Radar Operation Pulse

Manock · 05-21-06, 02:42 PM

Discovered something interesting about the 360 degree radar set.

It pulses.

The radar apparently transmits a pulse in all directions every ten seconds or so, & you have to have your receiving antenna pointed in the direction of the target beforehand.

No wonder that radar operator looks so intense on that direction wheel.

In other words. If you try manually operating the set, its easy to miss the blip if the pulse doesnt match your target bearing.

So if you know where your target is, say at 35 degrees, and have your receiver pointed at 35 degrees, you will only see a short lived blip approx. every ten seconds. How maddening.

The operator will always be wondering if he missed a contact based on the chance the targets bearing didnt match the radars pulse - receiving antennae alignment.

I guess operators would pulse, look, turn wheel, pulse, look, turn wheel with the added complication their doesnt appear to be any signal light on the radar set that tells you when their is a pulse. You would have to just use your own sense of timing to anticipate it. Arrgh.

Someone asked how to turn the wheel. You have to view down a bit from the standard operator view to click on the wheel numbers to turn it.

05-21-06, 02:42 PM	#1
Manock Bosun Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 68 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Radar Operation Pulse Discovered something interesting about the 360 degree radar set. It pulses. The radar apparently transmits a pulse in all directions every ten seconds or so, & you have to have your receiving antenna pointed in the direction of the target beforehand. No wonder that radar operator looks so intense on that direction wheel. In other words. If you try manually operating the set, its easy to miss the blip if the pulse doesnt match your target bearing. So if you know where your target is, say at 35 degrees, and have your receiver pointed at 35 degrees, you will only see a short lived blip approx. every ten seconds. How maddening. The operator will always be wondering if he missed a contact based on the chance the targets bearing didnt match the radars pulse - receiving antennae alignment. I guess operators would pulse, look, turn wheel, pulse, look, turn wheel with the added complication their doesnt appear to be any signal light on the radar set that tells you when their is a pulse. You would have to just use your own sense of timing to anticipate it. Arrgh. Someone asked how to turn the wheel. You have to view down a bit from the standard operator view to click on the wheel numbers to turn it.