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Major tasks such as main schemes, control systems, including parts of and improvements to them, are planned by the Headquarters Current Engineering Section. The equipment is pre-assembled by the installation section at the Central Communications Establishment, Harrow, and installed and tested as a package by installation teams; the teams are based at the Regional Wireless Depot and are responsible to the Regional Wireless Engineer.
b. Maintenance
Maintenance is the largest single consumer of manpower within the Directorate. It is executed entirely by the Field Organisation through its Regional and Special units.
All users of communications and other electronic equipment are faced with a problem of ever increasing urgency in respect of the testing and repair of the vital units which together comprise the system.
The conditions under which modern communications equipment operates, and the fact that many technical advances are used to assist the user, together cause greater complexity and the use of many more component parts. These factors, coupled with the demand for smaller size, result in equipment with component densities from five to ten times greater than they were ten years ago.
Although component reliability has increased, eg solid state devices such as transistors replacing valves, factors such as this are more than offset by the complexity and density of package. The increased complexity and tighter limits demand ever increasing skill on the part of the technician carrying out the maintenance.
Source: Home Office DOT Exhibition 1971 Papers
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