The Wilmington morning star., 1945-08-17

I'll up to 1000 feet, is employed
IL dropping parachutists at night,
and has an accuracy of within six
feet. A high altitude altimeter, used
by some of our B-29's for. high.
level bombing, has a maximum err
ror of only $50 feet at an alti-
tude of 10000 feet.
SEABORNE RADAR
1. Search" radar which patrols
the seas for many miles-to the
HORIZONTAL around the ship and
also scans the skies for aircraft.
It's so sensitive it can detect even
small pieces of wreckage and spot
a seagull in flight.
2. Radar coordinated with fire
control. This has enabled our ships
to slug through whole engagements
in which the enemy was detected,
ranged on, and sunk without a
single man having seen him Wis.,
ually.
On ships which roll and pitch
and yaw, radar-equipped gun d.
rectors are trained on any planes
that may slip through the combat
air patrol. The gun directors feed
information on the range, altitude
and bearing of the attackers into
computers. These take into account
the target speed, ships's motion and
many other factors to point the
guns so as to hurl their shells into
the exact spot where the plane will
be when the shells arrive.
3. Radar for convoy protection
and control. The commander of the
escorting force can keep a fast
moving, constantly zig-zagging fleet
IN perfect formation during total
darkness by watching their map.
ping on his PPI radar scope. If a
straggler strays out of the pic
ture as often happened before the
fleet had radar aplenty, or an en-
envy craft looms on the scene (spot-
ted by friend or foe'' identified
tom, proper action can be taken.
Radar is given large share of
the credit for the Nays record
OF losing only one tenth of one
per cent of all conveyed ships.
4. Radar enables fast-stepping
task force in tight formation to
steam into little-known waters with
out danger of colliding with one
another in the dark or of striking
treacherous reefs.
GROUND-CONTROLLED RADAR
l. EARLY warning" radar for de-.
tectlng aircraft at distances of
more than a hundred miles. It was
such a set that detected the incom.
ing Japs at Pearl Harbor. although
no one believed they were enemy
craft.
2. Radar-controlled Army Anti
Aircraft. In this type, the radar
antenna moves automatically so
that it alsways points at the enemy
plane without help from the opera
tor. and the guns follow automati-
cally by remote control. 1t was this
type of gun that established The
worlds record against buzz bombs
-one buzzer for every 40 rounds
fired.
3. Ground controlled approach
(GCA radar. With this, radar
operators on a fog-bound airfield
can "see" every movement of an
incoming craft, give the pilot in
structions by two-way radio tele-
phone, and guide him down
blind" to within 10 feet of the
runway.
4. LORAN, or "long range navi-
CATION" radar, in which pulsed rad
10 signals are sent out from huge
land-based stations at regular in.
tervals. The signals can be picked
up by ships and aircraft at dis
tances up to 1900 miles out to sea.
allowing them to plot fixes, on
their positions and aiding them
home.
whereas all other radar systems
are OF short wave length with rang.
es limited to the horizon (the
shorter the wave length, the better
the image produced) LORAN work.
on a long wave length because its
objective is only to get sigma
out as lar as possible. 1t is not de-
signed to pick up images. Its Ions
waves are reflected by the Iono
sphere, the radio-reflecting laye,
near the top of the earth's atnos
phere, and thus they get beyond
the curvature of the earth
LURAN transnitters now dot the
united Nations and will be power.
Iul factors in postwar NAVIGATION
lhere are also smaller radar bea-
cons, known as "Racons" which
serve in much the same manner
as light houses.
Experts say that radar, in its
present form at least, will mot
be a very useful attachment to an
automobile or railroad locomo-
tive" This is because radar de-
tects so many objects that the pic
ture might be confusing to the
land-locked operator.
But they say the research in
electronics which has accompanied
radar research may make for bet.
ter and better electronic devices of
all types such as television sets,
hearing aids and the like.
Radar has it's limitations. 1t can
not detect objects below the sur
lace OF water. 1t can't see anv
great distance over the horizon.
It is also c11hianf 10 i.4a.f>