Radar Camera for Large Format Photography

[Mustafa Umut]

Large Format Photograph Machines usually uses 8x10 inches size negative. Can I make a radar large format camera with using similar or bigger size plate as antenna and when transmitter was a cw radio transmitter ? I know only need of mixing transmitted to received.

If this does not work , can I use a 40 meter cw transmitter and receiver when antenna layed horizontal and take a narrow strip of panaroma.

Is there a chance or is it out of question ?

Thank you ,

Mustafa Umut Sarac

Istanbul

 

[anorlunda]

No. The wavelength of the radiation determines the size of the aperture and thus the camera. Radar wavelengths range from 1cm to 1.5m. Visible light wavelengths range from 380 to 740 nanometers. So a radar camera would need to be about 1 billion times bigger than a light camera.

 

[russ_watters]

Note that on the other side of the coin, you could just make a much lower resolution camera and/or image. Radar was used to see through the clouds of Venus and map its surface, for example:

http://sci.esa.int/venus-express/50372-radar-map-of-venus-surface/
The full resolution version of that image has a resolution of about 2 miles per pixel.