G8GMU, Birth of Radar Memorial, Weedon, Northampton Radio Club, Coventry Amateur Radio Society, Daventry Experiment. GB0WW, GB0RDF, Watson-Watt, Arnold Wilkins

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The 26th February 1935 near a small town called Weedon saw the birth of RADAR. To commemorate this event G4GEE & G8GMU set up a portable radio station on the site of the Birth of Radar Memorial 0n the 26th February 2007
In 2008 The Northampton Radio Club, headed by Chris M0DOL operated GB0WW & GB0RDF celebrating the 73rd anniversary of this event. A magnificent effort for the 28days in February. Aided by Coventry Amateur Radio Society.
2009 saw a great effort by Chris & the team operating GB0WW from the 5XX ex BBC site at Borough Hill Daventry
Click on the blue text for more information about GB0WW & GB0RDF from QRZ.COM. taking you away from this site.
The inscription on the Birth of RADAR memorial stone

The inscription reads

BIRTH OF RADAR MEMORIAL
on 26th February 1935 in the field opposite
ROBERT WATSON WATT AND
ARNOLD WILKINS
Showed for the first time in Britain that
aircraft could be detected by bouncing
radio waves off them. By 1939 there were
20 stations tracking aircraft at distances
up to more than 100 miles later known
as RADAR It was this invention more
than any other that saved the RAF
from defeat in the 1940 battle of Britain

  Bob  G4 GEE      Brian  G8GMU
 Using a modern transceiver
( ICOM . IC 706) fed into a simple wire dipole. Just as the original antennas would have been for the historic experiment
The contacts all on the 40 metre (7Mhz) Band were:-
DL6SX Nr Bayreuth
DK0HN nr Dortmund
GM0WED Orkneys
G0OIV Ashington
GI4DYE Strabane
PD0RYK Dokkum
MM3NVT Aberdeen
EI5DR Co Mayo
The original RADAR experiment was on the 49 metre band.
The memorial was organised by the late Mr Rex Boyes, a former RAF engineer who used to live in Weedon. He obtained planning permission and funding for the memorial from Qinetiq. The memorial was opened in September 2001 by Nancy Wilkins, widow of Arnold Wilkins. Also attending were local MP Tim Boswell, chairman of Stowe-IX-Churches Parish Council Mr Keith Mason and the late Mr Denis Brodie on whose land the memorial stands. The Parish Council agreed to accept ownership of the memorial .



The site of the memorial is located off the A5 just South of Weedon on the Northampton Road. (NGR. SP650 557)



World War 2 saw rapid and major advances to electronics in warfare. The Defence Electronics History Society has a wealth of information

Link to DEHS Website

Link to RAF Cranwell Apprentices Association. Website

Thank you to Sue Stanley for supplying   
some of the information for this page.   
RADAR page 2
RADAR page 3
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