1-23
Figure 1-18.—Reflected signal strength.
Q20. What is the simplest type of scanning?
Q21. How does the operator of a single-lobe scanning system determine when the target moves off the
lobe axis?
Q22. What are the two basic methods of scanning?
Q23. Rotation of an rf-feed source to produce a conical scan pattern is identified by what term?
ELECTRONIC SCANNING.—Electronic scanning can accomplish lobe motion more rapidly than,
and without the inherent maintenance disadvantages of, the mechanical systems. Because electronic
scanning cannot generally cover as large an area of space, it is sometimes combined with mechanical
scanning in particular applications.
With MONOPULSE (SIMULTANEOUS) LOBING, all range, bearing, and elevation-angle
information of a target is obtained from a single pulse. Monopulse scanning is used in fire-control
tracking radars.
For target tracking, the radar discussed here produces a narrow circular beam of pulsed-rf energy at a
high pulse-repetition rate. Each pulse is divided into four signals which are equal both in amplitude and
phase. These four signals are radiated at the same time from each of four feedhorns that are grouped in a
cluster. The resulting radiated energy is focused into a beam by a microwave lens. Energy reflected from
targets is refocused by the lens back into the feedhorns. The total amount of the energy received by each
horn varies, depending on the position of the target relative to the beam axis. This is illustrated in figure
1-19 for four targets at different positions with respect to the beam axis. Note that a phase inversion takes
place at the microwave lens similar to the image inversion that takes place in an optical system.
