Robert Watson-Watt - Early Experiments

Early Experiments

In 1916 Watson-Watt wanted a job with the War Office, but nothing obvious was available in communications. Instead he joined the Meteorological Office, who were interested in his ideas on the use of radio for the detection of thunderstorms. Lightning gives off a radio signal as it ionizes the air, and he planned on detecting this signal in order to warn pilots of approaching thunderstorms.

His early experiments were successful in detecting the signal, and he quickly proved to be able to do so at long ranges. Two problems remained however. The first was locating the signal, and thus the direction to the storm. This was solved with the use of a directional antenna, which could be manually turned to maximize (or minimize) the signal, thus "pointing" to the storm. Once this was solved the equally difficult problem of actually seeing the fleeting signal became obvious, which he solved with the use of a cathode-ray oscilloscope with a long-lasting phosphor. Such a system represented a significant part of a complete radar system, and was in use as early as 1923. It would, however, need the addition of a pulsed transmitter and a method of measuring the time delay of the received radio echos, and that would in time come from work on ionosondes.

At first he worked at the Wireless Station of Air Ministry Meteorological Office in Aldershot, England. In 1924 when the War Department gave notice that they wished to re-occupy their Aldershot site, he moved to Ditton Park near Slough in Berkshire. The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) already had a research station there. In 1927 they were amalgamated as the Radio Research Station, with Watson-Watt in charge. After a further re-organisation in 1933, Watson-Watt became Superintendent of the Radio Department of NPL in Teddington.