A US Over-the-Horizon radar installation. (US Navy photo) |
The ARRL
Letter reports that Russia
is planning to activate several new over-the-horizon radars this year in the Arctic. The radars reportedly are capable of tracking and
identifying aerial and sea targets at distances of several hundred miles. Hams
who were active on HF in the 1970s and '80s will likely remember the
"Russian woodpecker" interference caused by over-the-horizon radars
of that period. The Letter says that
level of interference is unlikely with current-technology radars.
However, it
says that a Russian OTH radar currently heard frequently on 20 meters transmits
an 80-kHz-wide frequency-modulated CW signal that sweeps across the band 50
times a minute.