TRS-1001A its a radar...something?! - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: electronicskidney
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 04, 2015, 04:25:35 pm
content: Hello Everyone, New poster here on the EEVblog forum after watching a lot of the blog. I work for an electronics recycling company that deals mostly with computer and network equipment but every once in a while we get an oddball device that throws us for a loop.We recently got in some type of...radar thing that does something. Im not sure what it does at all so I thought maybe Id make a post here and see if any helpful folks have some insight on this contraption. Ive tried to do a basic power up, but a lot of the wiring for the gauges and LEDS has been cut so that does not get me very far.Anyway here are a bunch of pictures of it, if anyone has some knowledge on this that would be awesome!http://imgur.com/a/7x85v#0

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 04, 2015, 06:27:15 pm
content: Probably a microwave heater to do things like cure epoxy, laminate boards or something like that. If you are in the UK I would give Mike a call from Mikeselectricstuff on the forum, he might be interested in taking it off your hands.

author: PA0PBZ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 04, 2015, 06:36:39 pm
content: Good thing you could not power it up, this will cook your balls and brain faster than you can run!

author: N2IXK
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 04, 2015, 06:48:05 pm
content: A microwave heater would operate in CW mode. This thing generates pulses of varying durations. Definitely looks radar related, perhaps a test set for jamming/countermeasures stuff?The thing on top of the box with the waveguide coming out is the actual magnetron. Coupled to a suitable antenna, could do interesting stuff to a police radar gun or a CATV satellite downlink site.As mentioned above, watch your eyes and gonads if you try firing this up....

author: daqq
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 04, 2015, 07:03:34 pm
content: Welcome to the forum - if you ever want to sell something interesting, help with identification, we're here to helpIt's certainly something pulsed, something microwavy and quite dangerous - high voltage, high pulsed RF power - you should not attempt to power such things up if you are in doubt...Could be radar related. Could be also some special heating, but I think those are mostly CW. The waveguide from the magnetron is going where? More pics of that (or all of the units) might help. The frequency should be somewhere less than 10 GHz assuming from the waveguide.It does not look as being meant for a final customer - certainly not off the shelf.

author: electronicskidney
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 04, 2015, 07:12:49 pm
content: Hey Guys thanks for the warm welcome and help! Yea we have this thing but literally have no idea what to do with it, as mentioned it certainly isnt an off the shelf consumer product. My research on the company that produces this item says they dont make very many of these which isnt a surprise. I think it might have something to do with weather radar? for television stations?

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 04, 2015, 08:06:37 pm
content: As you may have guessed this unit has been deliberately disabled to avoid anyone injuring themselves with it. This is standard practice on equipment that generates dangerous levels of ionising or non-ionising radiation. I would normally disable teh unit in several key areas. Namely the control panel and the power supply. Without these working the unit is effectively inert and fit for recycling.Interesting bit of kit, but if you sell it you should highlight that it is capable of causing injury and should only be purchased by a competent person familiar with the technology. Treat it no different to selling a used electric (non Isotope) X-Ray machineArse covering is another word for itAurora

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 04, 2015, 08:49:38 pm
content: Smells like weather radar, yeah...You could power it up safely, if you can find a waveguide terminator, of the correct size, to bolt on the end. Or make a horn (use aluminum foil, or preferably, sheetmetal) and beam it at an acute 'V' of water (two tubs filled with water, positioned with a common corner?), or a resonant cavity with a load (glass of water) (like a microwave oven chamber, but you'd want to calculate what the correct dimensions are for that thing's actual operating frequency).Looks like a nice beefy magnetron, though I wonder how much pulsed power actually is. 750V and 10s of mA don't sound very hot, but that should be averaged behind a PFL at a modest rep rate, too.Hazard is overblown. If you feel warmth, turn it off. If you can feel warmth on your skin, your eye (and other) balls will too. You're made of water, so nothing is going to insta-nuke or whatever. It's a percent-and-duration-of-exposure thing.Tim

author: daqq
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 04, 2015, 09:14:08 pm
content: QuoteWeather radars are generally employed by various agencies to measure the weather, who then distribute/use the data. This is only the transmitter anyway... it would be interesting to see the receiver part as well - that would reveal the purpose. You wouldn't have that one laying about somewhere?Could it have been a prototype? Seems that it allows a lot of tinkering - pulse width selection, RF output power and lots of measurements.QuoteThe pulse width is adjustable by some knobs on the bottom, giving it 0.8 to 2 usec. It's a good assumption that the 750V is fed into a up transformer. Depending on the repetition rate this could mean pretty massive pulse powers. Without more pics, info, it's all guess work - though a photo of the plate on the magnetron would reveal all of the info.

author: scatha
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 05, 2015, 11:38:15 am
content: Doesn't look like it's radar related - maybe high power EMC susceptibility testing?Edit: Looks like I was wrong given the references to FasTrac control which points to weather radar.

author: bktemp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 05, 2015, 12:58:00 pm
content: What is the black box below the magnetron? Capacitor bank + pulse forming network?

author: N2IXK
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 05, 2015, 03:33:10 pm
content: I think the PFN is in the black box at the bottom, with the pulse transformer, magnetron filament transformer, and modulator (thyratron?) inside the box with magnetron mounted on it.Would be really interesting to see some pics of the insides of this thing...

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2015, 12:35:46 pm
content: Quote from: scatha on June 05, 2015, 11:38:15 amThough it could quite possibly be reworked to do some level of IEC 61000-4-5 surge testing. Probably not ESD (too much energy, not fast enough) or EFT (ditto, and not enough rep rate). It's possible the existing PFN could deliver an 8/20us pulse, given suitable impedance mismatch (i.e., the PFN's pulse will only be correctly formed when delivered into whatever its matched impedance is). Or the PFN could be reworked, if it's somewhat accessible (but if it's, like, hermetically sealed in PCBs, or tar, ehh...).Tim

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2015, 07:03:36 pm
content: Could be for plastic welding, that is often done in pulses.

author: edavid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 06, 2015, 07:13:04 pm
content: It's from a radar company, so it's definitely a radar transmitter.http://www.magcap.com/productsservices.html

author: Melt-O-Tronic
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2015, 12:41:50 am
content: All that engineering and they misspelled "filament".Whatever it is, it sure looks intriguing!

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 07, 2015, 02:34:40 am
content: My guess is its an RF exciter for a medical linear accelerator.