RICHARD TRIM, OBE (Radar Engineer)

Richard Trim, IN HIS OWN WORDS

With the passing of Richard Trim in September, DEHS lost an industry leader, a wise counsel and a good friend.

In June 2003 Transmission Lines, Richard described his career for us thus: –

My professional career in the British Electronics Industry commenced in 1948 with a five-year student apprenticeship at AC Cossor Ltd. I then transferred to the Secondary Surveillance Radar Laboratory where I developed airborne transponders, which, in 1957, I took to the USA for a successful evaluation of Cossor SSR. This led directly to the adoption of SSR by the International Civil Aviation Organization later that year as the main ground radar-based air traffic control aid worldwide. Upon my return to the UK, I became a founding member of the Cossor New Products Group, resulting in my first patent – for a continuously variable microwave radar antenna feed polarizer. As Chief Engineer of the Cossor subsidiary Communications (Air) Ltd  I developed the FT-11B and FT-13C portable avionics test sets and the CRM 500 ILS Test for the Lightning Mk.VI Fighter Flight Line ATE. I then transferred to Cossor Radar and Electronics Ltd where I developed the CRM5 ll and CRM555 Test Sets. As Technical Manager Avionic Products at Cossor, developement of the IFF1500 and IFF1520 transponders for the RAF, the SSR 2100 and IFF 2800 microminiaturized transponders and the CRI 600 IFF Interrogator for Rapier. In 1968, I commenced the development of the CILS-75/CILS-76 Airborne Instrument Landing Receivers for the RN and RAF.  In 1972 I was awarded an OBE for Services to Exports. The following year, as Director of Cossor Instruments, I was responsible for the development of the 3100 and 4100 oscilloscopes and for a range of pulse echo cable fault location products. In 1973, I was appointed Technical Director of Cossor Electronics Ltd., giving a series of lectures on SSR for ATC in Peking in 1975.

In 1976, I joined Pye Unicom/Pye Ether as Technical Director responsible for the development of computer- controlled spectrophotometry and chromatography laboratory instruments, also for pH and electro-chemistry laboratory instruments.

In 1980 I joined Racal Decca as Technical Director, Racal Decca Marine Radar Ltd, developing the Master Series deep-sea radars and a range of small boat radars, the first to have daylight viewing, raster­ scanned displays in colour. I was then appointed a director of Racal Decca Advanced Development Ltd, responsible for the Racal interests in the NATO NIS IFF Project.

In 1990, I left Racal to form Gilden Research Ltd, winning a DTI Smart Award for a microwave beacon project. As a result of an approach from Docklands Light Railway in 1996, I developed the SMARTSOUND Background Noise Adaptive signal processing technique, which later featured on BBC TV Tomorrow’s World programme and won a Design Council Millennium Product Award. In 1997 I received a contract from Raytheon Systems Ltd to develop a modification to the CILS-75 Localizer Receiver to make it immune to FM Broadcast Transmitter interference, which is currently being implemented.

Ave atque vale, Richard – you are sorely missed by all in DEHS  Dr Phil Judkins