The move to Southend involved leaving home and finding digs. I was lucky to find lodgings with a Mrs Nicholls, a lovely lady who kept us well fed.
Our new laboratory proved to be in the loft above the EKCO car radio sections garage where a hoist was installed to permit the equipment to be hoisted through a trapdoor in the floor.
By this time Mike Skinner had left EKCO and his place being taken by Gordon Simon.
Bill Graville completed the Gating Unit whilst Gordon worked on the new indicator system required by ARI 5952. This indicator was a transistorised unit based upon some of the components used in the E190 weather radar. Some of the valves used in A.I. 20 were being declared as obsolescent. Gordon also worked on replacement sub-assemblies using solid-state components.
The full systems test of ARI 5952 was conducted at Pershore Worcestershire, where RSRE Malvern had laboratory space and from where flight trials were conducted.
My previous duties in the wave-guide section were called upon which required that trips back to Kemble airfield be made to test Radome's, Aerial assemblies etc. It was amazing how often an expenses paid trip to conduct these tests coincided with a weekend visiting home and more appropriately Jean?
On March 18th 1961 Jean and I were married and commenced married life in a flat in Whitegate road, Southend. Jean and I had our legs pulled about Whitegate Road, as it had been part of the red light district during and after the war.
After some time in the car radio garage we moved into the main laboratory block of the factory.
In this new laboratory Cyril Drew's team was strengthened when Ron Bevan joined the group at the start of the Helicopter Radar contract. Tony Wadsworth and Alan Reynolds also joined us at about that time.
The display system for the Helicopter radar also acted as a large plotting board such that the operator had tactical information not only on primary radar contacts but also from information derived from secondary radar (transponder) as to the position of assisting helicopters together with data gathered from a dunking sonar system. The radar display was to be a true motion one. This means that the centre of the radar display coincides with the current position of the helicopter with respect to a fixed map of the area.
The large plotting surface dictated some form of projection system be devised for the radar- display to keep the weight down. One early suggestion by V.J.Cox, the chief engineer, was to use a virtual image display. This involved mounting a 2-inch TV projection CRT in an optical arrangement using a lens and surface coated mirror all of which were sealed into a Perspex box. This box was then filled with liquid paraffin to act as an index of refraction matching media to suppress stray reflections. You get very funny looks when you ask a lady assistant in Boots for 3 quarts of liquid paraffin?
Finally a Philips style TV projection system was utilised with a cunning diffusion material sandwiched between two Fresnel lenses to ensure that the operator was provided with a bright and comfortable display. The EHT block for this unit was laid out and the resin potted assembly worked up by Mike Rose.
A team in Jack Halsalls lab that included Frank Burnhill, John Wallace and Brian Couchy created the Transmitter/Receiver and Transponder units for the Helicopter radar.
Flight trials were anticipated. Pete Dowty would mainly carry out these but I was nominated as a back up. This saw both of us being medically cleared and packed off to Boscombe Down to be hung up in Parachutes, made to feel very queasy by being shown survival films with gory injuries and being half frozen to death after being thrown into a static water tank for Dingy survival practice.
My next and one of my most satisfying engineering tasks was connected with the Canadian weather radar program.
The Canadian Air-force Transport aircraft were to be fitted with weather radar systems that were to be supplemented by an enhanced shorter-range ground mapping facility.
A combination of the tried and tested E-190 system coupled with the transmitter of the Helicopter radar program was to be used. However this necessitated a revised Indicator design to provide the short-range facility.
The E-190 indicator was an all germanium transistor design. It used the 28-volt DC aircraft power supply. This voltage was insufficient to drive the CRT scan coils to achieve the shorter time base operation.
A crash program of 6-months was scheduled in which time a system was to be designed and engineered to a level that would permit type approval.
Being charged with the Indicator design it was very satisfying to be in a position such that if you ask for external services you get them immediately. However it also requires that you get more than 90% right first time.
Suffice to say we made it.
Production deliveries were supported by field service requirements of 3-months duration.
Pete Dowty did the first and fourth 3-month secondment to Canada. I did the second and Brian Linge did the third. My three months were divided in periods of time in Ottawa, Trenton Ontario, Toronto and Edmonton Alberta during the period February to April 1963.
My next assignment was to engineer a set of weather radar equipment such that RAF transport aircraft (Hercules) could maintain formation in cloud or at night.
This Station Keeping Radar contract was overseen from RSRE Malvern by a man I was subsequently to work for called Steve Trudgill.
The system mainly used the weather radar used in the Canadian contract but added the Helicopter radar transmitter/receiver with its secondary radar (transponder) receiver facility.
This enabled either primary or secondary radar to be available upon selection.
Slave or target aircraft for the flight trials would be fitted with transponders.
The trials were conducted from Pershore were a Varsity was fitted out with the full radar system. A second Varsity and a Hermes were fitted with transponders to act as target aircraft.
This mini fleet became known as Monty Trudgill's flying circus.
After a few setbacks the system appeared to work. However we needed trials using many more transponders to evaluate the potential for signal confusion. The navy by this time had a reasonable number fitted in Helicopters and which were based at Culdrose in Cornwall.
It was arranged for two formations of 4 helicopters each, to trundle backwards and forwards at almost sea level in front of the cliffs whilst we flew towards the cliffs and the eight transponders to test if either caused a problem. This test proved promising as well but the contract did not proceed further.
After some initial work on a Q-band modulator I left EKCO in May 1970 to come and live and work in the Malvern/Worcester area where I remain to this day.
