Since the 1970s, TMD has successfully supplied high reliability TWTs to Watchman radar users worldwide.
With the company's continued progress in power supply design, the latest development has been a complete S band transmitter for ATC which includes TWT, power supply, BITE (built in test electronics) and cooling, integrated into a standard double cabinet.
Advantages for the radar system user include: high reliability, high efficiency, excellent low phase noise, ease of maintenance and through-life support.
Key to the success of this product is the hybrid design, which combines an S-Band travelling wave tube with a solid state power supply, exploiting the strengths of both technologies. An important advantage over a purely solid state system is the greater efficiency, which improves reliability by miniminising heat dissipation problems. For more information on this subject please see the Powerpoint presentation below:
Advantages of Microwave Tube versus Solid State Technology for Radar Operation
(please be patient as this file is approx 5 MBytes)
The transmitter is available in a single tube format or with multi-tubes which accommodates the "graceful degradation" often required by the operator.
Case Study
A happy European customer recently commented: "...TMD has been giving outstanding work and support in maintaining the Watchman S band radar and has solved a significant problem by providing a brand new tube in a very short period of time..." |
