The design and development of an experimental netted radar system

In this paper we report on the development of a low-cost, four-node netted radar system operating at S-band. The system has been designed using ´commercial off the shelf´ subsystems and components wherever possible. A detailed computer simulation has been implemented to provide an environment for testing design options and development of a test strategy for the completed network. This has been invaluable as the extra dimensionality of the system, uncertainty in component specification and potential variability in the synchronisation signal make design and performance prediction complex.