A basic setup of a weather radar with the antenna, radome and electronics

• The electromagnetic radar signal is transmitted in pulses and generated by the transmitter.
• It then moves to the Transmitter/Receiver switch which directs the radar pulse onto the antenna. The switch only allows one direction of traffic onto the antenna which operates as both a transmitting and a receiving instrument.
• The antenna sends the radar pulse on to the atmosphere and receives the backscattered energy.
• The weak scattered electromagnetic pulse is then forwarded back onto the T/R Switch.
• The signal is transmitted from the switch to the receiver which processes the signal into a format suitable to be displayed at the display unit.

In its most basic form a pulsed weather radar consists of a transmitter, which produces power at the radar frequency, a transmit/receive switch, which connects the transmitter and receiver to the antenna during transmit and receive phases of operation, an antenna, which radiates the power and intercepts the reflected signals, a receiver, which detects, amplifies and transforms the received signals into video format and a display system on which the received signals is displayed. A block diagram illustrating this basic structure is shown in the above animation.