The
development of radar by the British and Americans during World War II was undoubtedly a key factor in
preventing Hitler's forces from destroying and dominating the world. Once his ground forces had invaded
western and southern Europe and spread toward the eastern seaboard, the main task remaining was to take
England and Ireland. The English Channel prevented a relatively simple land invasion, so the Luftwaffe
undertook an air campaign both in the form of massive bombing raids and the terrible V1 Buzz Bombs and
V2 rockets developed by Werner von Braun's team. Scotsman
Robert Watson Watt was
commissioned to create a microwave "death ray" to shoot down the German aircraft and rockets, but his
investigations showed that microwaves would be more effective employed in the form of radar to give
advanced warning of approaching squadrons. That gave RAF pilots time to get airborne and go out to meet
the enemy before it could reach British shores. Of course, Hitler then made bombing the radar installations
a priority. Just as Admiral Kurita made a fatal strategic decision during the
Battle of Leyte Gulf by
turning his fleet around, Göring made a fatal decision to cease bombing of the radars and concentrate
on British airfields. Both actions were based on bad assumptions about the opposition's status. There
is footage I have never seen before of a German V2 rocket launch. But, I digress.
This series
of videos was produced by the U.S. Army Signal Corps (CiC pronunciation "corpse") as part of the training
program for radar technicians. I was a radar repairman in the USAF and do not recall seeing this series
of films, but then my time was 1978-1982. The basics really haven't changed, other than the displays
are no longer traces on an oscilloscope where the position of "pips" on the time base represent the
distance and relative size of the target. The most advanced contemporary radar still uses a central
timing unit to synchronize all time-related information, and has an antenna to "fling" RF energy into
space, be reflected off of objects, and be processed by the receiver. The dictate to me and every other
radar repairman in military history: "Whichever set you work on, your job, the repairman's job, is the
same - to keep your set working and working right all the time."
Oh, if you have not yet watched
the Reel 1, Part 3 video on radar indicators, you might be wondering what that thumbnail image has to
do with a radar training film. Back in the day, especially in England, it was common to refer adoringly
to someone as a "pip." Pip was also the term given to a blip on the radar screen, hence the symbolism.
It was a mental bait-and-switch to get the troops' interest. You can bet there would never be such material
in today's training videos. I won't comment further on the subject.
Radar
Technical Principles
Reel 1 - Part 2 - Mechanics
Radar
Technical Principles
Reel 2 - Part 2 - Mechanics
Radar
Technical Principles
Reel 3 - Part 2 - Mechanics
Radar: Technical
Principles
Reel 1 - Part 3 - Indicators
Radar: Technical
Principles
Reel 2 - Part 3 - Indicators
Radar: Technical Principles
Reel 3 - Part 3 - Indicators
Radar: Technical Principles
Reel 4 - Part 3 - Indicators
Radar: Technical Principles
Reel 5 - Part 3 - Indicators
This archive links to the many video and audio
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All trademarks, copyrights, patents, and other rights of ownership to images
and text used on the RF Cafe website are hereby acknowledged.
This archive links to the many video and audio
files that have been featured on RF Cafe.