Border Radar and Pennine Radar

[Mooncrest]

IIRC, Border was provided from RAF Boulmer on 132.9 and 134.85 mhz. This was a decade or three ago so I may not be right. I guess the service was manned by RAF ATC personnel. Then, some time over thirty years ago, the service was renamed Pennine Radar and was provided from the Manchester ATCC, now with civilian controllers at the helm. The frequency also changed to 128.675 around this time. I forget when the service was finally canned altogether, although likely succeeded in some capacity by the Scottish or Manchester centres. I remember the Air UK and then Gill Air sheds flying from LBA to EDI would route, certainly initially, outside controlled airspace, first covered by Leeds Radar then Border/Pennine and then likely Scottish. It seemed the pressurised aircraft like the F27, ATP et al preferred to go along B4 from LBA to Scotland.

[chevvron]

I operated at this unit in 1973 before it became 'Pennine Radar'. I was detached to Northern Radar, RAF Lindholme and although we were primarily an upper airspace unit ie FL245 and up, we also operated the 'Northern Joint Radar Service Area' (NJRSA) jointly with Border Radar operating in the FIR (Class G airspace) below FL245 primarily to provide a radar service to traffic to/from Newcastle and Teeside avoiding the Vale of York AIAA and joining at/leaving at POL.
It was a civil operated unit but changed to military as 'Pennine Radar' when the civil element moved to LATCC.

[Mooncrest]

Chevron, was an Area Radar rating required for Border/Pennine or was an Approach Radar rating sufficient?

[notwithstanding]

In the absence, so far, of a reply from chevvron; ATCO Cadets were sent to Border Radar to validate their Area Radar Ratings after they had obtained them at the College of ATC ; + for on the job training in Area Radar. So, it would seem that an Area Radar Rating would have been required for all ATCOs there. I await chevvron’s confirmation, or correction.

[chevvron]

I was at Northern Radar and we shared the frequency with Border; both were classed as Area Radar. Western Radar operates on the same basis.

[Mooncrest]

Thankyou both. From my old home in north Leeds many years ago, my Signal R535 radio and outdoor discone antenna could easily receive the ATC transmissions from Pennine, MACC, Eastern Radar and Anglia Radar. There were no transmitter sites anywhere near so there must have been a lot of TX wattage.

[chevvron]

Northern Radar transmitter sites were at Trimingham (Northumberland?) and Cromer (Norfolk).
Northern, Eastern and Border were all designed for high level long range purposes. I think there were receivers at Lindholme (Northern) but no transmitters.

[pr00ne]

Originally Posted by chevvron

Northern Radar transmitter sites were at Trimingham (Northumberland?) and Cromer (Norfolk).
Northern, Eastern and Border were all designed for high level long range purposes. I think there were receivers at Lindholme (Northern) but no transmitters.

Trimingham is in Norfolk.

[chevvron]

Originally Posted by pr00ne

Trimingham is in Norfolk.

Yes I've just realised now you say. There was a transmitter somewhere on the coast to the north of the Hull area though I''m sure.

[Midland 331]

Yes, Great Dun Fell for 132.9 and later 128.67

[ExRAFbod]

Was not the UHF ICF for Northern, 256.9? I remember that Frq as Scampton used it for a time before a shuffle of UHF Frqs.