If Earth is in the "sweep" of that rotation, the rise and falloff of the (continuous) signal will follow strict gaussian slopes outside the main beam, due to lo

If Earth is in the "sweep" of that rotation, the rise and falloff of the (continuous) signal will follow strict gaussian slopes outside the main beam, due to long-range diffraction. Pulses could follow such a slope, too, but might not, and that would provide differentiation.