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Arnold Frederic Wilkins
Arnold Frederic Wilkins OBE (20 February 1907 – 5 August 1985) was a pioneer in developing the use of radar. It was Arnold Wilkins who suggested to his boss, Robert Watson-Watt, that reflected radio waves might be used to detect aircraft, and his idea led to the initial steps in developing ground-to-air radar in the UK. Wilkins also provided all the theoretical calculations to back-up his idea of aircraft detection, and it was his lashed-up system that he used in the Daventry Experiment to demonstrate that his idea would work. With the Daventry experiment, Wilkins successfully detected an aircraft (up to eight miles away) by reflection of radio waves for the first time in history. Early life Born in Chorlton, Cheshire, Wilkins was the son of John Knowles Wilkins of Chester and was educated at Chester City & County School, Manchester University and St John's College, Cambridge. Career Radar He was usually known as 'Skip' Wilkins and worked at the Radio Research Sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arnold Frederic Wilkins
Arnold Frederic Wilkins OBE (20 February 1907 – 5 August 1985) was a pioneer in developing the use of radar. It was Arnold Wilkins who suggested to his boss, Robert Watson-Watt, that reflected radio waves might be used to detect aircraft, and his idea led to the initial steps in developing ground-to-air radar in the UK. Wilkins also provided all the theoretical calculations to back-up his idea of aircraft detection, and it was his lashed-up system that he used in the Daventry Experiment to demonstrate that his idea would work. With the Daventry experiment, Wilkins successfully detected an aircraft (up to eight miles away) by reflection of radio waves for the first time in history. Early life Born in Chorlton, Cheshire, Wilkins was the son of John Knowles Wilkins of Chester and was educated at Chester City & County School, Manchester University and St John's College, Cambridge. Career Radar He was usually known as 'Skip' Wilkins and worked at the Radio Research Sta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orford Ness
Orford Ness is a cuspate foreland shingle spit on the Suffolk coast in Great Britain, linked to the mainland at Aldeburgh and stretching along the coast to Orford and down to North Weir Point, opposite Shingle Street. It is divided from the mainland by the River Alde, and was formed by longshore drift along the coast. The material of the spit comes from places further north, such as Dunwich. Near the middle point of its length, at the foreland point or 'Ness', once stood Orfordness Lighthouse, demolished in summer 2020 owing to the encroaching sea. In the name of the lighthouse (and the radio transmitting station – see below), 'Orfordness' is written as one word. Description Orford Ness is an internationally important site for nature conservation. It contains a significant portion of the European reserve of vegetated shingle habitat, which is internationally scarce, highly fragile, and very easily damaged. Together with Havergate Island the site is a designated National Nat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aeronautical Research Committee
The Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (ACA) was a UK agency founded on 30 April 1909, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. In 1919 it was renamed the Aeronautical Research Committee, later becoming the Aeronautical Research Council. Following the establishment of this committee, other countries created similar agencies, notably the French ''L’Etablissement Central de l’Aérostation Militaire'' in Meudon (now ''ONERA''), the Russian "Aerodynamic Institute of Koutchino" and the U.S.A.'s National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, founded in 1915. The Aeronautical Research Council was disbanded in 1979. Origins The idea for the creation of the ACA originated with the then Secretary of State for War, R.B.Haldane (later First Viscount Haldane), who was supported in his efforts by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom H. H. Asquith. Asquith announced the committee's appointment in a statement to the House of Commons on 5 May 1909, in which h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of Radar
The history of radar (where radar stands for radio detection and ranging) started with experiments by Heinrich Hertz in the late 19th century that showed that radio waves were reflected by metallic objects. This possibility was suggested in James Clerk Maxwell's seminal work on electromagnetism. However, it was not until the early 20th century that systems able to use these principles were becoming widely available, and it was German inventor Christian Hülsmeyer who first used them to build a simple ship detection device intended to help avoid collisions in fog (Reichspatent Nr. 165546). True radar, such as the British Chain Home early warning system provided directional information to objects over short ranges, were developed over the next two decades. The development of systems able to produce short pulses of radio energy was the key advance that allowed modern radar systems to come into existence. By timing the pulses on an oscilloscope, the range could be determined and th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Blumlein
Alan Dower Blumlein (29 June 1903 – 7 June 1942) was an English electronics engineer, notable for his many inventions in telecommunications, sound recording, stereophonic sound, television and radar. He received 128 patents and was considered one of the most significant engineers and inventors of his time. He died during World War II on 7 June 1942, aged 38, during the secret trial of an H2S airborne radar system then under development, when all on board the Halifax bomber in which he was flying were killed when it crashed at Welsh Bicknor in Herefordshire. Early life Alan Dower Blumlein was born on 29 June 1903 in Hampstead, London. His father, Semmy Blumlein, was a German-born naturalised British subject. Semmy was the son of Joseph Blumlein, a German of Jewish descent, and Philippine Hellmann, a French woman of German descent.Semmy Blumlein's father, Joseph B. Blumlein was Jewish, ''see Burns, p. 2'' Alan's mother, Jessie Dower, was Scottish, daughter of William Dower (bor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Framlingham
Framlingham is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Suffolk, England. Of Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon origin, it appears in the 1086 Domesday Book. The parish had a population of 3,342 at the 2011 Census and an estimated 4,016 in 2019. Nearby villages include Earl Soham, Kettleburgh, Parham, Suffolk, Parham, Saxtead and Sweffling. Governance An Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward of the same name exists. The parish stretches north-east to Brundish with a total ward population taken at the 2011 Census of 4,744. Features Framlingham's history can be traced to an entry in the Domesday Book (1086) when it then consisted of several manors. The medieval Framlingham Castle is a major feature and tourist attraction for the area, managed by English Heritage. Mary I of England, Mary Tudor (daughter of Henry VIII of England, Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon) was proclaimed the first Queen of England there in 1553. It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saxtead
Saxtead is a small village in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk. Saxtead gives its name to the settlements of Saxtead Green and Saxtead Little Green and the windmill Saxtead Green Windmill. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 335. Saxtead is located on the A1120 road in between the town of Stowmarket and the village of Yoxford. The place-name 'Saxtead' is first attested in the Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ... of 1086, where it appears as ''Saxsteda''. The name is thought to mean 'Seaxa's place'. Eilert Ekwall, ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names'', p.406. Notable people * Margaret Green, painter References External links Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Woollard
William Woollard (born 23 August 1939, London) is a historian and retired British television producer and presenter. Biography Woollard went to a state grammar school in London and Oxford University. He trained to be a fighter pilot with the Royal Air Force. He worked with an oil company in Borneo and Oman. He has worked as a social scientist on corporate social responsibility with several American and European organisations. He has written about his Buddhist beliefs. Television career Woollard has produced, written and presented many television documentaries and series, particularly on science and technology. They have been broadcast on the BBC and Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, as well as the Discovery Channel, the National Geographic Channel and the Public Broadcasting Service in the US. He is known as a producer and presenter on the BBC's science magazine programme ''Tomorrow's World,'' and on the BBC's motoring programme ''Top Gear''. On ''Tomorrow's World'' he was a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Secret War (TV Series)
''The Secret War'' was a seven-part television series that was produced by the BBC in conjunction with the Imperial War Museum (IWM) that documented secret technical developments during the Second World War. It first aired during 1977 and was presented by William Woollard, drawing on the first-hand recollections of participants from both sides. The principal interviewee was Reginald Victor Jones, R. V. Jones, whose autobiography informed much of the research before its publication. The opening music was an excerpt from Modest Mussorgsky, Mussorgsky's ''Pictures at an Exhibition''. The closing music was by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Episodes Episode 1: "The Battle of the Beams" This episode documented how British intelligence became aware of various navigation beams, such as , and and the countermeasures developed to combat them in what became known as the Battle of the Beams. It is largely based on the book ''Most Secret War'', which was written by Jones, who appears in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east and Hertfordshire to the east. Buckinghamshire is one of the Home Counties, the counties of England that surround Greater London. Towns such as High Wycombe, Amersham, Chesham and the Chalfonts in the east and southeast of the county are parts of the London commuter belt, forming some of the most densely populated parts of the county, with some even being served by the London Underground. Development in this region is restricted by the Metropolitan Green Belt. The county's largest settlement and only city is Milton Keynes in the northeast, which with the surrounding area is administered by Milton Keynes City Council as a unitary authority separately to the rest of Buckinghamshire. The remainder of the county is administered by Buck ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Identification Friend Or Foe
Identification, friend or foe (IFF) is an identification system designed for command and control. It uses a transponder that listens for an ''interrogation'' signal and then sends a ''response'' that identifies the broadcaster. IFF systems usually use radar frequencies, but other electromagnetic frequencies, radio or infrared, may be used. It enables military and civilian air traffic control interrogation systems to identify aircraft, vehicles or forces as friendly and to determine their bearing and range from the interrogator. IFF is used by both military and civilian aircraft. IFF was first developed during World War II, with the arrival of radar, and several friendly fire incidents. IFF can only positively identify friendly aircraft or other forces. If an IFF interrogation receives no reply or an invalid reply, the object is not positively identified as foe; friendly forces may not properly reply to IFF for various reasons such as equipment malfunction, and parties in the area ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chain Home
Chain Home, or CH for short, was the codename for the ring of coastal Early Warning radar stations built by the Royal Air Force (RAF) before and during the Second World War to detect and track aircraft. Initially known as RDF, and given the official name Air Ministry Experimental Station Type 1 (AMES Type 1) in 1940, the radar units themselves were also known as Chain Home for most of their life. Chain Home was the first early warning radar network in the world, and the first military radar system to reach operational status. Its effect on the outcome of the war made it one of the most powerful weapons of what is today known as the "Wizard War". In late 1934, the Tizard Committee asked radio expert Robert Watson-Watt to comment on the repeated claims of radio death rays and reports suggesting Germany had built some sort of radio weapon. His assistant, Arnold Wilkins, demonstrated that a death ray was impossible but suggested radio could be used for long-range detection. In Febr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
