and electrical measurements
- manages test equipment throughout NATS in liaison with CTO (CSM), to whom RMS reports
- Has a terrific (and cheap) tuck shop (can outsiders use this I wonder?)
- May or may not still be used for radio signal strength checks from aircraft. As it is so easy to include a VHF check with an initial call to an ATS facility, I gather the Radio Check facility at Pailton may have been for HF rather than VHF? If so, was (is) Pailton transmitting HF at a normal ground station strength or at low power?
eglnyt:
I believe the aerials you suggest are VHF, may in fact be UHF - just a wee bit smaller than VHF, but with a different 'blob' on the bottom.
So far as 'cones of silence' are concerned, I have always understood that in 'practical' terms, VHF does not suffer from this effect, although some aids do (LF Radio Ranges) were notorious for it - in fact, relied upon it as an indication of station passage). Being the case, I'm not convinced of the need for 'offset aerial sites', and as I understand it, when sites are offset it has more to do with landspace, real estate prices or signal strength/attenuation issues, rather than diminished comms across perhaps a half-mile at altitude directly above the site.
I certainly take your point on the value of copper as being a valid reason for security of the site, however. Even the roads around here are forever 'losing' their drain covers (try hitting an uncovered drain-hole at 60mph) - a problem usually blamed on certain itinerants who allegedly sell them for scrap iron value.
"NATS offsets the costs of running its infrastructure by leasing space to other users of the radio spectrum" So far as the other uses are concerned, I appreciate the need for a modicum of secrecy, and don't need to know the
whos or
whysor frequencies involved, but can you throw any light on the bands and power output. As I suggested in my initial post, this could be relevant for long-term health considerations.
As a general rule, the govt seems to care little for dangers of citizens being exposed to EMF radiation etc from military and other 'essential' sources. Pailton Radio Station is (ostensibly) a civil facility and therefore must presumably comply with some sort of recognised safety standard. The ultimate question is:
Is living within line-of-sight exposing my family (including young children) or myself to abnormally high levels of radiation (by which I mean more than if I lived in the centre of London, or Leicester etc)?
If anyone can answer this, I'd be most grateful.