Talk:H2S (radar)

Origin of H2S name

There are a number of spurious explanations for how H2S received its name (some for understandable reasons) however, according to A. P. Rowe, who was at TRE at the time, the real reason is this:

When H2S was first being developed it was initially referred to as the Town Finder or TF, as that was the purpose of the system, i.e. to allow RAF Navigators to find their target towns at night and in all weathers, however it was realised that this name might be too obvious and so would eventually need changing for security reasons. At around this time Lord Cherwell (Professor Lindemann) was being shown round TRE and was shown the TF equipment and on seeing it he enquired as to it's purpose. On being told that the device would show a picture of the ground below in all weathers and at night (this was something akin to Science Fiction then) he replied incredulously: It stinks, it stinks! As a private joke the researchers from then-on referred to the TF system as H2S - the name of the foul-smelling gas given-off by rotten eggs (Hydrogen Sulphide) Some time later, Cherwell re-visited TRE and the TF system had by then been officially named H2S and the joke almost forgotten, but Cherwell on seeing the system again and hearing it called 'H2S' enquired why it had such a name. Quick as a flash, some bright-spark, remembering the 'It stinks' episode and wanting to save embarrasment on both sides, replied Home-Sweet-Home

Ian Dunster 13:31, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)

According to Prof. R V Jones (Chief of Air Scientific Intelligence), the H2S was a reference to the cavity magnetron itself. Again the credit went to Lord Cherwell on seeing the unbelievably simple construction of the magnetron, said that stunk that no-one had though of it before. 20.133.0.13 12:25, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

Actually, A.P.Rowe was one of the team at TRE that developed H2S. Jones was only involved on a wider level, so I'm inclined to believe Rowe as he was actually there. The H2S name does refer to the entire equipment and not just the resonant-cavity magnetron (RCM), however the RCM's main application was the H2S system, the ASV usage came later, and at a lower priority, therefore it's possible that Jones associated the 'H2S' name with the RCM. The Rowe book BTW, is One Story of Radar. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.40.248.89 (talk) 22:35, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

The part of the article that describes the German's investigation of H2S does not square with the facts. The Germans were well aware that a 10cm radar was a desireable thing to have. The Germans were also aware that Britain had a fully working 10cm (actually 9.1cm) radar system (H2S), but were unable to fathom out how we were generating the transmitted signal at such unbelievable power. How do we know that the Germans were aware of our radar? Their version of window, the bundles of alluminium strips dropped from aircraft to blind radar (which the Germans had codenamed Düpple) were specifically cut to blind a 9.1cm radar system, of which H2S was the only example. The Germans eventually found the magnetron and built their own version of H2S, but by the time they got it into service, the only thing it detected was defeat. 20.133.0.13 12:25, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

magus732 4:05PM 6/2/2008 (ET) Don't know how important for the article this is, but in the listed radar systems, accourding to just about evry book and website I've seen, it says that the 2 should be subscripted, meaning it should be a ₂, not a 2.

The Germans could detect the H2S transmissions across the Channel when the aircraft tested their equipment on the ground before take off. That's how powerful the H2S's transmitter was. As regards the US H2X system, Bernard Lovell's biography by Dudley Saward states that the system was inferior to the contemporary H2S Mk III UK system, and that US engineers had initially stated that no such system as H2S was possible in the first place. Later they tried to get their H2X system adopted by the RAF. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.40.248.89 (talk) 22:13, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

BTW, the A. P. Rowe mentioned in the initial post is this one: A. P. Rowe - he was the head of TRE at the time

Post WW2

H2S was apparently used until just after the Falklands. Some post WW2 info. would be nice. 86.134.182.189 (talk) 20:04, 2 August 2008 (UTC)

I've now added a bit of post-war history, and amended the intro para accordingly. Letdorf (talk) 12:38, 14 January 2009 (UTC).

Coastal Command, what Coastal Command?

I am astounded an entire article on ASV says nothing about the controversy between Bomber and Coastal Commands.... (I'll get to it when I can.) TREKphiler ^{hit me ♠} 16:10, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

British H2S and American H2X

The H2S article claims that the American H2X was merely an adaptation of the British 10cm MkIII H2S.

The H2X article claims that the American H2X introduced 3cm radar and that this was later adopted as the british H2SMkIII 3cm.

Which is right? I suspect I know but can anybody point to a source? Ex nihil ^(talk) 03:46, 24 March 2010 (UTC)

Although its a long time since I read it Bernard Lovell's biography by Dudley Saward mentions the arguments that the TRE had with the Americans over the worth of H2S, their opinion being IIRC that it wouldn't work, however whether the US or UK 3cm version of H2S was first or not I cannot remember. I seem to remember that they were actually different designs, the US 3cm one being designed by MIT, whereas the 3cm H2S Mk III was designed by the TRE.

BTW, there are some fascinating online talks by Lovell on his H2S radar work at TRE online here: [1] and he mentions where the 'H2S' name came from here: [2] - it was Cherwell (Professor Lindemann) who said It stinks!' —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.112.84.240 (talk) 17:19, 12 August 2010 (UTC)