Miniature Radar

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31730, 13 July 1968, Page 5

Miniature Radar

“In a sense every radar set is a device for seeing'in the dark and the latest is under development by the British Mullard Company,” said Dennis Desoutter in a 8.8. C. World Service programme, “Science and Industry.” ‘lt is called Avoid—a name made up of the initial letters of a longer phrase—and it is designed to be carried on fire engines and other vehicles so that the driver can avoid obstacles in fog or darkness. In effect it is the very instrument that most of us must have suggested in idle chat at some time or other as a safety gadget for cars, trains, and so forth.”

Desoutter described Avoid as being small enough to run from a car battery, and with a maximum range of about 100 yards down to a mere three yards, which ought to be close enough even for the worst fog. At the moment, he said, the development engineers were concentrating on a model for aerodrome fire engines and crash tenders to allow them to get to a crashed aircraft in the worst visibility, and were hoping to produce it for around £lOOO. Later and cheaper models were likely to find even wider uses.