New theory about Stonehenge
Posted: Sat Jun 03, 2023 9:28 pmAn article on the Beeb website this evening:
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/2023 ... sound-like
It is nonsense. I showed many years ago that it was actually a primitive VOR.
This is what I posted in the old visualflight forums, in 2006:
Some deep background on Stonehenge, for younger readers :
Few people nowadays remember that the stone henge was actually a primitive VOR. It was very effective for departures, but less so for inbound traffic, due to telecommunication problems. At that time, the only reliable long distance messaging system involved carved slates, fired from a Ballista. This ex-military technology was coupled with a new idea, Really Accurate Druid Approach Runes (which had evolved from an even older system, Pretty Accurate Runes, or PAR for short).
For a while, this seemed to be the solution, but as traffic grew, serious problems appeared. All too often, an inbound party would arrive at the henge only to find that the Despatcher-Druid had himself been dispatched by an unexpected communication. As this side-effect was more prevalent at peak periods, the system quickly descended into chaos, while recruitment and training costs spiralled uncontrollably upwards.
Inevitably, the system was abandoned, and today the only memorial to the fate of those bold pioneering Druids is the sound you hear when two people try to transmit at the same time, on VHF.
(and some folk think I make this stuff up )
Cheers
MikeW
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/2023 ... sound-like
It is nonsense. I showed many years ago that it was actually a primitive VOR.
This is what I posted in the old visualflight forums, in 2006:
Some deep background on Stonehenge, for younger readers :
Few people nowadays remember that the stone henge was actually a primitive VOR. It was very effective for departures, but less so for inbound traffic, due to telecommunication problems. At that time, the only reliable long distance messaging system involved carved slates, fired from a Ballista. This ex-military technology was coupled with a new idea, Really Accurate Druid Approach Runes (which had evolved from an even older system, Pretty Accurate Runes, or PAR for short).
For a while, this seemed to be the solution, but as traffic grew, serious problems appeared. All too often, an inbound party would arrive at the henge only to find that the Despatcher-Druid had himself been dispatched by an unexpected communication. As this side-effect was more prevalent at peak periods, the system quickly descended into chaos, while recruitment and training costs spiralled uncontrollably upwards.
Inevitably, the system was abandoned, and today the only memorial to the fate of those bold pioneering Druids is the sound you hear when two people try to transmit at the same time, on VHF.
(and some folk think I make this stuff up )
Cheers
MikeW
