The transmitter of a radar system must be efficient, reliable, not too large in size and weight, and easily maintained, as well as have the wide bandwidth and high power that are characteristic of radar applications. In general, the transmitter must generate low-noise, stable transmissions so that extraneous (unwanted) signals from the transmitter do not interfere with the detection of the small Doppler frequency shift produced by weak moving targets.

It is observed in the section History of radar that the invention of the magnetron transmitter in the late 1930s resulted in radar systems that could operate at the higher frequencies known as microwaves. The magnetron transmitter has certain limitations, but it continues to be used, for example, in low-average-power applications such as ship navigation radar and airborne weather-avoidance radar. The magnetron is a power oscillator in that it self-oscillates (i.e., generates microwave energy) when voltage is applied. Other radar transmitters usually are power amplifiers in that they take low-power signals at the input and amplify them to high power at the output. This provides stable high-power signals, as the signals to be radiated can be generated with precision at low power.

The klystron amplifier is capable of some of the highest power levels used in radar (many hundreds of kilowatts of average power). It has good efficiency and good stability. The disadvantages of the klystron are that it is usually large and it requires high voltages (e.g., about 90 kilovolts for one megawatt of peak power). At low power the instantaneous bandwidth of the klystron is small, but the klystron is capable of large bandwidth at high peak powers of a few megawatts.

The traveling-wave tube (TWT) is related to the klystron. It has very wide bandwidths at low peak power, but, as the peak power levels are increased to those needed for pulse radar, its bandwidth decreases. As peak power increases, the bandwidths of the TWT and the klystron approach one another.

Solid-state transmitters, such as the transistor, are attractive because of their potential for long life, ease of maintenance, and relatively wide bandwidth. An individual solid-state device generates relatively low power and can be used only when the radar application can be accomplished with low power (as in short-range applications or in the radar altimeter). High power can be achieved, however, by combining the outputs of many individual solid-state devices.

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While the solid-state transmitter is easy to maintain and is capable of wide-band operation, it has certain disadvantages. It is much better suited for long pulses (milliseconds) than for short pulses (microseconds). Long pulses can complicate radar operation because signal processing (such as pulse compression) is needed to achieve the desired range resolution. Furthermore, a long-pulse radar generally requires several different pulse widths: a long pulse for long range and one or more shorter, high-energy pulses with less energy to observe targets at the ranges masked when the long pulse is transmitting. (A one-millisecond pulse, for example, masks echoes from 0 to about 80 nautical miles, or 150 km.)

Every kind of transmitter has its disadvantages as well as advantages. In any particular application, the radar engineer must continually search for compromises that give the results desired without too many negative effects that cannot be adequately accommodated.

Receivers

Like most other receivers, the radar receiver is a classic superheterodyne. It has to filter the desired echo signals from clutter and receiver noise that interfere with detection. It also must amplify the weak received signals to a level where the receiver output is large enough to actuate a display or a computer. The technology of the radar receiver is well established and seldom sets a limit on radar performance.

The receiver must have a large dynamic range in situations where it is necessary to detect weak signals in the presence of very large clutter echoes by recognizing the Doppler frequency shift of the desired moving targets. Dynamic range can be loosely described as the ratio of the strongest to the weakest signals that can be handled without significant distortion by a receiver. A radar receiver might be required to detect signals that vary in power by a million to one—and sometimes much more.

In most cases the sensitivity of a radar receiver is determined by the noise generated internally at its input. Because it does not generate much noise of its own, a transistor is usually used as the first stage of a receiver.

Signal and data processors

The signal processor is the part of the receiver that extracts the desired target signal from unwanted clutter. It is not unusual for these undesired reflections to be much larger than desired target echoes, in some cases more than one million times larger. Large clutter echoes from stationary objects can be separated from small moving target echoes by noting the Doppler frequency shift produced by the moving targets. Most signal processing is performed digitally with computer technology. Digital processing has significant capabilities in signal processing not previously available with analog methods.

Pulse compression is sometimes included under signal processing. It too benefits from digital technology, but analog processors (e.g., surface acoustic wave delay lines) are used rather than digital methods when pulse compression must achieve resolutions of a few feet or less.

Displays

Although it has its limitations, the cathode-ray tube (CRT) has been the preferred technology for displaying information ever since the early days of radar. There have been, however, considerable improvements in flat-panel displays because of the demands of computers and television. Flat-panel displays occupy less volume and require less power than CRTs, but they also have their limitations. Radar has taken advantage of flat-panel displays and has become increasingly important as a display.

In the early days of radar, an operator decided whether a target was present on the basis of what raw data were displayed. Modern radars, however, present processed information to the operator. Detections are made automatically in the receiver without operator involvement and are then presented on the display to the operator for further action.

A commonly used radar display is the plan position indicator (PPI), which provides a maplike presentation in polar coordinates of range and angle. The display is “dark” except when echo signals are present.

All practical radar displays have been two-dimensional, yet many radars provide more information than can be displayed on the two coordinates of a flat screen. Colour coding of the signal indicated on the PPI is sometimes used to provide additional information about the echo signal. Colour has been employed, for example, to indicate the strength of the echo. Doppler weather radars make good use of colour coding to indicate on a two-dimensional display the levels of rain intensity associated with each echo shown. They also utilize colour to indicate the radial speed of the wind, the wind shear, and other information relating to severe storms.