Day 3 Flashcards
Characterstics of a search radar e.g LREW
Big antenna Low freq High power 1 deg beamwidth Fan shaped Long ARP
Characteristics of height finding radar?
Vertical scan
Could use 2 antennae - one for azimuth one for height
Can be but doesn’t need to be rotated
Characteristics of surface search radar?
Same as search but height is known
Circular scan
Size of platform limits power and size of radar
Height of radar limits max range and ARP
Characterstics of airborne radar?
Generally small radar as airborne
Fighter aircraft - small forward facing pencil beam
Airliner - forward looking simple sector scan (weather)
AWACS - Long range, low ARP
MPA - variable
Explain circular scan
360 degree search arc at a constant scan rate
Early warning
Nav
Target acquisition
surface search
Explain how a circular scan can obtain height finding information
2 beams, 1 at 45 degree to vertical beam. Measures time difference between illuminations in each beam.
What are the 2 types of sector scan?
Bi directional (up and down or left and right) Uni direcional (single direction and resets to original position)
Characterstics of a raster scan
Pencil beam = high power, small beamwidth, small area coverage
BAR is a line of search which make up a FRAME which is a complete cycle of bars within the search pattern.
Searches a pre-determined matrix
What can raster scan be used for?
Airborne interception
Artillery shell trackers
Target acquisition
Limitations of Raster scan
Paints a small area of the sky
Can be time consuming
Solution is PALMER RASTER SCAN where beam is CONICALLY scanned around the raster site.
Tracking scan functions and the 4 main types
Primary functions : Targeting data & weapons systems to hit targets
SAM systems & AAA systems
Lobe switching
Monopulse
Conical scan
Explain lobe switching
Compares signal strength between lobes and aims antenna until returns are equal meaning target is within boresight.
Explain monopulse scan types
Radar transmits a single pulse and splits the beam into parts, compares signal strength of parts when they return
Explain conical scan
A conical rotation around the boresight to achieve coverage over a selected area. When target is in the middle, all returns will be the same.
Explain passive scanning
Lobe switching and conical scanning set to receive only
LORO lobe on receive only
COSRO Conical scan receive only
Explain phased arrays
Passive or active Complex functions and scan patterns Electronic or mechanical scan Electronic scanning enables multi function Overcome 60 degree steering limitation
Components of an antenna?
Feed
Reflector
Transmitting medium e.g waveguide, CoAx
What is the purpose of an antenna?
Focus RF energy in a certain direction
What is the purpose of the Feed?
To match the transmission line to free space & illuminate only the reflector
What is the function of an reflector?
To focus RF in a certain direction
What is the difference between waveguide and coax?
Waveguide - heavy, inflexible but suffers no loss
Coax - Flexible but not suitable for high freq or power over 1ghz
Explain and identify antenna shapes
The larger the antenna the tighter the possibe beamwidth
Parabolic
Truncated parabolic