NavList:
A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: Lights etc. - aluminum foil in mast
From: Brooke Clarke
Date: 2003 Oct 12, 09:47 -0700
From: Brooke Clarke
Date: 2003 Oct 12, 09:47 -0700
Hi Jared: My guess is that is a product is very simple and low cost it's difficult to sell it commercially. Also note it's not easy to get three wires to be at right angles to each other. And they only will works on the one frequency they have been cut for. The onion type is called a Lunberg (spelling?) Lens, expensive to make. The corner reflector is typically made with 8 "corners" by 3 intersecting planes. This way there always will be signal returned to the source radar independent of the illumination direction. These are fairly easy to make, but need to be sized for the lowest frequency radar. Have Fun, Brooke Clarke, N6GCE Jared Sherman wrote: >Brooke- >wavelength. Better would be three such wires at right angles to each other.> > > Are you saying the commercial market has totally missed such an inexpensive solution? Last time I heard tests there were two types, one something about spheres and layers like an onion, the other the plain "disposable" David foil on cardboard model, using the corner reflector theory. > > The tests I'd heard all pointed to the corner reflector, when hung free and allowed some motion. Surely there is some reason three simple wires weren't proposed as a low-windage alternative? > > > >