State-of-the-art equipment powers radar testing

By Ms. Jacqueline Boucher (U.S. Army CommunicationsElectronics Command (CECOM))June 27, 2017

State-of-the-art equipment powers radar testing
1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
State-of-the-art equipment powers radar testing
2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Electronics Mechanic Therese Paxton and Electronics Integrated Systems Mechanic Ed Nolan position the fixture so an AN/TPQ-36 Firefinder antenna for testing at Tobyhanna Army Depot. They work in Tobyhanna Army Depot's Surveillance and Reconnaissance ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, Pa. -- Tobyhanna Army Depot manages multiple planar near-field antenna measurement systems that are located in climate controlled chambers.

The Near Field Probes use state-of-the-art measurement equipment built around a proven scanner positioning system. These facilities provide an excellent resource for near-field testing of high-frequency antenna systems.

There are two types of probes -- passive and active. Tobyhanna's passive Near Field Probes are easy to maintain and align, and highly accurate. They are ideal systems for measuring medium and high gain antennas with large-sized apertures. The probes measure amplitude and phase patterns from L-band to mm-wave bands, offer high accuracy planarity, are capable of scanning antennas with surface areas of up to 18x18 feet, and have precision rack and pinion drives.

Tobyhanna's NFP capability extends to several programs such as the AN/TPQ-36 and AN/TPQ-37, AN/TPQ-46 Firefinder radars, and AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel. Future plans include upgrading to an active status to support next generation radars that use active electronically scanned array antennas, such as the AN/TPQ-53 Counterfire Target Acquisition Radar and the AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar.

Tobyhanna Army Depot is a recognized leader in providing world-class logistics support for command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems across the Department of Defense. Tobyhanna's Corporate Philosophy, dedicated work force and electronics expertise ensure the depot is the Joint C4ISR provider of choice for all branches of the Armed Forces and industry partners.