Peter James Brannigan

Rothwell, Northants

Semi Retired

When I worked on the station Arthur did not have a name. He was the one and only dish, Built by Husband & Co. at a fraction of the cost the Americans paid for their one and the one in France.
Arthur was driven in Asmuth (Left and Right) and Elevation by two 100hp motors. In the centre of the dish was a conical scanning arial that picked up a beam signal from Telstar, and later Relay. The resulting signal permitted fine adjustments to be made when tracking.
Incidentally, I was most disappointed that they had stripped the control tower bare. There used to be a control consul with a visual display which included Arthur's actual position plus control facilities for the fine adjustments, meantioned earlier, and after each pass (The satellite's journey fron horizon to horizon) the controls were used to move the dish to a position where comparative tests were conducted using a simulated satellite.
In the early mornings you could a fine view across the downs and sometimes you would see the fox hunters riding.