Dave Cawley - Timestep Weather Satellite Technology
Dave Cawley - Timestep Weather Satellite Technology
Dave Cawley is well known to many local residents as a past chairman of the Dartmouth Chamber of Commerce, a current Town councillor and the publisher behind www.dartmouth.tv. What may come as a surprise to many is that, together with his wife Jill, he also runs Timestep Electronics Ltd (www.time-step.com), a long established and leading UK manufacturer and integrator of weather satellite and remote sensing ground stations.
Dave started the companyin 1984 just when computers finally were able to provide good graphics and quickly created a low cost weather monitoring system comprising a satellite dish, receiver and software. These were available from as little as £200 to £1,500 compared to professional systems costing many tens of thousands. By simply plugging into the side of a cheap computer, users were able to receive aerial pictures of developing weather systems beamed from stationary satellites anywhere in the world. This was before the advent of similar weather chart information that is now widely and freely available over the internet. So successful was the product that Timestep was out-selling all its competitors combined by the early 90’s - selling one system a day.
Having trained previously as a mechanical engineer, Dave became passionately interested in electronics largely as a consequence of the impact on him made by the iconic ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ film by Stanley Kubrick based on the seminal novel by Arthur C Clarke. Keen to pursue a career in electronics, he went to work as a senior design engineer with Philips, mostly working on satellites. An interest in weather satellites was then prompted by an article that appeared in a trade magazine, Electronics World, written by a Lincolnshire farmer, Henry Neill. Leaving Philips, he set up Timestep to manufacture a new breed of weather satellite systems. These were sold to schools, universities and Navies amongst others. Indeed, only recently they have sold systems to the French and Indian Navies. The Indian Navy will have bought these systems (in 2008) as they have limited access to government computing power and sometimes the internet can be unreliable whilst at sea. They want the ability to receive visuals live and see the weather directly above them.
Arthur C Clarke figures strongly in Dave’s life. Aside from the impact of ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, Arthur C Clarke’s influence extends to Daveís interest in satellite technology. It was Clarke who wrote a highly influential article in 1945, in Wireless World, hypothecating on the potential of using geostationary satellites as communication relays. Our gps navigation systems are just one derivative of this concept. It was, therefore, something of a shock when in 1992 the great man himself contacted Dave. Clarke had emigrated long ago to Sri Lanka and Dave had faxed him asking for some advice on satellite technology in S E Asia. Clarke invited Dave to visit him in Sri Lanka, a very rare honour and spent a happy day working with his hero at his home there.
During his visit, he was interviewed with Clarke on the BBC World Service and got to touch the only piece of moon rock outside of NASA. Clarke is held in similar regard by NASA and the ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ film is shown by NASA to its astronauts as a realistic depiction of zero gravity in space flight. Clarke has the rare distinction of having met all the astronauts who have stepped on the moon and his piece of moon rock was kept in his loo, complete with ‘zero gravity toilet instructions’ as in the film! Clarke was also one of the few people to have spotted the derivation of the name of Dave’s company. Timesteps is a piece of electronic music by the famous Walter (later Wendy) Carlos featured strongly in the film ‘Clockwork Orange’ by Stanley Kubrick. And finally, Dave and Jill received a congratulatory telegram from Arthur C Clarke on the occasion of their wedding, which few of the guests there could believe.
Weather satellite technology has changed little since the first such satellite was launched in 1960. But as weather information including satellite pictures becomes more widely available over the internet, this has obviously had an impact on Timestep’s business. Demand for their systems, which are precision engineered in Suffolk, are slowly declining and the development of satellite software is also becoming increasingly complex. This will disenfranchise many private users as few suppliers can afford the software development costs and this will ultimately lead to the closure of this part of Timestep’s business in a few years’ time. In response to this, Dave and Jill have built up another business venture supplying top-end hi-fi turntables and systems ñsee www.soundhifi.com. They are now the largest Marantz dealer in the South West.
Dave Cawley is one of those fortunate few to have built a business focused on those things that interest him. He has also been privileged to have met a hero who has made a huge impact on his life and not been disappointed.
First Published June 2009 By The Dart
