3D155 Volume 1 EOC Flashcards
What is the purpose of AC&W radar?
To control friendly aircraft, detect hostile aircraft, and control interceptors.
What is used with proper receiving equipment to detect the presence of a distant object?
Reflect energy
At what speed do radio waves travel?
The speed of light, or 162,000 nautical miles per second.
How long does it take for a radar pulse to travel one radar mile?
12.36us
What radar assembly supplies timing signals to coordinate the operation of the complete system?
Synchronizer
When a transmitter uses a high-power oscillator to produce the output pulse, what switches the oscillator on and off?
Modulator high voltage pulse
What radar component permits the use of a single antenna for both transmitting and receiving?
Duplexer
What are the functions of the antenna on transmit?
To concentrate the energy in a predetermined beam shape and to point this beam in a predetermined direction.
What are the functions of the antenna on receive?
The antenna forms a beam in a particular direction to gather selectively transmitted energy that has been reflected from various targets.
What does it mean if an antenna is said to be reciprocal?
The transmit and receive patterns of the antenna are usually identical.
Which pattern is specified and measured for a reciprocal antenna?
Only one pattern, usually the transmit.
Why are reflector antennas extremely important and practical devices for use in radar systems?
They offer an economical method of distributing energy over a large aperture area and can produce shaped or pencil beams with high gain.
What generally does the reflector do with its energy?
The reflector is used to redirect and reshape energy from one or more point sources located near the focal point into a desired far-field pattern.
What is the most common reflector shape?
paraboloid
How is the paraboloid formed?
The paraboloid is formed by rotating a two-dimensional parabola about its focal axis.
Why is the paraboloid shape useful?
All rays leaving the focal point and striking the reflector are reflected along a path parallel to the focal axis.
How is a paraboloid reciprocal?
It intercepts an electromagnetic plane wave traveling parallel to its axis and redirects it so that all of the energy passes to the focal point, where it may be collected.
What happens when you change the physical shape of the antenna?
It gives a fixed change to the radiated beam pattern.
How can you provide an amount of control over the received beam pattern?
use two feedhorns, one active(low beam) and one passive (high beam).
What is the purpose of the active feedhorn?
It is the horn normally used for transmitting and receiving
What is the purpose of the passive feedhorn?
It is used only for receiving.
What is an advantage of using MTI?
It reduces the clutter.
What is a disadvantage of using MTI?
It reduces system sensitivity.
What could you expect if you’re using the clutter-reducing aspect of the dual-feedhorn system discussed on a mountain range reaching 3 degrees above the horizon?
the clutter would be reduced or eliminated because it is below 3.5degrees
What problem in the dual-feedhorn antenna can be eliminated by using a 12 feedhorn antenna?
Multipath reflections and holes caused by them.
How is range gating adjusted in the 12 feedhorn system?
The range gating will be individually adjustable in each of four azimuth quadrants, relative to the north reference.
What do you call the use of contiguous beams stacked in elevation?
A stacked-beam radar.
Why is stacked-beam a good technique?
It uses simultaneous pencil-beam radiation patterns from a single aperture to cover the elevation angles of interest.
What is each beam considered?
A separate radar.
How does the transmitter give the desired elevation coverage?
The transmitter radiates a fan beam from the summation of all overlapping pencil beams.
How many receivers are used for the pencil beam?
A separate receiver is provided each pencil beam.
How is sidelobe cancellation employed?
It must be used separately in each receiving channel.
What is a disadvantage of using automatic detection, sidelobe cancellation, or MTI in the radar?
It adds to the cost and complexity of the radar.
What is an advantage of the individual pencil beams when handling rain clutter or chaff?
It limits the volume of space observed.
How does the gain of the individual pencil beams compare to the fan-beam antenna?
The individual pencil beams have a higher gain than a fan-beam antenna
What phase-array ability is an important advantage if the required antenna is large?
Its inherent ability to steer a beam without the necessity of a large mechanical structure.
What are the attractive features of the phased-array antenna?
The capability to generate more than one beam with the same array and flexibility in the control of the aperture illumination.
Which array is particularly useful in radar applications?
The two-dimensional planar array
How does the two-dimensional planer array work in rectangular form; in circular aperture form?
It can generate fan beams. It can generate pencil beams.
What kinds of radiators have been used in phased arrays more than others?
The dipole, the open-ended waveguide, and the slotted waveguide.
Which waveguide antenna is more suited for one dimensional scanning than scanning in two coordinates?
a slotted array antenna
Give four reasons why it is important that minor lobes of radar antennas be small compared to the main lobe.
- Have an antenna with high directivity.
- Reduce the susceptibility of the antenna to interfering signals.
- Reduce the possibility of detecting a target in a minor lobe.
- Reduce the probability of interference with other nearby systems.
What do we call the fictitious surface located on or near an antenna?
The antenna aperture.
How is the fictitious surface used?
It is often useful in computing the performance of the antenna.
How is the pattern of the antenna determined?
The distribution of electromagnetic energy from the antenna over the aperture determines the pattern of the antenna.
How can the antenna designer modify the shape of the pattern?
Altering the distribution of energy over the aperture.
What are the 3 primary performance parameters for an antenna?
Gain, Beamwidth, Sidelobe level
Name two basic functions of the radar antenna.
- To efficiently launch/receive electromagnetic energy into the atmosphere or space
- To direct the energy into an appropriately shaped beam.
What determines the shape of the beam of radar energy and its antenna pattern?
The purpose of the radar.
In the search radar what do we need to measure?
Range and azimuth but not height
What is a practical beamwidth and vertical height?
practical beamwidth: 1 to 2 degrees
average vertical beam height: 30 to 35 degrees
How doe we shape this beam?
Using a parabolic reflector.
What refers to the orientation of the electromagnetic wave as it travels through space?
Polarization
What refers to the motion of the antenna axis (of the beam) as the radar looks for an aircraft?
The scanning method used by the system.
What precision radar system uses continuous rotation of a pencil beam (narrow angle in both dimensions) around the aircraft and uses the phase of the return signal modulation to maintain track in both azimuth and elevation?
The conical scan.
What is identified at the ECM receiver by its regular intervals between illuminations?
The circular scan.
In what system does a thin beam cover a rectangular area by sweeping it horizontally with the angle of elevation being incrementally stepped up or down with each horizontal sweep of the sector?
The raster scan
Which radar gets its name from the fact that each echo pulse from the aircraft being tracked yields a new azimuth and elevation correction signal?
The monopulse scan.
In what radar does the antenna rotate on an azimuth sweep, while the elevation angle rises slowly from 0 to 90 degrees?
The helical scan.
What happens to speed of electromagnetic energy traveling through air as the altitude increases?
signal speed increases.
What effects can ducting have on radar coverage?
Extend coverage or create holes.
Name 4 types of propagation anomalies?
Ducting, subrefraction, superrefraction, and multipathing
What do we call propagation of a wave from one point to another by more than one path?
a multipath
When multipath occurs in radar, of what does it consist?
It usually consists of a direct path and one or more indirect paths by reflection from the surface of the earth or sea or from large man made structures.
When may a multipath also include more than one path through the ionosphere?
At frequencies below about 40 MHz
What can near-simultaneous reception of ‘pulse-type’ information cause?
Delayed, but separate, pulses.
When a low altitude target is illuminated by a radar system,or for higher-angle situations involving appreciable antenna sidelobes, by what two paths can energy enter the tracking antenna?
A direct path from the target and an indirect path involving energy reflected from the surface of the earth.
What attempts are made to reduce multipath effects on radar tracking accuracy?
The use of frequency agility, polariation agility, high-resolution antennas, clutter fences, and complex indicated angle processing techniques.
When would you use an electrostatic instead of an electromagnetic CRT?
When the requirements call for lightweight, compact equipment as used in aircraft.
how is information presented on an A-scan indicator?
As a vertical deflection from the horizontal baseline.
How is time represented on an A-scan indicator?
by the horizontal distance between the start trigger and the input signal.
How is the video presented on a B-scan indicator?
An intensity-modulated electron beam presents the target as bright spots.
What type of radar uses the B-scan indicator?
The PAR
How would elevation and range be presented on a B-scan indicator?
The indicator uses a split screen configuration that presents azimuth and range on the lower portion of the indicator, while elevation and range are presented on the upper portion. In the azimuth presentation, the time base moves bottom-to-up the screen in synchronization with the azimuth antenna scan. In the elevation presentation, the time base moves bottom-to top up the screen in synchronization with the elevation antenna scan. Range is read form left-to-right across the screen.
What target information does a PPI scan present?
it plots target range and azimuth information in polar coordinates.
What type of pattern does a Raster scan indicator use to scan the CRT?
The electron beam scans a phosphor-coated screen on the CRT in a pattern that goes from left to right and in incremental vertical steps from top to bottom.
What components do all indicators have regardless of type?
Power supplies, data processing circuits, video circuits, deflection circuits, a CRT, and front panel controls.
What furnishes the operating voltages for the CRT?
The high voltage power supply
list the three functions performed by the data processing circuits.
- Control operations and data calculations.
- Interface.
- The data distribution
How doe the video circuits protect the CRT during certain malfunctions?
By disabling the CRT high-voltage power supply.
How do the data processing circuits specify beam position?
By using x and y coordinates with the origin at the center of the CRT screen.
List the two types of CRTs
electrostatic or electromagnetic
what part of a CRT shields the electron beam from unwanted electric fields?
The aqaudag-the tapered portion of the CRT that is lined with a conductive graphite coating.
What is the primary hazard involved with high-vacuum CRTs?
The high vacuum and large surface area of the tube make the tube especially vulnerable to dangerous implosions.
What do front panel controls allow the operator to do?
To select input signals and messages, enter operating parameters, and adjust indicator format.
What are the SIF modes used to interrogate an aircraft?
Mode 1, Mode 2, Mode 3/A, and Mode C.
What is the spacing between P1 and P3 pulses for the four SIF modes?
Mode 1=3μsec
Mode 2 = 5μsec
Mode 3/A = 8μsec
Mode C = 21μsec.
What is the pulse width of P1, P2, P3 pulses?
.8 μsec wide
What is the Mode 4, four-pulse spacing?
The mode 4 preamble contains four pulses and a blank space. Each pulse is .5μsec wide, and the pulses are spaced 2μsec apart.
What is the transmitted frequency of the interrogation pulses?
1030MHz.
What is the purpose of transmitting a P2 pulse?
To eliminate side lobe reception.
What the D4, D1, C2, B4, B2, B1, A4, A1 pulses are in a SIF reply code, what is the code?
The code will be 5725.
What pulses must be in the code train to decode a Mode 2 reply of 3752?
A1, A2, B1, B2, B4, C1, C4, D2
What type of code and what are the increments of the altitude information received in Mode C?
Mode C utilizes the Gray Code and has 100 feet increments.
What terms are used for the first and last pulse present in an SIF?
Bracket or framing.
What is the bracket pulse spacing on a normal SIF code train?
Bracket or framing pulses are spaced 20.3 μsec apart.
What signifies that the SIF reply ahs been transmitted by a missile or drone?
The presence of an X pulse in the reply code train.
What is the purpose of a reply pulse that is a 4.35μsec after the last bracket pulse of a SIF code train?
It signifies an I/P response has been generated by the aircraft pilot at the request of the operator.
What is the only IFF/SIF mode that can decode civilian emergencies?
Mode 3/A
How is a communications failure emergency received by the ground station?
A 7600 emergency reply signifies a communications failure.
Which modes will decode military emergencies?
It can be received in any SIF mode, including Mode C.
Describe a Mode 4 IFF reply.
The actual Mode 4 reply received by the ground station consists of three .5μsec pulses, spaced 1.8μsec apart.