Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit SATURDAY, JULY 26, 1947. BRITAIN LEADS FIELD

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 67, Issue 243, 26 July 1947, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit SATURDAY, JULY 26, 1947. BRITAIN LEADS FIELD

Radar experts have been operating at the Ashburton airport for many months applying this great invention t 6 meteorology. The results of their experiments may not be known for some time —possibly the experts have been handicapped by the fact that the famous nor’-wester has more or less made itself conspicuous by its absence. Radar proved of such value in various spheres of operations during the war that scientists have continued to adapt it to commercial purposes, and in England it is now being used very extensively for navigational purposes, particularly in the shipping field. For instance, the most striking advantage of British radar —as in the Queen Elizabeth and other liners—is the use of the three centimetre wave-length which very clearly defines every solid object within 50 yards of the aerial. Anotlier advantage is that the sets are designed for simple control by the navigation officer, without the help of an operator. Shore radar,, as at Liverpool, now enables the harboui* authorities to see, not only the movements of ships in port, but also all that is happening for 10 to 12 miles out to sea. There 'are other fields as well in which Britain may rightly be said to be leading the world, and one of these is television. advance made in the field of radar was sucessfully applied to television, with the result that when transmission was resumed in 1946 outstanding improvements weie observed. Yet a third advance has been recorded in the field of British endeavour, and that is in regard to radio. There has developed a great demand for the British product in a number of countries, and in order to build iip the export side of the business, manufacturers have been making a particular study of conditions in the different countries in order to produce sets which will give better performances than those of rival countries. There is shortly to be held a radio olympia, when new technical advances which have enabled Britain to lead the field will be displayed. The olympia should provide . a striking example of the determination of British industry to rise above the difficulties which have placed the nation in the unhappy economic position it is in to-day.