S232 radars
Hi
My first job after leaving the RAF was helping to install the S232 at RAE Bedford. I went on to installations at Gatwick (before the runway was opened) and Birmingham (Elmdon). I also installed S264s at Manchester (Ringway), Lowther Hill (Scottish ATC), Zurich and Teheran and have worked with them in Heathrow (SATCC), Ventnor, Lossiemouth, Boscombe Down, Copenhagen and Rome.
The S232 transmitter was rated at 50KW mean power and the S264 came in two versions, 50KW mean power using concentric line triodes, and 500KW mean power using a Klystron.
The signal processing system used Moving Target Indication (MTI) to suppress ground clutter but this had several disadvantages. It relied on the comparison between the phase change of successive pulses - if there was a change the target was assumed to be moving whilst if there was not it was ground clutter. This caused two problems (1) Tangential Fading, when the target disappeared when travelling at right angles to the radar beam and (2) blind speed fading, when the target disappeared when travelling at certain speeds relative to the transmitter. Tangential Fading was dealt with by using Switched MTI which minimised the effect by only being used at close range where the ground clutter was heaviest, the remainder being unprocessed video. Blind speed fading was a function of the Pulse Repetion Frequency (PRF)
and was minimised by using staggered PRF.
There were problems which were more difficult to overcome - Anaprop, when a temperature inversion caused the beam to bend downwards, picking up targets from far greater distances than normal, clouds and birds.
All in all a very happy time for me.