Lobe switching

[1] The concept was used only briefly, and was almost completely replaced by conical scanning systems by the end of World War II.

A huge number of such elements would be ideal, but impractical due to them having to be placed at a specific distance to each other depending on the wavelength of the radio source being used.

In early "longwave" systems, like those used by the British and US, this forced the elements to be placed several feet apart, limiting the number of dipoles to perhaps a dozen for any reasonably sized antenna.

The return signal from one set was sent through a small delay, shifting its "peak" on the operator's oscilloscope slightly to one side.

Thus the operator could keep the antenna pointed at the target simply by moving it to make both returns equal height on the display.

Conical scanning was similar in concept to lobe switching, but as the name implies it was operated in a rotary fashion instead of two directions.

Unsynchronized "blocks" of signal can be used to jam LORO radars, although it is not as effective as against a normal lobing system and generally makes the operator's job more difficult, as opposed to impossible.