Good Times

A Memory of Sopley.

I was there 1955 to 1997, apart from trips to Locking, and a final posting to the Shetlands, but RAF Sopley was brilliant.
I was a radar mechanic/fitter on the Radar Office consoles in the bunker.
When I first went in 1955 it had not been open very long, still had the old Type7 in the field, some Type 13s height finder and 14 for location, and still had a canberra aircraft for calibration.
I remember going to the 7 once, and was fascinated by the sparking on the feeders on transmit so that it would not overload the receivers
Being on shift work we somehow missed out on parades, and very rarely had an inspection, life was easy.
During the summer we would go on our motorbikes down to Highcliffe for a swim and sunbathe, I remember the sea mist rolling in, great times.
Alas my mate during those times has just passed away, he lived in USA so I missed his funeral. he ended up on the simulators in the Office, I never saw them.
If anyone who worked on the T80 will remember, the power supply was voilent, later known as the Mekon, it was a 6 phase mercury arc rectifier, you can still find video images of it on line,
I never heard of anyone being injured by it, but lethal it certainly was.
In the Shetlands I once went up the T80, and because of the wind you heard the turning motors grinding away, but they were troublesome.
In 1957? the T80 was blown clean off its gantry, the wind speed was recorded at 120 mph.
After I left in 1958, I heard that the replacement also blew off its gantry, this time it took all the speed recording equipment so they didnt know windspeed.
Terry

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