Monday, November 28, 2016

Stand By for More Over-the-Horizon Radar


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.