Radar Beacons

Heroes Remember

Radar Beacons

Transcript

Because of the sensitivity of the radar receiver, it could pick up signals from radio beacons … radar beacons and in some, in particular, I refer to the Indian Ocean. Aircraft could be miles and miles and miles away from home and if they didn’t have some sure way of getting home, we could have lost all kinds of them. So there were beacons established at airdromes so that an aircraft as far away … I personally saw 200 miles of the range of a radar beacon. And the crew were pretty happy to know the distance they had to go, the amount of fuel they had left, they were going to make it. ‘Cause if you make a mistake and you miss an airport or an island way out in the Indian Ocean, it’s good-bye and we were very fortunate. But this was an important aspect, not the main aspect of radar but very important.

Description

Mr. Barrie speaks about the sensitivity of radar in relation to the signal detected from radar beacons.

William “Bill” Barrie

Mr. Barrie was born on June 5, 1918. As a child, he was intrigued by radio, followed his desires and studied in the field of radar. By 1939, Mr. Barrie received a certificate as a Second Class Commercial Radio Operator from the Marconi Radio School in Toronto, Ontario. At age 22 he joined the RCAF. His first posting was to Britain and from 1941 to 1942, while in service, he obtained more education on heavy duty radar systems. In July, 1942, Mr. Barrie joined the RAF # 212 Flying Squadron and travelled to Southeast Asia where he took part in many airborne radar patrols. In 1945, Mr. Barrie returned to Canada and enrolled in a Radio Physics course at the university in London, Ontario, graduating with a BSC in Honours Radio Physics. In 1946, Mr. Barrie met a young Scottish girl who was serving with the Royal Navy as a WREN and they married later that year. After graduating university in 1949, Mr. Barrie was employed as a Development Engineer with a company in Belleville, Ontario. From 1957 until his retirement in 1981, Mr. Barrie was involved in major projects in the field of radar, from developing sound systems to designing more complicated satellite communications hardware. Retirement allowed him to become a major contributor to the “Canadians on Radar Research Project”.

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