Old Heathrow Approach Radar Display

[classicwings]

Could anyone shed any more light onto the location of this old Heathrow Approach Radar Display Screen? According to the source the screen shot is from West Drayton in July 1992 but im pretty sure it was around this time the new Terminal Control room had been completed and the updated consoles for the Heathrow and Gatwick approach functions were operational. Any chance this was taken at the old Radar Room in the Heathrow Control Tower Building prior to their move to LATCC?

Your comments please!:)

http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?image=10304854&wwwflag=2&imagepos=9[/IMG]

[ATSA_Grunt]

Area Control used the same as the one displayed, however judging by the set up displayed I would assume this is an old Terminal Control one. Definately not from EGLL as the colour of their tubes was not green but amber/orange.

[classicwings]

Thanks. I assume therefore that these displays (Erricsson) were used for a short time in the TC Ops. room at West Drayton after the radar functions had ceased being operational at the airports, but prior to the entire upgrade of the room as it stands today as shown on this interesting link?-

http://avsim.com/atco/latcc5.htm

(Good website for info on LTCC but rather in need of some updating now me thinks.....!);)

[BDiONU]

The picture in that link doesn't actually look that dissimilar to the new TC Ops room in Swanwick :)

[classicwings]

Yes I've seen photos of them myself courtesy of the Whisky Watch website.

Very similar indeed but I bet its a nicer view looking out of the front door down there.;)

[goldfrog]

The picture is of a 19" vertical Ericsson as used in AC at West Drayton. The TC room in WD only ever used 20" Sonys.

BD, I can assure you the new TC ops room is just slightly swisher than the picture you referred to. Try this one (http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/pr/619940187/Science_&_Society_Picture_Library_10250841.jpg)

[BDiONU]

BD, I can assure you the new TC ops room is just slightly swisher than the picture you referred to. Try this one (http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/pr/619940187/Science_&_Society_Picture_Library_10250841.jpg)
Goldfrog I thought it was slightly better than that, I blame the Chief Engineer myself ;)

BD

[Roffa]

That's not a radar display that would ever have been used operationally by LHR approach, it doesn't have the required maps/info on it.

The approach function went from the airport to TC in '93 and went straight from the old fashioned, darkened room, watch the cursor going round, amber coloured displays to the large, square 20" useable in normal light ones found at TC.

[classicwings]

Porco Rosso- you appear to have answered my initial query, thanks. What I was unaware of was the appearance and configuration of the pre LTCC radar displays for Heathrow approach which were located in the airport radar room below the tower up until 1993.

I was pretty sure that photo was taken from a suite in Area Control at LATCC which it is actually from- the webpage is slightly misleading in that it appears to describe the photo as an operational Heathrow approach radar (which it isnt). Can I therefore assume its role in AC LATCC was used as a monitoring function to oversee the operations taking place over in the Control Tower Building at the time?

In hindsight it was all rather significant really as these photos show what NATS management really thought of the old AC room!!! :}

http://www.tamarweb.net/xwatch/ac_wreck.htm

[BEXIL160]

The picture is of a 19" vertical Ericsson as used in AC at West Drayton. The TC room in WD only ever used 20" Sonys.


The original picture looks very like the large vertical tubes in use in the CCF stage one room at LATCC, 1991-1993, rather than the smaller verticals used in "AC"

CCF stage one was the initial spilt of LTMA and "En-route" functions....and was located in what felt like broom cupboard next to the MASOR. (I remember the draughts next to false wall...)

The current TC room was/is stage 2/4 and eventually included the incorporation of the London Airports approach functions.

Stage5 was supposed to be "tunnels in the sky" but never happened.

BEX

[Roffa]

cw,

I'm not aware of any pictures on the web of the old approach room(s) at LHR, however there are a few in Heathrow ATC, The First Fifty Years (http://tinyurl.com/2xtf9t) if you wanted to get yourself a copy of that.

PM me if you want to bypass Amazon and go straight to one of the authors for a quicker service.

I'm not sure what the radar in your first post would have been used for over at LATCC, that would probably depend which sector it was attached to.

[classicwings]

Roffa, Thanks for that info- but that is one book already sitting in the aviation/ATC corner of my bookshelf.............:ok: A very informative read by former Heathrow ATCO's Pete Bish and Brian Picket. The former an ex. Heathrow Director at TC I recall.

There are afew shots of the old radar room at Heathrow in this book as described in one of the posts on this forum- which certainly confirms that my radar picture was taken over at LATCC in the early 90's.

It seems from the response this is more likely to have been located in the CCF stage one room rather than being one of the smaller 'verticals' as part of one of the area sector suites in the old AC room.