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Radar radiation.. harmful?

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Man-wai Chang ToDie

Usenet Poster
toylet.toylet@gmail.com
Posted on:
Nov 20, 2007, 5:30 AM

Post #1 of 13 (43 views)
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Radar radiation.. harmful? Not logged in -   Reply 
 
The nose of most jet fighters usually house the radar. I wonder whether
the pilot would be exposed to dangerous level of radiation when flying
them.... Smile

--
@~@ Might, Courage, Vision, SINCERITY.
/ v \ Simplicity is Beauty! May the Force and Farce be with you!
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"Iain Smith"

Usenet Poster
iainsmithdotrugbyatbtinternetdotcom
Posted on:
Nov 20, 2007, 7:26 AM

Post #2 of 13 (43 views)
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Re: Radar radiation.. harmful? [In reply to Man-wai Chang ToDie] Not logged in -   Reply 
"Man-wai Chang ToDie" <toylet.toylet@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:4742b723$1_2@rain.i-cable.com...
>
> The nose of most jet fighters usually house the radar. I wonder whether
> the pilot would be exposed to dangerous level of radiation when flying
> them.... Smile

It's not nuclear radiation but microwave radiation so if it is not pointing
at you it is not going to harm you. The cockpit can easily be shielded from
any stray microwaves, which doesn't travel around corners.

Iain




Simon Robbins

Usenet Poster
simon@nospam.thanks
Posted on:
Nov 20, 2007, 3:22 PM

Post #3 of 13 (43 views)
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Re: Radar radiation.. harmful? [In reply to Man-wai Chang ToDie] Not logged in -   Reply 
Man-wai Chang ToDie wrote:
> The nose of most jet fighters usually house the radar. I wonder whether
> the pilot would be exposed to dangerous level of radiation when flying
> them.... Smile

The radars contained in the noses of fighter aircraft point forwards,
and only move within a small arc within radome. Hence the pilot is
safe. However, they are never (apart fro mmaintenance under safe
circumstances) switched on while on the ground, as it could endanger the
ground crew. (Some have a weight-on-wheels switch to automatically
switch it off.)

Si



RobertVA

Usenet Poster
robert_c72athotmail@invalid.net
Posted on:
Nov 20, 2007, 3:41 PM

Post #4 of 13 (43 views)
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Re: Radar radiation.. harmful? [In reply to Man-wai Chang ToDie] Not logged in -   Reply 
Man-wai Chang ToDie wrote:
> The nose of most jet fighters usually house the radar. I wonder whether
> the pilot would be exposed to dangerous level of radiation when flying
> them.... Smile

Well, Amanna's early microwave ovens were labeled "Radar Range".

The idea for microwave ovens came about when someone working with
microwave/radar equipment noticed that a candy bar was melting.

The canopy "glass" in the US Navy's EA6 (used for electronic
countermeasure and radar site attack) has a metallic coating to protect
the crew from the microwaves generated by the jamming and tracking
equipment (the regular A6s and KA6s didn't have the coating). Some of
the sources on the EA6s are mounted on wing pods though.

The microwaves generated on most aircraft radars radiates forward and to
the sides from the nose of the aircraft. There's usually nothing forward
of the radome to reflect significant amounts of the microwave radiation
back towards the cockpit or cabin. The aluminum structure separating the
cockpit from the radar mounting would act as a shield as well.



Mxsmanic

Usenet Poster
mxsmanic@gmail.com
Posted on:
Nov 20, 2007, 4:06 PM

Post #5 of 13 (43 views)
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Re: Radar radiation.. harmful? [In reply to Man-wai Chang ToDie] Not logged in -   Reply 
Man-wai Chang ToDie writes:

> The nose of most jet fighters usually house the radar. I wonder whether
> the pilot would be exposed to dangerous level of radiation when flying
> them.... Smile

Radar frequencies are not ionizing radiation, so there is no danger of causing
cancer through the creation of free radicals or things like that. However,
radar is in the diathermy range of frequencies and can heat living tissue.
The biggest risk is to the eyes, because the cornea and lens are poorly cooled
and can be heated to a temperature that will denature the proteins in them,
causing them to opacity and resulting in blindness. The exposure has to be
prolonged or intense to cause this reaction, which may not be apparent
immediately. All forms of microwave radiation carry this risk.

In many aircraft, you're supposed to keep things like weather radar off when
on the ground, in part for reasons of safety.



"Roger (K8RI)"

Usenet Poster
validaddress@my.com
Posted on:
Nov 20, 2007, 7:55 PM

Post #6 of 13 (43 views)
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Re: Radar radiation.. harmful? [In reply to RobertVA] Not logged in -   Reply 
On Tue, 20 Nov 2007 15:41:10 -0500, RobertVA
<robert_c72athotmail@invalid.net> wrote:

>Man-wai Chang ToDie wrote:
>> The nose of most jet fighters usually house the radar. I wonder whether
>> the pilot would be exposed to dangerous level of radiation when flying
>> them.... Smile
>
>Well, Amanna's early microwave ovens were labeled "Radar Range".
>
>The idea for microwave ovens came about when someone working with
>microwave/radar equipment noticed that a candy bar was melting.
>
>The canopy "glass" in the US Navy's EA6 (used for electronic
>countermeasure and radar site attack) has a metallic coating to protect
>the crew from the microwaves generated by the jamming and tracking

That gold colored coating is for UV protection.

Roger

>equipment (the regular A6s and KA6s didn't have the coating). Some of
>the sources on the EA6s are mounted on wing pods though.
>
>The microwaves generated on most aircraft radars radiates forward and to
>the sides from the nose of the aircraft. There's usually nothing forward
>of the radome to reflect significant amounts of the microwave radiation
>back towards the cockpit or cabin. The aluminum structure separating the
>cockpit from the radar mounting would act as a shield as well.



Man-wai Chang ToDie

Usenet Poster
toylet.toylet@gmail.com
Posted on:
Nov 20, 2007, 10:48 PM

Post #7 of 13 (43 views)
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Re: Radar radiation.. harmful? [In reply to Mxsmanic] Not logged in -   Reply 
> In many aircraft, you're supposed to keep things like weather radar off when
> on the ground, in part for reasons of safety.

Do the ground crews carry radiation detector themselves? People,
including pilots, could make mistakes....

--
@~@ Might, Courage, Vision, SINCERITY.
/ v \ Simplicity is Beauty! May the Force and Farce be with you!
/( _ )\ (Xubuntu 7.04) Linux 2.6.23.8
^ ^ 11:48:01 up 2 days 16:10 0 users load average: 0.00 0.00 0.00
news://news.3home.net news://news.hkpcug.org news://news.newsgroup.com.hk



Mxsmanic

Usenet Poster
mxsmanic@gmail.com
Posted on:
Nov 20, 2007, 11:48 PM

Post #8 of 13 (43 views)
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Re: Radar radiation.. harmful? [In reply to Man-wai Chang ToDie] Not logged in -   Reply 
Man-wai Chang ToDie writes:

> Do the ground crews carry radiation detector themselves? People,
> including pilots, could make mistakes....

The radiation is not ionizing and is dangerous only through diathermy, so
detectors don't serve much purpose. However, prolonged or very intense
exposure does carry the risks of diathermy that I've described, even if actual
cases of injury are rare.



RobertVA

Usenet Poster
robert_c72athotmail@invalid.net
Posted on:
Nov 21, 2007, 4:08 AM

Post #9 of 13 (43 views)
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Re: Radar radiation.. harmful? [In reply to "Roger (K8RI)"] Not logged in -   Reply 
Roger (K8RI) wrote:
> On Tue, 20 Nov 2007 15:41:10 -0500, RobertVA
> <robert_c72athotmail@invalid.net> wrote:
>
>> Man-wai Chang ToDie wrote:
>>> The nose of most jet fighters usually house the radar. I wonder whether
>>> the pilot would be exposed to dangerous level of radiation when flying
>>> them.... Smile
>> Well, Amanna's early microwave ovens were labeled "Radar Range".
>>
>> The idea for microwave ovens came about when someone working with
>> microwave/radar equipment noticed that a candy bar was melting.
>>
>> The canopy "glass" in the US Navy's EA6 (used for electronic
>> countermeasure and radar site attack) has a metallic coating to protect
>> the crew from the microwaves generated by the jamming and tracking
>
> That gold colored coating is for UV protection.
>
> Roger

Oh?

Interesting that the regular A-6 and KA-6 didn't have the coating (and
I've seen PLENTY of A-6 and KA-6 canopies UP CLOSE). Those models only
had radar on the nose. The EA-6s however had large bulging radomes on
top of the fin and mounted under the wings, any of which were in a
position to have exposed the canopy surfaces to microwaves.

Also the night operating F-117 has the coating.

Odd how a crew member that is almost completely covered with a flight
suit, oxygen mask helmet, gloves and tinted face shield would need the
additional UV protection from that coating. Darn star light burns must
be awful (F-117 missions are normally scheduled for moonless nights).

I'm not convinced the F-117 is designed to drop bombs from a high enough
altitude to escape the shock wave from nuclear arms either.

So I'm still convinced the coating is intended to block the longer
microwave/radar spectrum, which would reduce the chance of getting a
reflection off the pilot and other cockpit contents in a stealth plane.

>> equipment (the regular A6s and KA6s didn't have the coating). Some of
>> the sources on the EA6s are mounted on wing pods though.
>>
>> The microwaves generated on most aircraft radars radiates forward and to
>> the sides from the nose of the aircraft. There's usually nothing forward
>> of the radome to reflect significant amounts of the microwave radiation
>> back towards the cockpit or cabin. The aluminum structure separating the
>> cockpit from the radar mounting would act as a shield as well.



Gregory

Usenet Poster
flightsim.maps@bkwds.comcast.net
Posted on:
Nov 21, 2007, 6:39 AM

Post #10 of 13 (43 views)
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Re: Radar radiation.. harmful? [In reply to Simon Robbins] Not logged in -   Reply 
On Tue, 20 Nov 2007 20:22:40 +0000, Simon Robbins <simon@nospam.thanks>
brought the following to our attention:

>Man-wai Chang ToDie wrote:
>> The nose of most jet fighters usually house the radar. I wonder whether
>> the pilot would be exposed to dangerous level of radiation when flying
>> them.... Smile
>
>The radars contained in the noses of fighter aircraft point forwards,
>and only move within a small arc within radome. Hence the pilot is
>safe. However, they are never (apart fro mmaintenance under safe
>circumstances) switched on while on the ground, as it could endanger the
>ground crew. (Some have a weight-on-wheels switch to automatically
>switch it off.)
>
>Si

Aircraft forward RADARs emit substantial microwave energy which is
focused into beams and steered mechanically and electronically, i.e.
phased arrays. Power level times gain of antenna equals ERP, or
effective radiated power. Exposure to levels in front of the radome
would be harmful, but backlobe levels could be 40 dB or more down
from the main `bang.´ Surface currents induced on the aircraft could
result in secondary EM fields, but as for pilot exposure, I think they'd
be ok. Hey I've been exposed to microwave energy for over twenty
years. Kinda' feels good actually.. all warm and fuzzy! Smile)

BTW.. how's that cellphone working against your head?

-G




Gregory

Usenet Poster
flightsim.maps@bkwds.comcast.net
Posted on:
Nov 21, 2007, 6:59 AM

Post #11 of 13 (43 views)
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Re: Radar radiation.. harmful? [In reply to RobertVA] Not logged in -   Reply 
On Tue, 20 Nov 2007 15:41:10 -0500, RobertVA
<robert_c72athotmail@invalid.net> brought the following to our
attention:

>Man-wai Chang ToDie wrote:
>> The nose of most jet fighters usually house the radar. I wonder whether
>> the pilot would be exposed to dangerous level of radiation when flying
>> them.... Smile
>
>Well, Amanna's early microwave ovens were labeled "Radar Range".

Hey.. we have an Amana Radarange right in the kitchen, model RR-700.
I bought it in early 1983 and it still works GREAT today. It has two
easy-to-use analogue controls, one for power level (0-10) and the other
for timer. We recently bought a custom oak stand for it... being much
bigger and better that the cheapie digital oven that came with the
place. Don't believe it? well a few digital pics would convince.

-G

Note: what has happened to this industry?

Amana® is a trademark of Maytag Corporation and is used under license to
Goodman Company, L.P. Copyright© 2003-2007 Goodman Global, Inc.


>The idea for microwave ovens came about when someone working with
>microwave/radar equipment noticed that a candy bar was melting.
>
>The canopy "glass" in the US Navy's EA6 (used for electronic
>countermeasure and radar site attack) has a metallic coating to protect
>the crew from the microwaves generated by the jamming and tracking
>equipment (the regular A6s and KA6s didn't have the coating). Some of
>the sources on the EA6s are mounted on wing pods though.
>
>The microwaves generated on most aircraft radars radiates forward and to
>the sides from the nose of the aircraft. There's usually nothing forward
>of the radome to reflect significant amounts of the microwave radiation
>back towards the cockpit or cabin. The aluminum structure separating the
>cockpit from the radar mounting would act as a shield as well.





Mxsmanic

Usenet Poster
mxsmanic@gmail.com
Posted on:
Nov 21, 2007, 7:06 PM

Post #12 of 13 (42 views)
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Re: Radar radiation.. harmful? [In reply to RobertVA] Not logged in -   Reply 
RobertVA writes:

> Odd how a crew member that is almost completely covered with a flight
> suit, oxygen mask helmet, gloves and tinted face shield would need the
> additional UV protection from that coating. Darn star light burns must
> be awful (F-117 missions are normally scheduled for moonless nights).

Laser light can blind a pilot.



Mxsmanic

Usenet Poster
mxsmanic@gmail.com
Posted on:
Nov 21, 2007, 7:07 PM

Post #13 of 13 (42 views)
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Re: Radar radiation.. harmful? [In reply to Gregory] Not logged in -   Reply 
Gregory writes:

> Hey.. we have an Amana Radarange right in the kitchen, model RR-700.
> I bought it in early 1983 and it still works GREAT today. It has two
> easy-to-use analogue controls, one for power level (0-10) and the other
> for timer. We recently bought a custom oak stand for it... being much
> bigger and better that the cheapie digital oven that came with the
> place. Don't believe it? well a few digital pics would convince.

Check the unit periodically for microwave leakage (from damage to the door,
internal screens, etc.).



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