CARSR

CARSR Long range 3D Radar Set - A set of long range 3D Radar set components built by Westinghouse to upgrade FAA legacy radar sets to a common set of transmitters and receivers. Only the antenna components were retained, the rotary joint, diplexer/Polarizer and the physical antenna and drive mechanism. CARSR 3D Radar The Common Air Route Surveillance Radar (CARSR) is a new long-range L-band radar with a range of 200 nm. CARSR is the result of a Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) that replaced the vintage ARSR-1, ARSR-2, FPS-20A, FPS-66A, FPS-67A/B and FPS-93A components with modern components. The klystron transmitters were replaced with a common solid-state transmitter. Even though the receiver and signal processors were upgraded by Northrop Grumman in the early 1990s, they were replaced with more modern software driven components. The new transmitter components transmit a slant fan beam as the antenna rotates at five rpm. The fan beam allows the computation of target height. The new digital signal processor employed newer techniques that allowed for frequency diversity, rather than the traditional Moving Target Indicator (MTI) techniques. It is interfaced with either a Mode S or an ATCBI-6 secondary surveillance radar (Beacon) and also reports weather in NWS six-level format. The CARSR SLEP upgrade also replaces the legacy Common Digitizer-2 (CD-2) processors and associated radar data interfaces. The CARSR program is now complete and there are 80 operational CARSRs installed across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. In addition, three non-operational CARSRs are located at the FAA’s Aeronautical Support Center in Oklahoma City. CARSR 3D Radar Element Value Notes Nomenclature CARSR Origins FPS-20/ARSR-1 Variants Manufacturer Westinghouse Type 3D Number Made 83 IEEE Band L Band Frequency 1.2-1.4 GHz PRF 3 Staggered PRFs with distinct stagger ratios Pulse Width 2 Long ~117 us 2 Short ~20 us within 290 us TX time 4 pulses in each PRI Rotation Speed 5 rpm Power Range 200 nmi Long Altitude 100,000 ft Introduced CARSR 3D Radar Configurations Number Configuration Antenna Owner/Operator Notes 2 CARSR (FPS-20A) 1561 L-Band DOD/DHS/FAA 5 CARSR (FPS-66A) 1561 L-Band DOD/DHS/FAA 15 CARSR (FPS-67/A/B) 1561 L-Band DOD/DHS/FAA 1 CARSR (FPS-93A) 1561 L-Band DOD/DHS/FAA 28 CARSR (ARSR-1) 7172 L-Band DOD/DHS/FAA 15 CARSR (ARSR-2) 7172 L-Band DOD/DHS/FAA 1 CARSR (ARSR-2) 1561 L-Band DOD/DHS/FAA 13 CARSR (ARSR-3) 9200S L-Band DOD/DHS/FAA See Also: US Radar Sets Sources: Wang, Brookner, Cornell Gerecke and Farr, Modernization of Enroute Air Surveillance Radar, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems, Vol. 48, No. 1, January 2012, pages 103-115. Links: Radomes - Radar Equipment Wikipedia - Air Route Surveillance Radar