Linesman trial 1962
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Linesman trial 1962
Might be of interest - a mention of an operational test of the Linesman system in 1962 with V-force and Lightnings, in a longer article by Mr Iann Barron at pp21-22 of the Autumn 2019 newsletter of the Computer Conservation Society, http://www.computerconservationsocie...pdfs/res87.pdf
"An operational test of the Linesman system was planned. This was to be a massive event. It involved the whole of the RAF. Our V bombers were to fly out over Germany and to return across the North Sea representing the attacking red force of Bear bombers (Tu95s), while the defending blue force of Lightning fighters would be scrambled and directed using the Linesman system. Because we did not have very many planes the bombers were to be tightly concentrated into a 5 degree (?) arc. The role of the Elliott system was twofold; it was to record and monitor the performance of Linesman and also to simulate the attack on the remaining 90 degree or so sector that a real raid would present.
The test was delayed repeatedly over many weeks. The problem was the Lightning fighter. The Lightning was a wonderful device. It was basically a jet engine with the pilot as a bare back rider; the Lightning could climb to 60,000ft and, with reheat, could reach Mach 2. However, it was a fuel guzzler and had a limited range; if reheat was used while it was going east it would not have enough fuel to return to base. Worse still, it was extremely unreliable. The RAF had one squadron of six planes; a minimum of five were required to be operational for the test and this proved very difficult to achieve."
...
Some time later, during Barron's postponed honeymoon and a last-minute change of system at RRE Malvern - "A complicated procedure was devised applying external voltages to the relevant pins in a programmed sequence as the two wires were interchanged. Miracle of miracles, the system worked . . . and continued to work . . . and the aeroplanes flew."
"An operational test of the Linesman system was planned. This was to be a massive event. It involved the whole of the RAF. Our V bombers were to fly out over Germany and to return across the North Sea representing the attacking red force of Bear bombers (Tu95s), while the defending blue force of Lightning fighters would be scrambled and directed using the Linesman system. Because we did not have very many planes the bombers were to be tightly concentrated into a 5 degree (?) arc. The role of the Elliott system was twofold; it was to record and monitor the performance of Linesman and also to simulate the attack on the remaining 90 degree or so sector that a real raid would present.
The test was delayed repeatedly over many weeks. The problem was the Lightning fighter. The Lightning was a wonderful device. It was basically a jet engine with the pilot as a bare back rider; the Lightning could climb to 60,000ft and, with reheat, could reach Mach 2. However, it was a fuel guzzler and had a limited range; if reheat was used while it was going east it would not have enough fuel to return to base. Worse still, it was extremely unreliable. The RAF had one squadron of six planes; a minimum of five were required to be operational for the test and this proved very difficult to achieve."
...
Some time later, during Barron's postponed honeymoon and a last-minute change of system at RRE Malvern - "A complicated procedure was devised applying external voltages to the relevant pins in a programmed sequence as the two wires were interchanged. Miracle of miracles, the system worked . . . and continued to work . . . and the aeroplanes flew."
The only thing I remember about Mediator Linesman was that from the moment it was installed its value was that which could be reclaimed from it in scrap copper. This from a Sqn Ldr who had been concerned with its development and who was going through a list of defence related computer projects (most of which shared a similar verdict) when I attended an ADP course at Blandford in 1972. As an aside he pointed out that cables feeding it were accessible via a manhole outside the Soviet Embassy...
He quite liked the Army Pay Corps computers though (IBM I think) which worked, unlike others.
He quite liked the Army Pay Corps computers though (IBM I think) which worked, unlike others.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
The Linesman/Mediator system fed from the signals from the T85s radars and HSA (High Speed Aerials - the passive detection part of the system triangulating jammers. by means of hyperbolic lays) at Neatishead, Staxton Wold and Boulmer, into the L1 building at West Drayton through microwave feeds. The core routing of the system was through the GPO tower off Tottenham Court Road.
The L1 was designed to have a computer based on the same technology as Colossus, but was overtaken by electronics - which is why if you went into the basement of the L1 you walked across acres of empty space to reach the small wooden portacabin that contained the computer. The cables then fed up the empty shafts at the side of the building to each floor - which is why it was a firetrap and and any alarm summoned every fire engine in West London.
The author is confused about the T64 consoles, they were the ones located at the actual radar heads, those in the L1 being totally different.
It is correct that the entire system was obsolete before completion. It was designed in the days of Tripwire to detect and scramble the V-Force, once NATO switched to Flexible Response then survivability meant a single site was non-viable and C3I was dispersed back to the MRS at Patrington, then Neatishead and Boulmer themselves. Staxton Wold became a CRP with a row of old T64 consoles inside the T85 building itself, where I spent an enjoyable two and a half years working with the Binbrook Lightning wing.
https://www.radarpages.co.uk/mob/linesman/pd.htm
The L1 was designed to have a computer based on the same technology as Colossus, but was overtaken by electronics - which is why if you went into the basement of the L1 you walked across acres of empty space to reach the small wooden portacabin that contained the computer. The cables then fed up the empty shafts at the side of the building to each floor - which is why it was a firetrap and and any alarm summoned every fire engine in West London.
The author is confused about the T64 consoles, they were the ones located at the actual radar heads, those in the L1 being totally different.
It is correct that the entire system was obsolete before completion. It was designed in the days of Tripwire to detect and scramble the V-Force, once NATO switched to Flexible Response then survivability meant a single site was non-viable and C3I was dispersed back to the MRS at Patrington, then Neatishead and Boulmer themselves. Staxton Wold became a CRP with a row of old T64 consoles inside the T85 building itself, where I spent an enjoyable two and a half years working with the Binbrook Lightning wing.
https://www.radarpages.co.uk/mob/linesman/pd.htm
