In sci.physics Michael A. Terrell wrote:
wrote:
In sci.physics Michael A. Terrell wrote:
msg wrote:
Spob wrote:
snip
Would it be possible to build a gizmo that could be surreptitiously
aimed at the offending stereo system to fry some crucial components?
snip
I assume many high power radar site operators have pet stories to
tell, but I remember one that deserves a retelling:
There was a Merritt Island cop who set up a speed trap on a road perhaps
a mile downroad from a powerful range tracking radar station. The operators
were not amused with the daily harassment from him and decided to make his
life a little more interesting and theirs a little less hassled. Siting the
cop's squad car in the telescoping aiming site of the radar dish, one of the
operators briefly keyed a pulse train and watched. Soon the car left but
returned the next day. Again the operator sited and pulsed the car and again
it left. After the third day it did not return. I do not know if the tracking
radar and cop's radar gun were on the same band, however I do know that 1MW of
microwaves was sufficiently nondiscriminatory at the receiving end to burn out
its front end.
Regards,
Michael
Bull****. The antennas rotate, but the elevation is fixed. There is
no telescope on any RADAR Antenna, and no way to "Siting the cop's squad
car". There are no keying of brief pulses, the system works with a
steady stream of pulsed RF, and measuring the reflected signals. I did
some RADAR work in the US Army, and there was a pair of 2 MW pulsed
RADAR transmitters in our building. You are spreading an urban legend,
with enough holes to sink the Titanic (again). If the RADAR equipment
in a cruiser WAS damaged, it was because the idiot cop was too close to
the RADAR site, and it was a coincidence. Even this is hard to believe,
because RADAR sites are usually well inside a fenced area, far from
civilian areas, and high enough to clear close in ground clutter. The
high gain, highly directional antennas do not radiate enough near field
RF to do any damage, unless the cruiser was on very high a hilltop, and
less than a 1/4 mile from the RADAR site.
US Army Nike had a missle track, target track and a target range radar,
all of which were steerable in both azimuth and elevation.
Since Nike radars were normally deployed on the highest hill around,
the MTR, TTR, and TRR could all be depressed below the horizon.
All of them were boresighted and aligned by bolting on the telescope,
going to manual control, and aiming them with a box that hung by a strap
around your neck at the alignment target about a quarter mile away.
Do you really think any of these antiques are still in use?
The US retired all its Nike sites in the mid 70's.
Taiwan was using Nike until 1997 and Greece was using it until 2004.
I have no idea of the current status of Turkey, Italy, and South
Korea, but all were using it in 2000.
The whole system was upgraded in the 70's and all the tube based
stuff replaced with solid state.
We used to regularly break the MP's speed radar at Ft Bliss until the
MP's wised up and made sure there was a metal building between them
and us.
We could wipe them out to about a mile away and jam them a lot
farther than that.
This was the late 60's.
Late '60s? the police used real garbage, with an unprotected 1N23
type diode in the horn as a mixer. Just touching the element in the
horn would blow those diodes. Hell, a UHF ham radio transmitter would
take them out, at well under a kilowatt. The front end diodes were
shipped, wrapped in a thick layer of lead foil. I think I still have a
couple Western Electric surplus around, somewhere.
Yep, that's why we could blow them from so far away.
While I was in Korea, a spook detachment set up a listening post
down the hill from us.
They were a bunch of jerks and ****ed off everyone, so I gave their
equipment the same treatment.
Sure. If they knew what caused it, you would have spent at least
five years in Leavenworth.
They obviously knew what caused it.
What they didn't know and couldn't prove was that it was anything
other than a routine maintenance operation.
And since we had guys with guns to make sure nobody wandered into
the IFC operational area, there is no way they could snoop around.
They moved to the next mountain after they got their gear fixed.
Tell me more about your toy radars.
Toy? they were used a Carin Airfield, just a few miles from Ft
Rucker Alabama, for the US Army helicopter and US Air Force Air Traffic
Controller schools. 2 million watts is not a toy. It had a 200 mile
maximum range, and was built by Westinghouse. two complete, hot systems
that could be switched over at the flip of a switch, if there was any
problems. Five techs on duty, 24/7 doing routine maintenance, and
emergency repairs. If they went down, two schools and 17 airfields were
shut down to all non instrument rated pilots.
A mere 2 MW?
A Nike LOPAR is 1 MW, ABAR is 5 MW, HIPAR 10.4 MW.
A Nike site always had a LOPAR and either an ABAR or a HIPAR depending
on the particulars of the site.
A hot site had 5 radars going at one time.
A **** duty on a Nike site was to go into the HIPAR dome and get rid
of the bird bodies inside and sweep them up from the outside. Birds
only got close the the HIPAR once.
The Michigan site I was on was not supposed to run the HIPAR other than
into the dummy load unless there was a "situation" as it wiped out
Detroit's ATC radar 50 miles away.
A Nike site had about 50 people and was manned 24/7. Sites in places
like Korea had a infantry company for "guard duty".
My radar is bigger than your radar.
--
Jim Pennino
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