Continuous wave frequency modulated cantenna radars

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the Continuous-Wave-Frequency-Modulated (CWFM) Radar system described by Gregory L Charvat in his book Small and Short-Range Radar Systems. The system is called a "coffee-can radar" because it uses antennas fabricated from used coffee cans, however the remainder of the circuitry uses high quality pre-assembled RF modules. Ever since its important role in the second world war, the radar has evolved and has many important uses in many different scenarios in our life, be it as a police radar or helping planes navigate in the night. In this work the properties of the coffee-can antennas ("cantennas") were studied, the individual modules used in the radar system were characterized, and finally measurements on the complete system were made and compared with those achieved in a previous project using different hardware.