3GHz Radar Transmitter Simulator

The magnetron in this unit is a 3GHz, 20kW part commonly found inside marine radar equipment.

It is small and light with silicone wires pre-attached to the cathode/heater conections.

The 3GHz Magnetron

This close up inside the 3GHz unit's HV enclosure shows the magnetron installed and connected to the pulse transformer. As with the 9GHz unit, the magnetron is small and light, and is fitted fully inside the HV enclosure. Only the waveguide aperture passes through the side wall.

Assembly

Here we can see the layout of the HV enclosure, with the 3GHz magnetron in place.

The magnetron is quite small, and conveniently fits inside the HV enclosure with only the waveguide flange to bring through the side wall.

The PFN and saturable inductor are clearly visible.

The lower image shows the waveguide bend used to bring the RF from the magnetron to the outer box wall. It is clear from this image how large the 3GHz waveguide is, and how difficult it can be to accomodate it.

One of the ventilation holes is also visible in theis image, there are two a.c. fans fitted.

The Completed assembly

The top image shows the waveguide flange on the side of the main unit. It is clear how large the waveguide is! The overall layout of the unit with power supplies is also clear from this image.

The lower image shows the lid fitted to the HV enclosure. This lid keeps fingers away from the dangerous voltages inside, but is also there to keep fast, high energy transients inside the box.

These images also show the location of the second ventilation hole. Fans draw cool air from outside directly past the magnetron.