Posted in Tests

Collins airborne meteo RADAR

   Published Date: October 26, 2018

INTRODUCTION

Radar? WTF??? Yes, I’ve bought a radar on eBay for 1€!!! Seriously talking I’ve bought it plus it’s display for another 1€. 2€ for a radar system without antenna. Yeah!!!

The seller had corected the shipping fee to a more reasonable price. Short talking 65€ the two devices + ultrafast shipping.

WHAT IS INSIDE?

Did you ever opened a radar? I not so for the people that never had a radar on their lab’s desktop, here there a re some pictures.

The user screen. At the moment let’s take it apart.

 

Radar’s flexible waveguide that go to the antenna and it’s mega multipole bajonet connector

 

WR90 flexible waveguide

 

Inside, on the left the modulator assy, on the right the step up/voltage generation inverters section

 

Pulse shaping network on modulator assy

 

Under the modulator assy I can see some kind of… magnetron!

 

Under the voltage generation board there is the rx section…. a local oscillator made with gunn diode (blu piece o the right) plus circulators
On the top left of the image there is the waveguide flange from the antenna waveguide. RF passes here from and to the antenna. Then it goes to the first circulator and on the top right there is a TX/RX switch made with some kind of radioactive material! Yeah the manual say that component must remain intact because inside there is something highly radioactive… more investigation needed.
On the low left there is the magnetron tube that generates RF pulses and outputs to the central circulator.

 

Stay tuned, this paper will continue soon!!! I’ve already power up it….

 

Author: l.i.papadopol