Radar Mounting
Beam pattern and enclosure
PD420 and PD420 radars feature asymmetric beam patterns and can be supplied in either
open frame or weatherproof version. Your intended application will determine the choice
of the case type, beam pattern and beam rotation.
Side firing installations
Typically the radars will be used in a side firing installation where the radar points across
the traffic, e.g. radar beam is at 90 degree angle to the road and covers one or more lanes.
This mode must be used to detect traffic at typical highway speeds. It may also be used
for intersection and stop bars to detect stopped or slowly moving traffic.
In this mode vehicles traveling on the road at highway speeds are detected for a short
duration of time while they are crossing the beam and their velocity is mostly tangential
(at right angle to the beam) with a negligible radial (along the beam) component.
Front firing installations
Alternatively the radar may be used in a front firing mode where it is pointed up or down
the traffic. However current versions of the radar firmware do not support front firing
modes with high speed traffic. This feature will be supported in the future via a firmware
update. Avoid installing the radar where it will see the vehicles either approaching or
receding directly at/from the radar at speeds exceeding 14 mph Targets exceeding this
limit will not be detected by the radar.
Mounting the PD420
PD420-OFD is supplied in an “open frame” format. It requires a weatherproof enclosure
before it may be used outdoors. Alternatively it may be mounted as a component in
another product that already has a weatherproof enclosure
The wider beam angle in PD420 is oriented differently from wider angle of the
PD420. Make sure the orientation of the radar matches the one specified for your
radar type. Orientation can be determined by connector location in open frame units
or “Houston Radar” text on the front face of the weatherproof units.
45
