In your reply please quote
File No BM45-1-22 Ref: M45-1-46
CONFIDENTIAL
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
CANADA
Radio and Electrical Engineering Division
Ottawa 2,
August 13, 1959
The Chief of Air Staff,
Department of National Defence,
OTTAWA, Ontario.
Attn: A/C EC Poole, Chief of Communications
Re: Siting of Des Joachims gap-filling radar relative to the
Algonquin Observatory site of the National Reseacy Council
Dear Sir:
From many viewpoints the site selected for radio astronomy work by the National Research Council, at Lake Traverse in Algonquin Park, offers the best protection from man-made electrical noise that can be found in eastern Canada, within reasonable distance of the major laboratory and university centres. Some radar interference is inevitable, but it can be alleviated considerably both by suitable choice of working frequencies (ie listening frequencies for the radio astronomy work), and by appropriate siting of the radar stations wherever a choice of such siting may exist.
In this connection our officers, Dr GA Miller, Mr CF Pattenson, and Mr NW Broten, have been working very closely with Mr AGW Timmers and his colleagues in your Telecommunications Systems Coordination Branch. The problem is the siting of the proposed Des Joachims gap-filling radar, where some latitude in its location is still available. We would like to suggest that consideration be given to taking advantage of terrain conditions at the radar site to give our radio observatory site increased protection both from the direct beam and from scattered radiation from hills to the south of our site. This would mean a reduction in very low level coverage of the radar over a sector of about 20º, say. It is for this reason that we are approaching you directly, because it would naturally involve a policy decision as to whether the detection system could afford a small loss in low angle coverage in this particular sector. If you agree in principle then we would be happy to pursue the details further with Mr Timmers' group. A definitive answer should then be forthcoming, with numbers attached, which could be forwarded to you for decision.
Anything that can be done to ameliorate the potential interference at the Algonquin Radio Observatory would certainly be most helpful. We would like to express our appreciation for the very close cooperation extended by Mr Timmers and his group in our relations to date on this problem.
Yours very truly,
DWR McKinley
Assistant Director