Gee transmitter finds new home

[McMurdo]

I'm a follower of Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre's facebook page, and transmitter buffs might like to see pics of their latest acquisition, bought from the radar museum.

[M0FYA Andy]

That's splendid, I didn't realise any of the Gee ground station equipment had survived.

Andy

[jamesinnewcastl]

mmmm - switch it on......

It's in very good nick!


James

[turretslug]

That's fantastic that it's survived in such good condition- and surely of interest to a broader spectrum of folk than just transmitter buffs!

[paulsherwin]

Would someone like to explain to the rest of us why this is interesting and significant? (Genuine question, not sarcasm).

[turretslug]

A significant and notably successful early application of radio hyperbolic navigation- putting the populist hat on, the grand-daddy of GPS.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gee_(navigation)

[Radio Wrangler]

Originally Posted by turretslug

the grand-daddy of GPS.

And the daddy of Loran and the Decca Navigator.

I miss 'Jingle Bells' on top band........sigh

They were fairly powerful transmitters on adventurously high frequencies - low VHF and caused discoveries of various propagation effects.

Not just vintage, they are historic.

David

[ms660]

Extreeeeemely important lump of stuff.

Lawrence.

[M0FYA Andy]

I believe the Gee transmitters were finally switched off in the early 1970s, so I guess this will be one of those?
Andy

[Hartley118]

Many of us learned to love the receiving side of Gee in the 1950s and 60s. The R1355 with its associated VHF RF units - RF24, 25, 26, 27 worked well receiving VHF TV, whilst indicator unit 62A could be adapted to provide the display.

There's an informative site here from the Duxford Radio Society http://www.duxfordradiosociety.org/r...355/r1355.html .

Martin

[lesmw0sec]

I recall the GEE station at Worth Matravers. From memory it had an ERP of around 100KW and a frequency of 30.7 Mc/s. It was a handy calibration source, but due to the pulse tx. it wiped out quite a bit of the band!

[gm0ekm cecil]

Originally Posted by lesmw0sec

I recall the GEE station at Worth Matravers. From memory it had an ERP of around 100KW and a frequency of 30.7 Mc/s. It was a handy calibration source, but due to the pulse tx. it wiped out quite a bit of the band!

A photo of the former Gee (slave) Station on Scousburgh Hill in the Shetland Islands.

[McMurdo]

There's a comprehensive write-up about Gee on Wikipedia. It's also covered in RV Jones' book 'Most Secret War' which is a must-read for anyone remotely interested in WW2 electronics.

Here's a 1946 advert for Gee. The manufacturer, Cossor boasted making 60,000 sets in the war.

[M0FYA Andy]

Whilst information on the Gee receiving side is readily available on the internet (at least for Mk2), information on the transmitters is harder to find.
Having said that, a search of the Kew online catalogue shows that they have tons of documents covering the ground stations, but it would require a visit there to identify the most useful.

Andy

[Ed_Dinning]

Hi Gents, I believe there was a recent article in Radiophile by Chas Miller who worked on these during the latter stages of the war.

Ed

[CambridgeWorks]

Kevin, I just love looking at adverts like that from around WW2. Thank you.
I recall the Osram valve one showing a pilot with a leather helmet on.
Often, "In these times" was used as an opening line.
Rob, aged 65

[trh01uk]

Originally Posted by turretslug

A significant and notably successful early application of radio hyperbolic navigation- putting the populist hat on, the grand-daddy of GPS.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gee_(navigation)

Actually, I think "world first" is warranted here. As far as I know, no-one else in the world had a working hyperbolic navigation system before the UK did, though the principles were well understood.

It seems no-one could figure out how display and measure the small differences in time (microseconds) that is required to make the system a practical reality. I've heard mention of the Americans coming up with the same idea, but abandoning it when they were shown a GEE prototype because it was so superior to anything they had.

Richard

[trh01uk]

Originally Posted by McMurdo

I'm a follower of Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre's facebook page, and transmitter buffs might like to see pics of their latest acquisition, bought from the radar museum.

I'd be interested to hear which "radar museum" this is?

Its slightly astonishing that they thought to dispose of it. Perhaps they consider it not to be "radar" - which I suppose strictly speaking it isn't - and thus outside the scope of their collection?

Richard

[M0AFJ, Tim]

Originally Posted by trh01uk

It seems no-one could figure out how display and measure the small differences in time (microseconds) that is required to make the system a practical reality. I've heard mention of the Americans coming up with the same idea, but abandoning it when they were shown a GEE prototype because it was so superior to anything they had.

Don't tell the yanks, Hollywood will change history

[McMurdo]

I'd be interested to hear which "radar museum" this is?

RAF Neatishead.

The basic GEE system was devised by Bob Dippy of the TRE.

There's a brief bio of him here:

http://www.purbeckradar.org.uk/biography/dippy_bob.htm