Advanced Beamformer
The CommsAudit Advanced Beamformer is a direct replacement for the AN/FRD-13 PUSHER (AX-19), the long-serving HF DF system. It retains the 2 concentric rings of 24 antennas each, fed to a central enclosure housing racked equipment. The 'outer' and 'inner' rings cover 1.5 – 10MHz and 10 – 30MHz respectively.
RF circuit modules in the racking apply fixed time delay values to overlapping sets of 8 contiguous antennas in each ring, and combine them in such a way that a beam is continuously formed for each set. So, a total of 48 formed beam outputs is generated.
CommsAudit can provide a comprehensive range of upgrades for the AN/FRD-13 PUSHER (AX-19) system by:-
- Replacing/re-furbishing the antennas. Conversion from the existing 75 ohm to 50 ohm impedance may be advantageous for connectivity to other systems
- Replacing the RF feeder cables. Careful attention to equalizing the electrical lengths is required. Conversion from the existing 75 ohm to 50 ohm impedance is possible
- Replacing the RF racked equipment with a modern low-noise, high dynamic-range version. The basic facilities are retained, and the system performs the same functions, but with improved noise levels and dynamic range. Buffered auxiliary antenna outputs are available for direct connection to other systems if required
- The Built-In TEst (BITE) facilities give indications as to the health of the system, and the existence of RF signals at various points. This can simplify maintenance arrangements, and also verifies that the antennas and feeders are connected and functioning correctly