Editing Mid-Canada Line (section)

===Spider Web===

The DRB decided to pursue Lewis’ idea in 1950–51 by directing a research contract to the Eaton Electronics Research Laboratories of [[McGill University]], headed by Professor Garfield Woonton. Lewis suggested to DRB and Woonton that he put the project in the hands of associate professor, J. Rennie Whitehead as project leader, a former colleague of his from the TRE days in the UK who had recently taken a position at the Lab. Some preliminary tests were made in 1952 with [[breadboard]] hardware built by a graduate student, Hugh Hamilton, in order to confirm the validity of the idea.{{sfn|Whitehead|1995}}

In the meantime RCA Victor had been brought in by the DRB to design and produce the receivers, transmitters and antennas for tests on a substantial scale. The testing was performed in the summer of 1953, when Whitehead and his team of  RCA Victor and RCAF personnel installed and operated a string of seven stations stretching from [[Ottawa]] to [[Mattawa, Ontario|Mattawa]]{{efn|Whitehead states the line stretched to [[North Bay, Ontario|North Bay]], but lists stations only as far as Mattawa.{{sfn|Whitehead|1995}}}}  along the [[Ottawa River]] valley. Known under the code name of ''"Spider Web"'' at the suggestion of Hamilton, the tests were made with aircraft from [[CFB St. Hubert]], near Montreal.  All observations were transmitted to and made in the line HQ, which was set up in the equipment hut of one of the seven stations, located in [[Deep River, Ontario|Deep River]].{{sfn|Whitehead|1995}}

Flight Lieutenant  Andrew Matthews of the 104 Communications Flight at RCAF St. Hubert arranged for a series of different aircraft to fly through the network, including an [[Auster Aircraft|Auster]] light aircraft, a [[T-33 Shooting Star]], an [[Avro Lancaster]] bomber and even a recently acquired [[de Havilland Comet]] jet transport. The tests revealed a great deal about the spectral ‘signatures’ of aircraft crossing the line at different points, and demonstrated the capability to detect all sizes of aircraft from 100&nbsp;ft to over 40,000&nbsp;ft in altitude. During this time Dr. Ross Warren of RCA Victor and Dr. Whitehead jointly developed the theoretical background for the work in a major report to DRB.{{sfn|Whitehead|1995}}

The Spider Web trials were followed in 1954 by intensive tests on a single {{convert|30|mile}} wide link, built in the [[Eastern Townships]] by [[Bell Canada]], who had by this time been given the go-ahead for the implementation of the Mid-Canada Line. When Whitehead inquired why RCA had not been given the contract, a colleague replied "Who do you think runs Canada?"{{sfn|Whitehead|1995}}{{efn|A more likely reason was that Bell had recently won the contract to install the [[Pole Vault (communications system)|Pole Vault]] system in Labrador, demonstrating their ability to complete projects with difficult logistics.<ref>{{cite book
 |first=Alex
 |last=Lester
 |title=Special Contract: A Story of Defence Communications in Canada
 |publisher=St. Francis Xavier
 |date=2019
 |url=http://operationalhistories.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/6Lester-Special-Contract.pdf
 |archive-date=24 June 2021
 |access-date=21 June 2021
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624210847/http://operationalhistories.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/6Lester-Special-Contract.pdf
 |url-status=dead
 }}</ref>}} The trials on this prototype link were also conducted by Whitehead and a small team in collaboration with Air Defence Command, St. Hubert, this time on behalf of Bell. The trials involved the flyover of numbers of [[B-52]] bombers by arrangement with [[Strategic Air Command]] and a local bombplot unit. They also had full-time use of an [[Avro Lancaster]] from [[CFB Greenwood]] for the important low-level tests.{{sfn|Whitehead|1995}}