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Monday, June 15, 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.

Radar systems were first developed and used by the military. Various countries found it very helpful to be able to detect approaching objects, find out how fast they were moving and what direction they were moving in. It allowed them to detect potential incoming attacks while paying less attention to non-hostile objects or aircraft. Now these systems are used by many different groups and organizations.

Weather forecasting also uses this type of system. It can track storm fronts, give information on where a storm is or how severe it is, and allows meteorologists to let us know important weather data. It can be used for tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards and thunderstorms as well. Many weather broadcasts will display the results of Doppler radar as part of the broadcast so viewers can see the data for themselves.

While many people think that these systems can just be used on land, this is not true. Marine radar will bounce signals off of nearby objects. This shows a ship where it is (by detecting the shoreline or marine buoys) or whether there are other ships in the same area.

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 was an issue in the past but it is not as much of a problem with the modern monopulse systems that are being used. Because these systems rely on radio frequencies to detect objects, if a radio signal of the same frequency was directed at the radar system itself it tended to interfere with the signal and the system could not produce an accurate image. The monopulse system, because of the way it is set up, makes jamming much more difficult.

A comparator allows for a radar beam to split into multiple segments. Originally the beam was split into two sections although now there are comparators which allow for a beam to be split into four sections instead. When the beams are compared, the slight differences in position between each of the beams allows the radar system to more precisely locate where a particular object it is or how fast it is moving.

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.




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