WSR-74
Description of the radar set, tactical-technical characteristics
Figure 1: WSR-74S
| Specifications | ||
|---|---|---|
| WSR-74S | WSR-74C | |
| frequency: | 2 890 MHz
(S-Band) |
5 625 MHz
(C-Band) |
| pulse repetition time (PRT): | ||
| pulse repetition frequency (PRF): | 160 or 640 Hz | 250 … 1500 Hz |
| pulsewidth (τ): | 4 or 1 µs | 3 µs |
| receiving time: | ||
| dead time: | ||
| peak power: | 500 kW | 240 kW |
| average power: | ||
| instrumented range: | 460 km | |
| range resolution: | ||
| accuracy: | ||
| beamwidth: | 2° | 1.6° |
| hits per scan: | ||
| antenna rotation: | 6 rpm | 12.5 rpm |
| MTBCF: | ||
| MTTR: | ||
WSR-74
The WSR-74 (abbreviation of Weather Surveillance Radar, Model 74) was developed in 1974 to replace and supplement the U.S. National Weather Service weather radar network operating on WSR-57. There were versions for two different frequency ranges. They were gradually replaced by the WSR-88D Doppler radar starting in 1988.
WSR-74S
The WSR-74S operated in the S-band with a magnetron as the transmitter. It used an 12-foot-diameter parabolic antenna fed by a horn radiator. Only 5 of these versions were produced to replace the losses of some WSR-57s in the network.
WSR-74C
The WSR-74C operated in C-Band with a klystron as the transmitter and used a 12-foot-diameter parabolic antenna. The radar was used as a local weather radar for thunderstorm warnings and replaced the obsolete AN/FPS-77.
Initially, a complete volume scan took about 5 minutes. From April 2000, with the modernization of the program “WSR-74C/IRIS”, a new scan strategy was used with only 2.5 minutes duration and 12 different elevation angles between 0.5° and 25.9°.
68 of these types of radars were built. The last WSR-74C was decommissioned on December 31, 2012.