Friday, June 12, 2015

How The Monopulse Comparator Has Improved Modern Radar Systems

By Elaine Guthrie


If you are interested in military or aviation technology, you see one piece of equipment mentioned time and time again. Radar (short for Radio Detection And Ranging) is a way of locating objects and telling important information such as the direction in which those objects are traveling, how far away they are from a given point and how fast the object is traveling. The monopulse comparator is an important component of modern radar systems and has done much to make these systems more reliable and accurate.

Police officers routine use radar guns to determine whether vehicles are speeding. The signal will bounce out of a hand held device (known as a gun), bounce off of the targeted vehicle, and return in such a way that the officer can tell how fast that vehicle is going. The officer can then decide whether or not any traffic laws have been broken and whether a vehicle should be ticketed.

Anyone who has seen a weather forecast has taken advantage of the information that radar can give us. Meteorologists will use the information given to them by Doppler radar to track changes in weather systems. It can help alert us to the formation of storm fronts which may develop from thunderstorms to tornadoes or hurricanes.

When you are out at sea it can be difficult to determine your location when visibility is poor. Using a radar system will allow a ship to bounce signals off of known reference points. Marine buoys and the shoreline can both be used as reference points for a ship. The same system is also used to scan around the vessel to detect the presence of other vessels. This can help avoid collisions between two or more ships.

All systems are made up of the same basic components. Frequencies are generated by a transmitter. There are several different types of these, some of which are more suitable for specific uses than others. The frequency is sent to an antenna by a waveguide. Then, the antenna sends out the signal. A duplexer switches the antenna over into receiving mode so the returning radio waves can be interpreted. This is done using a receiver and the operator will see the results on a display processor.

Jamming used to be a significant issue with early systems. While most people think of jamming as an enemy action, this is not always the case. Jamming simply refers to interference from radio waves of the same frequency as a particular radar system. It can obscure objects or give an inaccurate idea of how fast they are traveling or the direction in which they are moving.

With modern systems, a single beam is emitted that is then split into two sections. They are directed in the same general direction but because they are positioned in slightly different ways it is possible to compare the returning signals to make sure that the results are accurate. A comparator is the device used to combine the signals into the single cohesive image that the radar operator will interpret.

These tend to be very specialized items and may not be commonly available. There are websites that offer different versions of comparators. If you are purchasing this type of item, it is important to read the description carefully and ensure you are purchasing the right kind of comparator.




About the Author:



No comments: