The gas-discharge transmit-receive switch

The gas-discharge transmit-receive switch has become an accepted part of every modern radar set. Indeed, without such a device, an efficient single-antenna micro-wave radar would be nearly impossible. Many of the early radar sets made in this country employed separate antennae for the transmitter and receiver. The advantages of single antenna operation are so apparent as hardly to require discussion. The saving in space or, if the same space is to be occupied, the increase in gain and directivity of a large single antenna is, of course, apparent. But even more important, perhaps, is the tremendous simplification in tracking offered by a single antenna, particularly where a very rapid complex scanning motion is desired.