Fascinating to read about the history of the Decca and Plessey radars and the trials and tribulations of those people who used to work with them (or perhaps still do !)
The same phrase keeps recurring regarding the 424, i.e. "pencil beam" which I surmise means great for talkdowns (practice permitting) but not much use for general surveillance. I don't know how well the LBA 424 performed but I gather the 430 was a reasonable performer for its day, following rewiring and mods by the local Tels team. Still never found out where it ended up post- LBA though but at least the 424 made it to Brough, at least.
By the way, did Blackpool ever use a 424 ? Last time I was there (1997) I remember seeing the radar head and I vaguely recall it resembling a 424. However I also recall one of the controllers saying it was a Plessey machine so I'm not sure. It used green monochrome displays though.
Who, or what, are these MARIS folks ? Do they specialise in breathing new life into old technology ?_