Charlie Springer wrote:

On Thu, 2 Jun 2005 22:39:21 -0700, Eunometic wrote
(in article . com):

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. There were 'rossete scans'
that ended up in latter versions of sidewinder thse use a sort of
rotating and oscialting mirror. These also ended up in early German
infrared seekers intended for terminal homing on the Wasserfall missile
but actually derived from infrared imaging systems such as "Spanner".

There is a tracker form with a reticule that is half transparent and half
opaque and spun by a synchronous motor, so there is a reference for the
position of the reticle over time. The amount of time and the angle over
which the target is obscured generates the error signal. When perfectly
centered the signal is constant (half is always blocked).

If I could center it well enough, I could half mask the secondary of a
Cassigrain and spin it. I just find the analog solution more satisfying than
a digital image tracker.

I thought the turbine wheels in the fins of the Sidewinder were stabilizers
and generators, so it didn't need any batteries. I may be thinking of
something else.

Not generators. The AIM-9B-J used a gas-grain generator for power.

Guy