METHOD FOR RECONDITIONING FCR APG-68 TACTICAL RADAR UNITS
First Claim
1. A method for reconditioning an FCR APG-68 tactical radar unit comprising the steps of:
- (a) placing a high voltage high frequency power supply from a high frequency unit in a vacuum chamber;
(b) evacuating the vacuum chamber to about 10 Torr or below;
(c) heating the vacuum chamber in the range of about 40°
to 105°
C.; and
(d) removing moisture until the rate of moisture desorbed has fallen to below about 2 milligrams per minute at about 60°
C. or 5 milligrams per minute at about 70°
C. or about 25 milligrams per minute at about 85°
C. or until said high voltage high frequency power supply has been in said evacuation chamber for at least 4 hours.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for reconditioning Fire Control Radar APG-68 tactical radar systems (FCR) utilized in military aircraft and returning them to operation with extended useful life expectancies equivalent to or better than new of the FCR APG-68 unit high frequency, high voltage dual mode radar transmitters that are deployed in over 1000 state-of-the-art military aircraft such as the F-15, F-16 and F-18 fighter aircraft, and B-1 bombers. The novel method extends the mean lifetime of previously repaired and repairable FCR APG-68 tactical radar units and radar units and ageing transmitters from about 100 to a few hundred hours to about five hundred or more hours by the step of removing embedded moisture and absorbed moisture from the heterogeneous electronic components in the FCR APG-68 tactical radar unit.
25 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for reconditioning an FCR APG-68 tactical radar unit comprising the steps of:
-
(a) placing a high voltage high frequency power supply from a high frequency unit in a vacuum chamber; (b) evacuating the vacuum chamber to about 10 Torr or below; (c) heating the vacuum chamber in the range of about 40°
to 105°
C.; and(d) removing moisture until the rate of moisture desorbed has fallen to below about 2 milligrams per minute at about 60°
C. or 5 milligrams per minute at about 70°
C. or about 25 milligrams per minute at about 85°
C. or until said high voltage high frequency power supply has been in said evacuation chamber for at least 4 hours. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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- 7. A process for reconditioning an FCR APG-68 tactical radar unit wherein the improvement comprises the step of removing moisture from a high voltage high frequency power supply in a vacuum chamber having a heated environment until at least 3 grams of water are removed.
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15. A method of removing moisture from an FCR APG-68 tactical radar unit to increase its operational life comprising:
-
(a) disassembling an FCR APG-68 tactical radar unit; (b) placing a power supply chassis in a drying chamber; (c) providing hot dry air to said evacuation chamber at a temperature of about 40°
C. to 105°
C.; and(d) operating said evacuation chamber until the rate of moisture removal is less than about 20 milligrams per minute at about 70°
C. or for at least 2 hours. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification