Roberts A. (ed.) Radar Beacons

New York: McGraw-Hill, 1947. — 489 p. — (MIT Radiation Laboratory Series. Volume 3)This books is about radar beacons. As far as the authors are aware, no other books on radar beacons have yet appeared. Because beacons constitute an important aspect of radar, an attempt will be made in this book to give a comprehensive survey of the present state of the beacon art.
Beacons were, at first, a minor and neglected aspect of the radar art. Their usefulness was recognized in nearly all laboratories working on radar, but only after the design of the radar was well advanced. Organized work on beacons at the Radiation Laboratory started only when the laboratory was in its second year; a separate beacon division was not organized until the summer of 1943. The influence of beacons was slow in making itself felt; nevertheless, by the end of the war, it had established itself firmly in the thinking of the designers of airborne and ground radar equipment and was beginning to be accepted for ship radar.
This survey is divided into four parts. Part I, Chaps. 1 to 6, discusses the nature of beacons and the principles according to which systems using beacons are designed. Part II, which includes Chaps. 7 to 16, is concerned with the design of beacons. Part III, Chaps. 17 to 19, takes up the design of beacon interrogators and gives examples of complete systems using beacons. Part IV, Chap. 20, covers the operation of beacon systems in the field.
This volume represents a summary of the efforts of Division 7 of the Radiation Laboratory, which was charged with work on radar beacons. In an attempt to give a complete picture of the beacon art, however, the authors have included much that did not originate at the Radiation Laboratory.