The time from one pulse to the next that the radar sends out is called?

• A. Pulse width
• B. Pulse repetition time (PRT)
• C. Pulse recurrence time (PRT)
• D. Duty cycle

Answer: (C)

The interval between the start of one transmitted pulse and the start of the next is Pulse Repetition Time. This period defines how often pulses are emitted and is sometimes called recurrence time; the standard abbreviation PRT is used for this concept. The reciprocal of PRT gives the pulse repetition frequency (PRF), so shorter intervals mean more pulses per second.

It’s different from pulse width, which is how long a single pulse lasts, and from duty cycle, which is the fraction of time the transmitter is on during one cycle (pulse width divided by PRT). For example, if a pulse lasts 1 microsecond and pulses occur every 1 millisecond, the PRT is 1 ms, the PRF is 1,000 Hz, and the duty cycle is 0.1%.