The Type 984 was different from most radars in a number of ways. For one, it used a lens made of metal tubes in place of the more traditional
parabolic reflector, which made it look like a circular plate rather than the open framework typical of the era. It was mounted on a fully stabilized platform, allowing it to produce a steady image in all but the highest sea states. It also used a unique system for vertical scanning, feeding the output of four
cavity magnetrons into four moving
feedhorns, each scanning about 5 degrees vertically. Other 3D radars of the era generally picked one solution or the other, using a network of separate feedhorns or a single vertically scanning feed. The use of four magnetrons gave it better range performance; against large high-flying aircraft it had a typical range of , although this fell to as short as against small low flying aircraft. ==References==