A Method of Making a Radar Self-Calibrating

A method of making a radar system self-calibrating has been developed to obtain the ratio of power received to power transmitted with minimum effort. A portion of the transmitter pulse is made to bounce back and forth in a long, short-circuited, microwave-transmission line where it is delayed and attenuated. A portion of the power in the pulse is fed into the receiver at regular intervals to calibrate its output in terms of the transmitter power. Analytical expressions required for an understanding of the system have been developed. Several practical microwave-transmission lines have been studied. A self-calibrating system has been constructed, and the experimental results agree with theory.