The HRG Radar System

Contents (hide)

  1.   1.  Introduction
  2.   2.  Hardware
    1.   2.1  The Radar
    2.   2.2  ISR, Inc. boards
  3.   3.  Software

Note: Old radar doc page is available at http://research.engr.oregonstate.edu/haller/newport_wave_radar_doc/

1.  Introduction

On the page How Radar Works, we discussed the operating principles for a radar such as our X-band marine radar. On this page we will discuss the specific hardware, software, and configuration of the system we use to collect radar data in the Haller Research Group (HRG). Other wave-imaging radars (e.g. WaMoS) may use similar principles, but with different implementations.

2.  Hardware

2.1  The Radar

At the heart of the HRG system is a modified Koden RADARpc MDS-63R radar system. The RF electronics, motor, and antenna of the radar are not modified, but the radar interface box has a purpose-built signal extraction board added to allow us to directly tap the signals we want to digitize.

The Koden MDS-63R system is composed of the following:

  • RB179A - scanner unit, or "pedestal" - this contains the antenna motor and the RF electronics
    • 25 kW peak power output
    • Different PRFs & pulse lengths (τ) are available for different ranges, but we always use the shortest range scale to get the highest PRF and shortest pulse length. Note: Although we use the 0.25 or 0.5 NM range settings, we are still able to capture backscatter from ranges well beyond these distances (up to at least 12 km).
      • PRFmax = 2000 Hz
      • τmin = 0.08 µs
    • Nominal 24 & 48 RPM rotation rates; we use 48 RPM exclusively.
    • 130 W or less power consumption
  • RW701B-09 - 9' HH polarized open-array antenna
    • 25° vertical beamwidth
    • 0.8° horizontal (azimuthal) beamwidth
  • MDS-6R Radar Sensor Control Box - Provides power to radar and connects to a PC via Ethernet. This controls the radar.
  • Interconnecting cable
  • Power supply cable
  • 18-42V DC power supply -- Astron LS-10A or similar. Ours is set to 28V.
RADARpc Brochureupload
RADARpc Manualupload

The radar must be controlled by a PC with software the implements Koden's proprietary protocol. We use P-Sea Windplot II, discussed below.

Note: I was curious, so I asked for the torque specifications for the various bolts on the radar. Not a huge deal, perhaps, but here they are:

Scanner Mounting Base bolts29 to 36 Nm21-27 ft-lbs
Scanner End Cap bolts8 Nm6 ft-lbs
Scanner Motor bolts12 Nm9 ft-lbs
Antenna Array bolts9 Nm7 ft-lbs

2.2  ISR, Inc. boards

OSU has contracted with Imaging Science Research, Inc. (Dennis Trizna)

3.  Software