Patent GB-920193-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to radar systems
Inventor: SINCLAIR IAN ROBERTSON
IPC: G01S13/937
Filed: 1960-11-28
Abstract: 920,193. Radar. ENGLISH ELECTRIC VALVE CO. Ltd. May 19, 1961 [Nov. 28, 1960; March 9, 1961], Nos. 40811/60 and 8663/61. Class 40 (7). In an azimuth-scanning marine pulse radar the whole or substantially the whole of the radar coverage area is displayed as a main P.P.I. display and means including a storage C.R.T. are provided for producing a long-persistence expanded type B display of a selectable segmental annular zone, 63, Fig. 4, of the coverage area so that the tracks of vessels in said zone which are on a constant bearing collision course may be readily observed. The storage tube may be of the direct viewing type, Fig. 1, or it may be of the type in which a stored charge pattern produces an output signal which is applied to a remote conventional C.R.T. display, Fig. 2. The main display may comprise a separate conventional P.P.I. C.R.T. 6, Fig. 1, displaying all the coverage area, the zone selected for the expanded display being shown electronically or charge patterns corresponding to the main and expanded displays may be stored on different parts of the storage surface of either type of storage tube; in the latter case the two patterns may be positioned side by side or a sector 61, Fig. 4, including the selected zone 63, may be blanked off in the main P.P.I. pattern 60, the expanded type B pattern being positioned in the blanked-out sector. The radial and angular circumferential dimensions of the selected zone may be preset, e.g. 2 miles and 15-20 degrees, respectively, or adjustable. Separate main and expanded displays, Figs. 1 and 2. In this system a conventional P.P.I. display 6 is produced by a rotating timebase coil 5 driven by the aerial motor 5, as shown, or by resolved stationary timebases and the display may be " ships head up," " north stabilized " or " true motion." The range and bearing Y and X timebases (13), (21), Fig. 2, for the type B display 35 on the direct viewing storage tube 10 are derived in corresponding generators 13 and 21, Fig. 1, from range and bearing strobe pulses (12) and (18) whose timing is adjusted respectively by an adjustable delay circuit 11 fed from the transmitter trigger pulse generator 2 and an adjustable rotary switch 16 driven by the aerial motor 5 which triggers the bearing strobe pulse generator 18. The range strobe pulses (12) are also applied to gate on the writing beam of the storage tube 10 through a gate 20 controlled by the bearing strobe pulses (18) which are applied thereto through a divider 19 which is adjusted so that the display on the storage tube 10 may be produced selectively during each, every alternate, every fourth or every eighth aerial scan. The circumferential boundaries of the area 9 on the main P.P.I. display 6 corresponding to the display 35 on the storage tube 10 are marked electronically by short brilliance pulses (23) obtained by gating the range strobe pulses (12) by the bearing strobe pulses (18) in a gate 22 and generating the short pulses (23) coincident with the leading and trailing edges of the gated range strobe pulses (22) in a pulse " doubler " 23. Similarly the radial boundaries of the area 9 are marked by selecting the first range strobe pulse (27) after each leading and trailing edge of the bearing strobe pulses by means of a pulse doubler 25, pulse generator 26 and gate 27. Partial erasure pulses from a pulse generator 36 triggered by the transmitter-trigger-pulse generator 2 are applied to the backing electrode of the tube 10 and the amplitude of these pulses is adjusted so that a response on the tube 10 decays gradually so that a moving target will produce a trace with a bright head and a tail of diminishing brightness. Range calibration lines may be produced on both displays 6 and 35 by a marker generator 38. Composite display system, Figs. 3 and 4. In this system the storage tube 50 comprises two writing guns 53 and 54 each producing a charge storage pattern on a mesh storage electrode 51 and the beam from a reading gun 55 passes through the electrode 51 and is modulated by the charge pattern thereon. As shown a signal plate 49 is located behind the storage electrode 51 and in this case the reading beam is a pencil beam which is scanned across the electrode 51 by a scanning coil 48 to produce an electrical output at the signal plate 49 but alternatively the signal plate 49 may be replaced by a fluorescent screen in which case the reading beam will be a non-scanning flooding beam. For operation in accordance with the invention the ganged switches 39 and 39<SP>1</SP> are closed. In operation the writing gun 53 produces a main P.P.I. type charge pattern and the writing gun 54 produces an expanded type B charge pattern, the X and Y timebases and brightening pulses for the B scan being generated as in Fig. 1. The radial position of the B scan pattern is adjusted by controlling the current through a shift coil 57 by a control 58 and the circumferential position of the pattern is adjusted by rotating the coil 57 by a ring 59 surrounding the bearing strobe selector switch 16. The two charge patterns may be positioned side-by-side but as shown in Fig. 4 the P.P.I. pattern 60 is blanked out in a sector 61 by means of an additional bearing strobe pulse produced by a generator 56 triggered by the bearing strobe selector switch 16, the duration of the additional bearing strobe pulse being greater than that of the B scan bearing strobe pulse (18), Fig. 2. The B scan pattern 62 is then positioned in the blanked-out sector 61, as shown in Fig. 4. When it is desired to view the whole of the P.P.I. pattern, the switches 39 and 39<SP>1</SP> are opened, thereby blanking the B pattern and preventing blanking of the P.P.I. sector 61. When the storage tube 50 produces an electrical output as shown in Fig. 3 the reading beam is scanned with a television type raster by scanning circuits 40-44 and the output signals are applied to a remote display C.R.T. scanned synchronously with the reading beam. The flyback blanking pulses from the scanning circuits 40-44 are also applied to the storage electrode 51 to cause gradual decay of the charge patterns.