[sci.electronics] Russian Woodpecker Info.

ornitz@kodak.UUCP (barry ornitz) (12/17/86)

                 CQ DX Line Eaters?  QLF QRM
In the December issue of the IEE Proceedings Part F, Communications, Radar
and Signal Processing, an article by J. I. Glaser on "Fifty years of Bistatic
and Multistatic Radar" presents some interesting information on the Russian
'Woodpecker' often heard on the ham bands.  I thought the readers on the net
would be interested since numerous questions have been asked about the
'Woodpecker'.

      "A system recently developed in the United States which employs
   bistatic operation is the AN/FPS-118 over-the-horizon backscatter
   (OTH-B) radar.  This radar will be used to provide long-range
   early warning against bomber aircraft and cruise missiles approach-
   ing the continental United States.......The separation between the
   transmit and receive sites allows use of a 100% duty factor waveform.
   The OTH-B, which operates in the 5-28 MHz wave band, uses an FM/CW
   waveform rather than pulses to eliminate high peak power components
   and to minimize radio frequency interference.
       The Soviet Union has a similar OTH-B radar, although information
   about this system is sketchy.  The initial evidence of Soviet OTH-B
   capability came to light in mid-1976.  The first of these units,
   nicknamed the 'Kiev Buzzsaw' or 'Ivan the Terrible', was a 2 MW
   transmitter near Kiev augmented by a smaller receiving installation
   near the Black Sea town of Nikolayev.  From these initial efforts, 
   the Soviets have expanded their system into a fully functional high-
   frequency early-warning radar.  Most of the information concerning
   the Russion 'Woodpecker', as it is now known because of its character-
   istic sound, has come from efforts of amateur radio operators through-
   out the world.  There are currently three OTH-B systems in operation
   in the Soviet Union.
       The current Soviet OTH-B systems have increased power and operate
   in the 20-50 MW range.  They utilize pulse modulation with a nominal
   pulse repition frequency of 10/sec.  The capabilities of these OTH-B
   systems are 1000 to 4000 km (with longer ranges possible through
   multihop transmission), 360 degree azimuth coverage, 2 km range reso-
   lution, 19 to 20 km absolute range accuracy, 1 degree azimuth angle
   resolution and 1/10 Hz Doppler resolution."

Just think of what I could do on 20 meters during the next DX contest with
their multimegawatt transmitter.  I might even be heard over the W6's!  :-)
     73 and Happy Holidays!
                                            Barry  WA4VZQ
                                       Eastman Chemicals Division Research
                                            Kingsport, TN