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FPS-18 Short Range Gap Filler Radar Set - A Short Range Gap Filler Radar set built by Bendix Radio Division of Bendix Aviation Corporation. Deployed during the 1950s and early 1960s in unattended gap-filler radar sites to fill in gaps in the long range radar coverage. Used in the SAGE System to directly send target data to a SAGE direction center. The radar antenna was mounted on a three legged tower and sometimes covered with a radome.
 Typical FPS-18 Gap Filler Radar Site The radar set itself was contained in a small two room "L" shaped building with the smaller room containing up to three backup power generators and the larger room containing the dual channel radar set. That room also contained the FST-1 Coordinate Data Transmitter that digitized the radar data and transmitted target data to the direction center via phone lines. Also in that room was the FSW-1 Control Monitor Set that enabled remote control from the radar site of power switching and channel changes on the dual channel equipment. The FSW-1 also monitored up to 30 functions on the site and could control up to 20 functions remotely.
FPS-18 Gap Filler Radar
FPS-18 Gap Filler Radar
| Element
|
Value
|
Notes
|
| Nomenclature |
FPS-18 |
|
| Origins |
|
|
| Variants |
FPS-18A |
|
| Manufacturer |
Bendix Radio Division of Bendix Aviation Corporation
Budd Lewyt Company |
|
| Type |
Gap Filler |
|
| Number Made |
100~ |
|
| IEEE Band |
S |
|
| Frequency |
2700 - 2900 |
Tunable
|
| PRF |
1200 pps |
|
| Pulse Width |
1 us |
|
| Rotation Speed |
5.33 rpm |
|
| Power |
1 mw |
V87-B or V87-C klystron
|
| Range |
35 - 50 nmi |
Short Range
|
| Altitude |
17,000 feet |
|
| Introduced |
1950s |
|
| Stock Numbers |
5840-505-0435 FPS-18
5840-646-9897 FPS-18A |
|
|
|
FPS-18 Components (edit list)
| Component
|
Model
|
Quantity
|
Height
|
Width
|
Deep
|
Weight
|
Notes
|
| Antenna Group
|
OA-897A/FPS-14
|
1
|
|
|
|
2,918 lb
|
|
| Transmitter Group
|
OA-1140/FPS-18
|
2
|
84"
|
56"
|
35.5"
|
1,805 lb
|
|
| Power Supply
|
PP-1497/FPS-18
|
2
|
84"
|
44"
|
34.125"
|
1,745 lb
|
|
| Electron Tube Liquid Cooler
|
MX-2010/FPS-18
|
2
|
46"
|
30"
|
|
56 lb
|
|
| Receiver Group
|
QA-1231/FPS-18
|
2
|
84"
|
40"
|
24"
|
844 lb
|
|
| Indicator Group
|
QA-1339/FPS-18
|
1
|
40"
|
18.5"
|
30.5"
|
213 lb
|
|
| Control Monitor
|
C-2097/FPS-18
|
1
|
53.125"
|
10"
|
27"
|
485 lb
|
|
| Motor Generator
|
PU-366/FPS-18
|
1
|
|
|
|
2,000 lb
|
|
| Voltage Regulator
|
CN-385/FPS-18
|
2
|
40.5"
|
24"
|
20.8"
|
495 lb
|
|
| Directional Coupler
|
CU-453/FPS-14
|
2
|
7.75"
|
5.25"
|
24.5"
|
32 lb
|
|
| Waveguide Switch
|
SA-436/FPS-14
|
1
|
11.75"
|
13.25"
|
13.25"
|
34 lb
|
|
| Dummy Load
|
DA-114/FPS-14
|
1
|
5"
|
6.25"
|
31.5"
|
31 lb
|
|
| Mobile Test Cart
|
FN-83/FPS-14
|
2
|
24"
|
38.5"
|
32"
|
62 lb
|
|
See Also:
Sources:
- Winkler, David F., Searching the Skies: the Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program, USAF Hq Air Combat Command, 1997, 192 pages, Pdf
- MIL-HDBK-162A, 15 Dec 1965.
Links:
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