Microwave relay sites for the USAF in the early 1960s...

This thread has been set up to inform folks of the microwave relay sites installed and commissioned for the USAF in the early 1960s by the Marconi Company. I worked for Marconi at that time having completed an apprenticeship with them.

The network included some 30 stations and provided a comprehensive voice and data service between the Fylingdales BMEWS site in the north; to Ringstead tropo in the south; to Martelsham Heath tropo in the north east and all points in between. There was also a microwave link via Swingate, near Dover, to Longfosse, near Bologne in France.

The equipment used was the HM510 Terminals and the HM560 Repeaters operating in the 4GHz band. The aerial systems used parabolic dishes at ground level pointing upwards to angled reflectors at the upper end of the masts. Stations were typically 30 to 35 miles apart.

The stations listed below form the total network and their interconnections are shown on the network map (see next post).

Northern link
Fylingdales, Yorkshire (Northern endpoint)
Garrowby Hill, Barmby Moor, Yorkshire
Kirton Lindsey, Lincolnshire
Spitalgate, Lincolnshire
Crowland, Lincolnshire
Alconbury, Cambridgeshire

North East link
Lakenheath, Suffolk
Martlesham Heath, Suffolk (NE endpoint)
Great Bromley, Essex
High Garrett, Essex
Barkway, Hertfordshire
Bovingdon, Hertfordshire

South East Link
Longfosse, France (SE endpoint) - decommissioned in 1966
Swingate, Kent
Dunkirk, Kent
Cold Blow, Kent
Botley Hill, Surrey

Southwest link
Ringstead Bay, Dorset (SW endpoint)
Portland, Dorset - refer Wikipedia entry here .
Bulbarrow Hill, Dorset
Golden Pot, Hampshire
Dean Hill, Wiltshire
High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
Hillingdon, Buckinghamshire – central hub for the UK

Western loop
Greenham Common, Berkshire
Croughton, Northamptonshire
Daventry, Northamptonshire
Chelveston, Northamptonshire

Other spurs
Chicksands, Bedfordshire
Ruislip, Middlesex

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Excellent David. Thanks.

These website pages explains how the USAF radio relay sites in the UK fit in with the AFCS system in Europe and farther afield:

www.usarmygermany.com/Sont.htm?http&&&ww...UR_UK%20Terminal.htm

Scroll down on the left side to "US Theater Level" and select "US Air Force". On the USAFE page select "AF Communications"

There is a lot to wade through but I think it is worth the effort for anyone interested in comms sites.

Graham

Hi Graham,

Yes, thanks for this. I have actually used this site before to check my memory of some of the sites - it was over 50 years ago! There were some omissions which I did pass on to them but I notice they haven't been incorporated. The previous two posts I think are as accurate as they will ever get.

One thing I should have mentioned at the start of this thread is that, along with others around the world, we are documenting the history of the Marconi Company in the form of Wikis - 14 of them in fact - and the one on Communications includes the USAF project. At this time the Wikis are private until such time as certain copyright issues are resolved with the new owners which hopefully will be this year. Having said that, should there be any ex-Marconi employees 'listening' to this thread just let me know.

Regards,

David

The attached document gives a brief description of the equipment Marconi provided to the USAF.

HM500-550 and HM510-560 Series.pdf

Great information David, thanks for posting this up. I clearly remember driving past the Crowland station on the northern loop regularly when I was a kid. It always intrigued me as it was such a small site and the information board stated it was a Repeater Station. I always wondered what that meant as a 9 year old!

You may be amused by this photo which is of Botley Hill in the south eastern link. Some of the stations were that small consisting only of an equipment van, a generator van and mast/aerial assembly. You will note the high level of security employed! You will however be glad to know it hadn't been commissioned at the time the photo was taken so was not operational.

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Awesome! I'm sure I saw that in an episode of dads army!

DavidS;160054 wrote:

You may be amused by this photo which is of Botley Hill in the south eastern link. Some of the stations were that small consisting only of an equipment van, a generator van and mast/aerial assembly. You will note the high level of security employed! You will however be glad to know it hadn't been commissioned at the time the photo was taken so was not operational.

[IMG]/community/160054=22465-Botley Hill.jpg[/img]

Thanks for all the information it is really interesting.
I have been casually researching the link into and out of RAF Wethersfield, which took over from High Garret once the latter closed.
It seems it linked to Barkway to the West and Gt Bromley to the East.
Does anyone know how the link was made from Barkway/Gt Bromley once Wethersfield was vacated by the USAF?
It's seems the microwave system survived for a few more years after the closure of Wethersfield.

There were(are still) two large masts at Wethersfield one very similar to those at other locaions on the microwave link that had the familiar "periscope" antennas, the other was a somewhat smaller mast and located reasonably close the the big mast.
Can anyone give information as to its purpose?