JPS63118680A - Radar equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To preliminarily notify a monitor of the direction where the echo of a ship exists, by displaying the coming direction of heat rays radiated from the ship on a display device together with the image of the echo of microwaves. CONSTITUTION:An amplifying circuit 12 of the echo of microwaves amplifies and shapes the echo, which passes a rotating coupler 10, to generate an echo signal 7, and this signal is applied to a modulating circuit 19. A heat ray circuit 12 amplifies and shapes the signal of heat rays which passes the rotating coupler 11, and a heat ray signal 8 of the circuit 13 is applied to the circuit 19. A sweep signal generator 16 generates a current to sweep an electron beam of a cathode- ray tube 6 for the purpose of forming a plane position image (PPI) on the tube 6 of an image display device 6, and a sweep output 20 is supplied to an electron beam deflecting circuit of the tube 6 by Y-axis and X-axis signal generating circuits 17 and 18. Circuits 17 and 18 are operated synchronously with rotative scanning of an antenna 1 and a heat ray sensor 2 by a scanning period circuit 14 so that a signal output 21 of the circuit 19 is displayed on the cathode- ray tube 6 as the PPI. The antenna 1 and the sensor 2 are rotated by motors, and the output 20 is synchronized by trigger.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a radar device used in ships and the like.

(Prior art) Marine radar equipment is a device that visualizes the shape and position of ports, other ships, etc. by displaying the position of echoes of microwave radio waves on a cathode ray tube (PPI display). However, when there are waves during strong winds, the echoes caused by those waves often interfere, making it difficult to separate and monitor echoes, especially from small ships.

In order to reduce this interference, a method of receiving echoes while changing the polarization of the microwave. Although methods such as adjusting the time constant when amplifying echoes have been implemented, it has been extremely difficult to separate the echoes of small ships from waves and visualize them as described above.

(Improvements made by the present invention) This invention displays images of microwave echoes as well as the arrival direction of thermal radiation such as infrared rays emitted from a ship's engine on a display such as a cathode ray tube in a radar device. By doing so, it is possible to provide a radar device having a function of predicting to a radar device monitor the direction in which a ship's echo is present.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the configuration of the present invention, in which a microwave antenna 1 is used to transmit microwave radio waves (for example, a wavelength of 3 centimeters,
It emits radio waves with a duration of 1 microsecond and a peak output of 10 kilowatts, and receives echo radio waves that arrive when the radio waves are reflected from ships and other objects.

The antenna 1 is supported by a scanning mechanism 3 and installed at a high place such as a ship's mast, and emits and receives microwaves while rotating horizontally.

The heat ray sensor 2 includes a photoelectric element such as a gallium arsenide diode, and is a part that receives heat rays such as infrared rays emitted by engine exhaust or lighting lights at a high altitude.
The scanning mechanism 3 is supported by the rotating shaft 9 together with the antenna 1.
is rotated horizontally by

This rotation is, for example, 30 rotations per minute, and the directivity of the antenna 1 is approximately 20 rotations per minute in the vertical plane in a marine radar device.
degree, and the horizontal plane is approximately 1 degree.

The directivity of the heat ray sensor 2 may be the same as that of the antenna 1, but
Since the wavelength of heat rays is extremely short compared to microwaves, sharp directivity can be obtained even with a small size.

The image display device 5 is a part including a cathode ray tube or a flat display member having an electroluminescent function in place of the cathode ray tube and its control circuit, and in this embodiment, the cathode ray tube 6 will be explained.

The connection line 4 is a group of electric wires for receiving and receiving signals from the antenna 1, the heat ray sensor 2, and the scanning function 3, and the details thereof will be explained with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and parts with the same numbers as in FIG. 1 operate in the same way as in FIG. 1.

Microwave rotary coupler 10 included in the scanning mechanism 3
and the rotary coupler 11 of the hot wire circuit are rotary couplers that transmit input and output currents of the antenna 1 and the hot wire sensor 2, respectively.
The rotary coupler 1o is a flow path for microwave emission and echo signals, and the rotary coupler 11 is a flow path for signals received by the hot wire sensor 2, required power, etc.

The microwave echo amplification circuit 12 is a rotary coupler 10
Amplify and shape the echo that has passed through to create an echo signal 7,
It is added to the modulation circuit 19.

The hot wire circuit 13 is a circuit that amplifies and shapes the hot wire signal that has passed through the rotary coupler 11, and the hot wire signal 8 of this circuit is applied to the modulation circuit 19.

The sweep signal generator 16 supplies a signal to the cathode ray tube 6 of the video display 5.
It generates a current that sweeps the electron beam of the cathode ray tube 6 in order to create a PI image, and in this embodiment, the Y-axis signal generation circuit 17 and the A sweep output 20 of is supplied to the electron beam deflection circuit of the cathode ray tube 6.

The operations of the Y-axis signal generation circuit 17 and the X-axis signal generation circuit 18 are synchronized with the rotational scanning of the antenna 1 and the heat ray sensor 2 by the scanning periodic circuit 14, and the signal output 2 of the modulation circuit 19 is
1 so that a PPI image is displayed on the cathode ray tube 6.

The antenna 1 and the heat ray sensor 2 are rotated by an electric motor, and the sweep output 20 is synchronized by a trigger created based on the rotation angle.

FIG. 3 is an embodiment of the present invention in which the direction of arrival of thermal radiation is displayed, and is a schematic diagram of an image of a portion of the cathode ray tube 6.

In this figure, there is an image 26 of waves and noise on the fluorescent screen of the cathode ray tube 6, and the position of the antenna 1, that is, the position 25 of the own ship in the case of a ship, is at the center of the image.

The arrival direction 27 of the thermal radiation is determined by the thermal radiation signal 8 passing through the modulation circuit 19, which deflects the brightness of the electron beam of the cathode ray tube 6, making it brighter than the image 26 of waves and noise.
Facilitates monitoring of ship echoes that should be within this range.

The echo of a small ship sailing when the waves are high is similar in nature to the wave echo, so it is not easy to confirm the ship's image from the wave echo. By entering the direction of arrival 27 of the heat rays, the range of monitoring is concentrated, and the direction of existence of other ships can be known, making it easier to recognize echo images of other ships.

In addition to the own ship's position 25, thermal radiation from the own ship is also received, which will be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

When a color cathode ray tube or an electroluminescent device is used for the video display 5, the echo signal 7 and the heat ray signal 8 are displayed in different colors by different coloring circuits such as a color cathode ray tube depending on the signals. By modulating this, the arrival direction 27 of the thermal radiation can be displayed in a different color from the wave and noise image 26.

Although the echo of the small ship is mixed in the above-mentioned image 26, the direction of the ship can be recognized by monitoring the range indicated by the direction of arrival 27 of the thermal radiation.

Note that the microwave power generated in the microwave transmitting circuit 15 passes through the rotary coupler 10 and is emitted as a radio wave from the antenna 1, as shown by alpha rays and arrows in FIG.

Similar to conventional radar equipment, the emission time of this radio wave serves as the standard for measuring the arrival time of the echo.

FIG. 4 shows a configuration in which an echo image is displayed on the video display 5 by rask scanning similar to that of a television, and parts with the same numbers as in FIG. 2 operate in the same manner as in FIG.

Memory circuit 3 for storing echo signals and converting coordinates
0 converts the coordinates of the echo signal 7 and stores it according to the command from the control circuit 32, and supplies the echo content 33 read out according to the command from the control circuit 32 to the video display 5.

The heat ray signal coordinate conversion storage circuit 31 stores and reads out the heat ray signal 8 according to instructions from the control circuit 32, and creates a read heat ray signal 34 for changing the brightness or color of the video display 5. The control circuit 32 is adjusted so that the signal of thermal radiation whose position can be predicted in advance, such as the exhaust of the own ship's engine, is not written into the memory circuit 31.

The rask signal generator 35 is a circuit that supplies a signal for drawing scanning lines in the same format as that of a television on a cathode ray tube 6, etc., and a control circuit 32 and a controller for determining the storage and readout times of the storage circuits 30 and 31. It has functions such as sending and receiving signals.

Figure 5 is an example of PPI video when using the configuration shown in Figure 4.
Portions with the same numbers as in FIG. 3 are the same as in FIG.

When this radar device is installed on the front mast of a ship, the chimney that releases the engine exhaust gas is located in the opposite direction of the bow direction 37 on general ships, so it is possible to image the own ship's thermal radiation. appears strongly in the direction indicated by 39, but due to the signal generated by the control circuit 32,
Like the own ship's heat ray image 39, the heat ray image can be erased so as not to interfere with the monitoring of other ships' images.

An indicator 38 created by the control circuit 32 is displayed in the direction from which the thermal radiation of another ship has arrived, so that the observer can be informed that the echo image of the other ship due to microwaves is within the range of the indicator 38. This makes it easier to find images of other ships mixed in images of waves26.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the configuration of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 3 is an embodiment displaying the direction of arrival of thermal radiation according to the present invention, and Fig. 4 is an echo obtained by rask scanning. FIG. 5 shows an example of a PPI image using the configuration shown in FIG. 4. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Microwave 7 antenna, 2... Heat ray sensor that receives thermal radiation, 3... Scanning mechanism, 4... Connecting wire, 5... Image display, 6... Braun tube etc., 7.
...Echo signal, 8... Heat ray signal, 9... Rotation axis,
10... Isotype coupler for microwave circuit, 11... Rotating coupler for hot wire circuit, 12... Echo amplification circuit, 1
3... Hot wire circuit that amplifies and shapes the hot wire signal, 14.
...Scanning synchronization circuit, 15...Microwave oscillation circuit,
16...Sweep signal generator, 17...Y-axis signal generation circuit, 18...X-axis signal generation circuit, l9...Modulation circuit for changing brightness or color, 20...Sweep output , 21... Signal output, 25... Position of own ship, 26
. . . Image of waves and noise, 27. Arrival direction of thermal radiation with changed brightness or color, 30. Echo signal storage circuit, 31. Heat ray signal storage circuit, 32.
... Control circuit, 33... Read echo signal, 34.
...Read out hot wire signal, 37... Bow direction, 38...
- Indicator of the direction of arrival of other ships' heat rays, 39...Video of own ship's heat rays being extinguished. Engraving of the drawings (no changes to the contents) Written amendment to the procedures for the calculation of two figures above (method) February 25, 1986

Claims (1)

[Claims] A heat ray sensor (2) that receives thermal radiation and an antenna (1) that receives microwave echoes are attached to a scanning mechanism (3) that rotates in a horizontal plane, and the heat ray sensor (2) and antenna (1) The signals received by the rotary couplers (10) and (11)
Means for taking out those signals via a forming circuit (13)
, means for changing the brightness or color of the image on the video display (5) in addition to the modulation circuit (19) through the amplifier circuit (12), and for displaying the above-mentioned signal on a cathode ray tube (6) or the like in PPI format. , synchronizes the operation of the sweep signal generator (16) with the scanning mechanism (3) and generates the sweep signal (20).
By means of converting the coordinates of the echo signal (7) and the heat ray signal (8) according to the format, a direction indicator is inserted in or near the arrival direction (23) of the thermal radiation received by the heat ray sensor (2). , a radar device configured to change the brightness or color of the image.