History
Dundonald was a radar site within the Linesman/Mediator system - it was a receive-only installation with a "High Speed Aerial" - part of the RX12874 "Passive Detection" system which operated in conjunction with the main site at Boulmer. The system required a broad-band link to convey receieved data to Boulmer and control ("turning") signals to Dundonald to maintain synchronisation.
A file in BT Archives indicates the link between Dundonald and Boulmer was due to be operational during 1968 however the dates for the Post Office links had been subject to delay for a number of reasons. In general the route followed that of the 1951 television link as far as Corbys Crags but three new intermediate sites were required, including Greenfield Hill to bridge the gap between Dundonald and Kirk o'Shotts.
Due to the vagaries of different archives we have a detailed photo of the Post Office installation yet no photos of the radar at Dundonald have been found to date and the exact location is not known. A report on nearby RAF Gailes notes that communications sites were established on Wardlaw Hill and the Dundonald radar site is understood to have been nearby.
The Linesman/Mediator system was replaced during the mid-1980s and the radar site at Dundonald was decommissioned. The SHF site is unlikely to have been used for other purposes but was still shown on a mid-1980s BT list. Ofcom data shows a concentration of BT and other SHF links at the NATS (Air Traffic) site which was historically the RAF Gailes remote transmitter site, but is unlikely to have been either the 1960s radar or Post Office link site.
