BBC 2 : Castles In The Sky
I thought it excellent. Well done the beeb.
Two things in particular. First, the human aspect; the long hours, forsaking family life for precious little reward or recognition. And not seeking it.
But I really liked the way they depicted the brainstorming sessions. The team voicing problems. Eddie's character not getting flustered, just noting, see the linkages and prioritising. That is the way it should be. Last time I managed a radar programme if anyone did that they were castigated by our mainly non-technical bosses as trouble makers. Thou shalt not notify risks. Carpeted and told to move on. It really IS a problem? Cancel, the programme. Guess who now runs DE&S! (The programme was successful because we just ignored management and disobeyed orders. Nimrod RMPA and Chinook Mk3 obeyed).
Oh, and glad to learn it wasn't just the RAF who stole kit from the RN!
Two things in particular. First, the human aspect; the long hours, forsaking family life for precious little reward or recognition. And not seeking it.
But I really liked the way they depicted the brainstorming sessions. The team voicing problems. Eddie's character not getting flustered, just noting, see the linkages and prioritising. That is the way it should be. Last time I managed a radar programme if anyone did that they were castigated by our mainly non-technical bosses as trouble makers. Thou shalt not notify risks. Carpeted and told to move on. It really IS a problem? Cancel, the programme. Guess who now runs DE&S! (The programme was successful because we just ignored management and disobeyed orders. Nimrod RMPA and Chinook Mk3 obeyed).
Oh, and glad to learn it wasn't just the RAF who stole kit from the RN!
Yes, I enjoyed it too.
From the OU: It's interesting to reflect that the Chain Home systems, if any were still operational, would have no difficulty at all in detecting the world's "stealthiest" aircraft...
Well, there goes F-35!
From the OU: It's interesting to reflect that the Chain Home systems, if any were still operational, would have no difficulty at all in detecting the world's "stealthiest" aircraft...
Well, there goes F-35!
The Invention that Changed the World; Robert Buderi, Simon Schuster. ISBN 0-684-81021-2
The only one on the list that I have (I do have others like 'Watching The Sky') and I would totally recommend it. One of the things I found very informative from that book was not just the history about the Magnetron in my kitchen, but the research done in the development of the Silicon Crystal Diode for the receivers of microwave radar that led to the solid state electronics in all of the other electronic devices in the house. Also loved the story of how the term Ground Environment came about (as in SAGE, NADGE, UKADGE, etc.)
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
MAINJAFAD, I would recommend all of them, but especially the last. It is short, but well worth the read. Copies available for around £10 inc. postage.
It always amused me in Dr No, that James Bond refers to the radar on the island as 'Type CH'. Chain Home? I don't think so.....
ORAC, thank you for that link. Excellent. I'd like to think some of those old companies still have a museum of sorts. Mullard were always proud of their heritage, and used to present outgoing MoD project managers with huge prints of a Lancaster with their radar fitted. Now Thales-owned, so I doubt if they even think of it. But the likes of Ferranti still have samples of all their designs.
It struck me that my first boss in MoD(PE) was one of the very young replacements in the wider team that succeeded Watson Watt's. I remember my interview board. One hour, 2 questions. Explain how a spin tuned magnetron works, and diagnose a fault in a double superhet by calculation, from a circuit diagram annotated with values.
I thought myself very lucky to get the job but boss was sensible enough to know MoD was moving away from expecting project managers to have done such things. All he knew was vacuum valves; I'd been taught valves and germanium, then something called silicon and then microcircuits had come along and we were snookered. Sobering to be reminded how incompetent I was compared to some real geniuses.
It struck me that my first boss in MoD(PE) was one of the very young replacements in the wider team that succeeded Watson Watt's. I remember my interview board. One hour, 2 questions. Explain how a spin tuned magnetron works, and diagnose a fault in a double superhet by calculation, from a circuit diagram annotated with values.
I thought myself very lucky to get the job but boss was sensible enough to know MoD was moving away from expecting project managers to have done such things. All he knew was vacuum valves; I'd been taught valves and germanium, then something called silicon and then microcircuits had come along and we were snookered. Sobering to be reminded how incompetent I was compared to some real geniuses.
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ORAC ... Thanks for that ... a great find
Just a little side story ...
Whilst studying A Level Physics (2nd Year) as a young lad ... during one particularly long afternoon "treble" session on Thermionic Valve theory ... I asked our Physics Master when we might move on to Transistors ... after a very long stare from his elevated lab bench ... he pronounced ... "Young man, valves were good enough in helping to protect England during WWII, so they are good enough for you". That was me shot down in flames
Good old Mr Nicholls (aka "Kojak" ... but that's another [war] story how he got that nickname) ... He was a great teacher ... His Bible "A Level Physics by Nelkon & Parker"
We finally got around to studying Germanium Transistors ... but good old Mr Nicholls was most certainly a valve man
Just a little side story ...
Whilst studying A Level Physics (2nd Year) as a young lad ... during one particularly long afternoon "treble" session on Thermionic Valve theory ... I asked our Physics Master when we might move on to Transistors ... after a very long stare from his elevated lab bench ... he pronounced ... "Young man, valves were good enough in helping to protect England during WWII, so they are good enough for you". That was me shot down in flames
Good old Mr Nicholls (aka "Kojak" ... but that's another [war] story how he got that nickname) ... He was a great teacher ... His Bible "A Level Physics by Nelkon & Parker"
We finally got around to studying Germanium Transistors ... but good old Mr Nicholls was most certainly a valve man
Last edited by CoffmanStarter; 5th Sep 2014 at 17:38.
Re ORAC's "I have 5 radar history books I would recommend"
All good in their ways - the Colin Latham / Anne Stobbs book (one of 2 or 3 by them) is excellent if you know something about radar history as it comprises the words of the people involved.
I especially like Charlie Cox's view of the Bruneval Raid - especially his view of the quality of the Wurzburg: "I thought it was beautifully made, the way it all fitted together in units for easy servicing"
All good in their ways - the Colin Latham / Anne Stobbs book (one of 2 or 3 by them) is excellent if you know something about radar history as it comprises the words of the people involved.
I especially like Charlie Cox's view of the Bruneval Raid - especially his view of the quality of the Wurzburg: "I thought it was beautifully made, the way it all fitted together in units for easy servicing"
Valves are tougher (electrically) and easier to understand. But more tricky to build into a chip. Unless you like your chips fat, Coff. What's your favourite transistor? I always liked the BC108, but that was (I think) a step up from germanium.
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Courtney ...
I started with the AC126 (PNP Germanium) ... A bog standard amp transistor for audio applications ... also the AF116 (PNP Germanium) which I used for the Front End on a few Long Wave radio projects ... it had 4 wires
I think I also had a few BC109's (NPN) ... not built by Messerschmitt I might add
Great fun a long time ago ...
Best ...
Coff.
I started with the AC126 (PNP Germanium) ... A bog standard amp transistor for audio applications ... also the AF116 (PNP Germanium) which I used for the Front End on a few Long Wave radio projects ... it had 4 wires
I think I also had a few BC109's (NPN) ... not built by Messerschmitt I might add
Great fun a long time ago ...
Best ...
Coff.
Last edited by CoffmanStarter; 5th Sep 2014 at 17:31.
" I started with the AC126 (PNP Germanium)"
Yep, a good push-pull amp pair of AC126s gave 10W of power to boost my old Dansette record player to something audible for 60s music.
Yep, a good push-pull amp pair of AC126s gave 10W of power to boost my old Dansette record player to something audible for 60s music.
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Poor old Watson-Watt was fined for speeding by the police using a radar 'gun'. Imagine his chagrin! He wittily penned this little piece:
Pity Sir Robert Watson-Watt,
strange target of this radar plot
And thus, with others I can mention,
the victim of his own invention.
His magical all-seeing eye
enabled cloud-bound planes to fly
but now by some ironic twist
it spots the speeding motoris
tand bites, no doubt with legal wit,
the hand that once created it.
Pity Sir Robert Watson-Watt,
strange target of this radar plot
And thus, with others I can mention,
the victim of his own invention.
His magical all-seeing eye
enabled cloud-bound planes to fly
but now by some ironic twist
it spots the speeding motoris
tand bites, no doubt with legal wit,
the hand that once created it.
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Orac....you swine...I've been reading your EF50 link for hours!!! That valve was part of my childhood; my father had been involved in radar in WW2 and built our first television, and EF50s were very noticeable...the "Pye Strip" from your link is very familiar. The first thing to appear on the magic screen was the last King's funeral, and we were very popular around the Coronation! The set itself was an agglomeration of chassis spread over a table, with no regard whatsoever for safety, everything was exposed....
Thanks to your link, a lot of knowledge gaps have been filled!!
Thanks to your link, a lot of knowledge gaps have been filled!!
Having watched it tonight, we recorded it last night, what a smashing piece of television it was. Apart from the technical excitement it seems to have generated, I can't help but reflect on how it seems to accurately reflect the attitude of the political class toward such developers, and the retrieval of the pen at the end indicative of how quickly you can be forgotten by such bar stewards. One we will keep and watch again, I still have the full series of Longitude, another good piece IMHO.
Smudge
Smudge
Likewise Orac, A great link. I've heard of TV's being built out of radar equipment post WWII. Didn't known that the heart of the 1.5 Metre Radar receivers actually came out of the TV's in the first place.
It always amused me in Dr No, that James Bond refers to the radar on the island as 'Type CH'. Chain Home? I don't think so.....
CHEL
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
