(Photo by Stephen Cooper)
(Source: BBC Reel)
In a remote forest, a few kilometres from the Chernobyl power plant, the huge Duga-2 radar tower stands as relic of Soviet mismanagement.
BBC Reel: “The secret Soviet radar hidden in Chernobyl’s shadow”
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There were not many pulsed OTHRs. The signal was slightly swept in frequency, to allow compression on receipt.
As for turning it, I am not sure if this was phased to steer the beam. If so it could have been successful 60° either side of ours centre line.
Otherwise it would act as a Early Warning Radar over significant distances, typically 500-2000km.
Over the horizon radar is not dead!
Remember we have Jindalee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glugYCsG6J4
and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGcMnXXZYqc
Still it’s an amazing piece of construction.
How did they rotate it…. wired woodpecker flocks?
This Duga thing seems to pop up on every so called news site or blog every few months for
the last 10 years.
I’m bored seeing it repeated all the time.
As a young ham, I recall some of my mentors shaking their heads, wondering why the Woodpecker worked at all. They said it had to do with the pulse shape. It should have been a sharper pulse.
And now we know that it didn’t really work that well, and that the officers in charge were probably covering up their technical mismanagement.
How can we forget the knocking noise all over shortwave?