[MRCA] [Milsurplus] Radar

[Mike Hanz]

On 5/29/2013 10:48 PM, Al Klase wrote:
> I believe the Brits generally used the term RDF (Radio Direction 
> Finding) at least in the early going, as it obfuscates the underlying 
> technology.

True...see below.

> The Oxford English Dictionary states that the term "radar" is of U.S. 
> origin. Their earliest citation is from late 1941:
> "1941 N.Y. Times 18 Nov. 8/4 The Navy undertook a special enlistment 
> campaign today to recruit men for training in maintenance of the radio 
> device known as ‘Radar’, which is used to locate ships and aircraft 
> that are hidden by fog or darkness."

A year late and a dollar short on the NY Times part. :-)

> The story is told and retold at U.S. Army's Camp Evans in New Jersey, 
> now the home of the InfoAge Science History Learning Center and 
> Museum, that when the installation was set up in early 1942, a large 
> sign was erected identifying it as the Signal Corps Radar Laboratory. 
> Someone pointed out that the word itself was classified, and the name 
> was promptly changed to The Evans Signal Laboratory.

Probably apocryphal.  I mentioned excerpts from the horse's mouth NRL 
history document a couple of days ago, but folks might be interested in 
the original document, attached here.  Radar, or RADAR as some folks 
prefer, was the _unclassified_ name from the very beginning, as you can 
see in para 3 below.

      73,
  - Mike
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