Monday, June 8, 2015

What You Need To Know About The Monopulse Comparator And Radars In General

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.

Meteorologists have also started using these systems to monitor the weather and create forecasts. They can be very helpful if a severe weather system is expected. Radar can be used to determine how large or severe a storm such as a hurricane or a tornado is. Other types of storms such as blizzards and thunderstorms can also be mapped using these systems.

Radar is also used in marine environments. Ships can use it to detect other vessels that may be occupying the same area of water and can also use it to determine where they are located. This is done by bouncing signals off of known reference points such as buoys or, if close enough, the shoreline as well.

There are several components that make up a radar system. The signal is generated by a transmitter. This is sent out to an antenna by a waveguide. A duplexer that is connected to the antenna switches the system from sending to receiving and the resulting signal is then captured by a receiver. The information is processed and sent to a display processor so that the radar operator can see a visual picture of what the system has picked up.

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.




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