A new low-cost 10 ns pulsed K(a)-band radar

Two Gunn oscillators, conventional intermediate frequency building blocks, and a modified GaAs diode detector are combined to form a portable monostatic 10 ns instrumentation radar for outdoor K(a)-band radar cross section measurements. At 37.8 GHz the radar gives +20 dBm output power and its tangential sensitivity is -76 dBm. Processing bandwidth is 125 MHz, which also allows for some frequency drift in the Gunn devices. Intra-pulse frequency chirp is less than 15 MHz. All functions are steered by a microcontroller. First measurements convince that the construction has a reasonable ability to reduce close-to-ground surface clutter and gives an effective way of resolving target detail. This is beneficial especially when amplitude fluctuations disturb measurements with longer pulses. The new unit operates on 12 V dc, draws a current of less than 3 A, and weighs 5 kg.