An object ranging system operates by transmitting pulses derived from a frequency-swept signal and determining the beat frequency of a combination of the frequency-swept signal and its reflection from an object. To determine the range of close objects the beat frequency is determined in the time domain by integrating samples of the beat frequency signal to obtain a value representing the integral of a half cycle of the sine wave, establishing integration thresholds representing when, according to the integration value, the sine wave would have reached predetermined stages in its cycle, and measuring the time taken for the integral of the sine wave to change from one threshold to another, this time thereby indicating the period of the beat frequency.