UK Falling Behind In Millimetre-Wave Communications

 'Microwaves were first used in radar', wrote Motz, 'soon after the war, microwave links were established for relaying television programmes and direct line 3-10 centimetre links were operated for communication.'

'The klystrons, magnetrons, and microwave circuitry were first developed in Britain during the war by Government-sponsored research and then in the USA,' wrote Motz.

'Progress was relatively slow, however, when it came to millimetre-wave technology' continued Motz, 'millimetre waves are strongly absorbed by water vapour in the atmosphere and there are, therefore, useless for radar.'

'Millimetre waves are, however a very promising vehicle for telephone communication if they are piped in evacuated or gas-filled cables. There are, for instance, a million channels of 10,000 cycles/sec bandwidth available in the band 5-6 millimetre.'

'I think we can foresee a need for so many channels', added Motz, 'if people in Manchester got into the habit of dialling their friends in London the demand would go up by a few hundred thousand.'

Motz goes on to say: 'There is little research and development in Britain in this field whereas TSF in France and Bell in the USA are active in millimetre communication research.'

He urges: 'We must surely see to it that we are the country best equipped with communication devices in the shortest time.'

But we are slipping behind, Motz warns: 'Switzerland already has a telephone system which allows direct dialling from any subscriber in the country to any other.'

Motz concludes: 'We are very backward in this field and there are very few subscribers to the teleprinter service in this country compared with the Continent.'