AN/APS-15 radar. - Page 2 - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

jamesinnewcastl · 23rd Dec 2020, 7:31 pm

Oh My

It's got a rhumbatron, made my year, and just in time!

Cheers
James

Graham G3ZVT · 24th Dec 2020, 2:18 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamesinnewcastl

Oh My

It's got a rhumbatron, made my year, and just in time!

Cheers
James

I noticed that and it made for some interesting Googling.

Radio Wrangler · 24th Dec 2020, 5:34 am

I think what's labelled as "Soft Rhumbatron" will be the reflex-klystron local oscillator for the receiver. The actual Rhumbatron will be the drift-space resonator within the klystron.

An unusual metal valve with a bellows at the top end. A mechanical lever and screw arrangement allowed the internal reflector to be moved to tune the LO to match the magnetron with an offset to create the wanted IF.

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/356347389268550068/

When Henry Tizard and his delegation went to the US to enlist their help in building radar gear, they showed the Americans our cavity magnetron, and also the reflex klystron LO needed for the matching receiver. The technology was passed on to a bunch headed by a couple of people....

Norman Ramsey had been a researcher in molecular beam physics and may well have invented what turned into the MRI scanner. He later founded Fermilab, the US equivalent to CERN, and he copped a Nobel prize for inventing the coupled oscillatory mode hydrogen MASER frequency standard. I met him in 2005, close to his 90th birthday at ISEF, a really nice chap and very interesting. It's quite strange meeting one of the gods of the field you work in, and it's a relief to find a straight-forward human being, just with a generous dose of curiosity.

One of the other guys was Vannevar Bush of MIT, who went on to found Raytheon, one of the big makers of radar/microwave thermionics.

David

23rd Dec 2020, 7:31 pm	#21
jamesinnewcastl Heptode Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear, UK. Posts: 723	Re: AN/APS-15 radar. Oh My It's got a rhumbatron, made my year, and just in time! Cheers James

24th Dec 2020, 5:34 am	#23
Radio Wrangler Moderator Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Fife, Scotland, UK. Posts: 22,902	Re: AN/APS-15 radar. I think what's labelled as "Soft Rhumbatron" will be the reflex-klystron local oscillator for the receiver. The actual Rhumbatron will be the drift-space resonator within the klystron. An unusual metal valve with a bellows at the top end. A mechanical lever and screw arrangement allowed the internal reflector to be moved to tune the LO to match the magnetron with an offset to create the wanted IF. https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/356347389268550068/ When Henry Tizard and his delegation went to the US to enlist their help in building radar gear, they showed the Americans our cavity magnetron, and also the reflex klystron LO needed for the matching receiver. The technology was passed on to a bunch headed by a couple of people.... Norman Ramsey had been a researcher in molecular beam physics and may well have invented what turned into the MRI scanner. He later founded Fermilab, the US equivalent to CERN, and he copped a Nobel prize for inventing the coupled oscillatory mode hydrogen MASER frequency standard. I met him in 2005, close to his 90th birthday at ISEF, a really nice chap and very interesting. It's quite strange meeting one of the gods of the field you work in, and it's a relief to find a straight-forward human being, just with a generous dose of curiosity. One of the other guys was Vannevar Bush of MIT, who went on to found Raytheon, one of the big makers of radar/microwave thermionics. David __________________ Can't afford the volcanic island yet, but the plans for my monorail and the goons' uniforms are done