Experimental Observation of RF Radiation Generated by an Explosively Driven Voltage Generator

In April of 2005, several pulsed-power experiments were performed using explosively driven voltage generation systems at Loki Inc. located in Rolla, Missouri. A pulse-forming network and transmitting antenna were constructed and attached to the voltage-pulse generator, and a matched receiving antenna was located approximately 3 m from the transmitting antenna. Three RF generation test shots were performed during the experiment. Each test shot produced two separate RF bursts. The first RF burst induced a maximum peak-to-peak signal on the receiving antenna. The total pulse length was about 2 microseconds. The effective radiated power (ERP) of the system was roughly estimated to be 2 MW in a narrow-band-pulse centered around 22 MHz. After test measurements indicate that the total power generated by the RF generator was 4.5 MW. The original document contains color images.