PART 2

BASIC ELEMENTS OF THE RADAR

SYSTEM

• Radar Transmitters-Chapter 5
• Radar Antennas-Chapter 6
• Radar Receivers-Chapter 7
• Radar Indicators and Displays-Chapter 8

There are four basic elements in any functional radar: transmitter, antenna,
receiver, and indicator.
The function of the transmitter is to generate a desired RF waveform at some
required power level. The required RF power may be derived directly from a
power oscillator such as a magnetron or an extended interaction oscillator (EIO) ,
or it may be derived via an RF amplifier or amplifier chain (traveling wave tube
amplifier, crossed-field amplifier, extended interaction amplifier, solid-state
amplifier, etc.). The waveform is dictated by the particular system requirements
and can range from an unmodulated continuous wave (CW) for a simple moving
target indication (MTI) radar to a complex frequency, phase, and time code
modulated wave for some advanced military radars. Radar transmitters are dis-
cussed in Chapter 5.
The basic function of the radar antenna is to couple RF energy from the radar
transmission line into the propagation medium and vice versa. In addition, the
antenna provides beam directivity and gain for both transmission and reception
of the EM energy. Various radar antenna concepts and techniques are presented
and discussed in Chapter 6.
The primary functions of the radar receiver are to accept weak target signals,
amplify them to a usable level, and translate the information contained therein
from RF to baseband. Various receiver configurations are employed, including
the crystal detector, RF amplifier, homodyne, and superheterodyne; the super-
heterodyne receiver is by far the most commonly used. Each of these configu-
rations is discussed in Chapter 7.
The primary function and purpose of the radar indicator is to convey target
information to the user. The indicator configuration and information format are

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dependent upon the particular radar application and the needs of the user. Two
common indicators are (1) the plan position indicator (PPI), where target range
and angle data are displayed on a cathode ray tube for surveillance radar appli-
cations, and (2) an audio speaker or earphones, where the presence of a moving
object is signaled by a Doppler frequency, as in a perimeter alarm radar. Var-
ious types of radar indicators and their applications are presented in Chapter 8.