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Radar components : scanner, control unit and a dispay

Scanner is usually in a lightweght case called radom to protect it from weather and
phisical damage
the control unit may be inside the dispay or split in several sections
Inside is the magnetron transmiting which is sending outgoing microwave
pulses are in a beam 4 degrees wide and 30 degrees from top to bottom
Retuning echoes are picked up either by the same aerial or by a second aerial
atached to it.
The control unit regulates the transmiter and the outgoing microwave pulses.
It also receives the returning echo and ensures the apparent rotation of the trance
on the screen is in step with the pshisical rotation of the aerial
Daylight viewing or raster scan radars do not have a slowly rotating trance on the
display instead the pictures apperas on the screen like that on the television and is
updated 50 times a second
The control unit has to analyze the range and bearing information that it receives
and presents it as a suitable eloctronic signal to the dispaly
All this electronic activty doesnt concern the operator,however whatever type of
radar he has it will only have 6 main controls :Brilliance , Range , Tuning ,Gain , Sea
clutter and Rain clutter
The brilliance control is self-explanatory , it regulates the brightness of the
display and should be adjusted so the picture can be seen clearely without dazzling
the oprator
On the RD1-30 this is done by rotating the inner part of the knob just left of center
bellow the screen
The Vigil Rx has a push button marked (day night) wich serves the same function
supplemented by a rocker switch marked brilliance for fine adjustments
The tunning control can be compared to the tunning knob of a radio , so the
radar receiver has to be tuned to its transmitter.If is slightly off-tuned the picture
quality will suffer.
On the RD1-30 the tuning is adjusted by turning the outer part of the knob just left
of center bellow the screen while the Vigil RX has a rocker switch (tune)
The range control selects the operating range of the set , wich should be chosen
to suit the situation.In a narrow river a long range would cram all the usefull detail
of nearby objects into a small area of the center of the screen so a shorter range
would be more appropriate.
When navigationg off shore a short range would be a little use but a longer range
brings important coastal features into view.

The range control on the RD1-30 is a knob at the bottom right side of the display
unit and on the Vigil RX is a rocker switch
The gain control is also a rocker switch on the Vigil RX and a knob just right of
center on the RD1-30. It controls the sensivity of the set .If the gain is turned up too
high the screen will be plotted by unwanted echoes such as small waves and radio
interferences and if its too low ,weak but genuine echoes will be lost.
The sea clutter control has a similar effect so on the RD1-30 is a small knob
inside the gain control and on the Vigil RX is a rocker switch immediately above the
gain.
In rough conditions echoes by nearby waves may be so strong that they cant be
eliminated by adjusting the gain without loosing more distance genuine targets.The
sea clutter control reduces the sensitivty of the receiver to echoes from objects of a
short range without affecting the strenght of more distant echoes.
Although it has a similar name the rain clutter control operates on a different
principle , it should however be used with similar care and in conjuction to the
adjustements to the gain.
Rain , hail and snow can produce effects on the radar screen similar to the echoes
from land , the rain clutter control reduces the echoes from a rain storm so they
dissapear.
On both sets its operated by a push button .
Before a radar set can be used it must be warmed up and correctly adjusted , the
Vigil RX carries out an automatic starting routine lasting less than 2 minutes as soon
as its turned on.
However just as a human operator would find it difficult to adjust the set with no
contacts at all on the screen or in an exceptionally crowded area so does the
automatic tuning system .
Vigil RX operators should be prepared to do manual adjustements if necessary
On the RD1-30 first turn the function switch at the bottom left hand side of the
display unit to stand by , the aerial will rotate and the magnetron begin to warmup ,
this takes about a minute and then the LED next to the function switch will light to
show that the radar is ready to transmit , than turn the function switch to on , a
picture of sorts will appear on the screen , turn the sea clutter control down fully
anty clock wise to prevent affecting the tunning process and select the medium
range (8 miles for exemple) , adjust the brilliance , adjust the gain so the
background speckle is just visible over the whole picture , choose a contact near the
edge of the screen and adjust the tuning until is as firm and bright as possible .

Our own vessel doesnt appear on the screen but is always at the exact center . The
line pointing straight upwards from the centre is called the heading marker and
indicates our course .

On both radars it can be temporaly removed from the screen by pressing the switch
called heading marker to reveal any targets that may be hidden by it.
The concentric rings provide any indication of range , the distance between the
rings depends on on the range scale used and on the RD1-30 is indicated by the
position of the range knob .
The vigil RX displays this information on the top right corner of the screen , the rings
could be switched on and off by using the switch called range rings or simply rings .
The picture may be clear but is not like looking to a chart , radar waves like light,
travel in straight lines so parts of the coast line does not appear , they are masked
by higher ground ;
rivers by exemple like bays often appear as gaps in the shoreline
The breakwater apperas to have a gap , this is caused by a large ship obscuring the
signal
The Earth curvature can conceal targets from radar , the radar horizzon is slightly
further away than the vissible horizzon but the effect is the same.
Formula for calculatting the radar horizon : Range
=1.22*radical(height/feet) or 2.22*radical(height/meeters)
Parts of the boat itself can also obscure the radar vision so its important to try to
mount the aerial above any solid part of the superstructure
Some objects may not appear on the screen cause they are invisible to radar .
4 factors influence the strenght of the returning signal: 1 size of the target
2 its aspect ; 3 its texture and 4 its material
The aspect or angle of wichh the radar wave strikes the target affects the direction
in which they bounce .
If the target is at the right angles of the radar beam the signal will be reflected
straight back if its at an angle some of the waves will be reflected away from the
receiving aerial and will be lost .
A ship broadside on will appear at a greater range than one one heading almost
straight towards you .
Radar waves striking a rough textured surface such as a cliff face will be scattered
in various directions , some will be lost but at least some will be returned regardless
of the aspect of the cliff .
A smooth surface such as the side of a ship will act as a perfect reflector so if its
aspect is good it will return a very strong echo but if its aspect is poor
most of the signal will be lost .
Some materials reflect radio waves better than others :wood and fibreglass are
poor reflectors and metal is a very good one , for this reason most small craft

nowadays carry radar reflectors to improve the chance of their appearing on the
radar.
False echoes :they only occur at short range and are easily recognizable
Side lobe reflection :its virtually imposibble to make the perfect aerial and while
most of the radar waves are transmitted in a narrow beam a few escape at odd
angles ,these are called side loads
Side lobe echoes can appear on any bearing but usually close to the genuine echo
and always at the same range
A string of equally spaced echoes on the same bearing can be due to multipath
reflection . It occurs when the radar wave already reflected back from the target
bounces off our own boat for a second trip and produces a second echo as a
result .Two ships at close quarters and in line abreast can sometimes see
eachothers as a whole string of echoes but for small crafts this is rarely a problem.
On the RD1-30 the function switch must be turned 1 step clockwise to the nav
position . Range mesuarements are made using the variable range marker
(VRM) , on the Vigil RX set the VRM is brought into operation by switching the
range rings off while on the RD1-30 theres a knob in the center of the panel on the
bellow the screen which should be turned into VRM position . On both sets VRM
appears as a circular trace on the screen , whos radius can be varied by the
operator using the VRM increase and decrease switches on the control panel
The range of a contact is determined by adjusting the VRM until it lies over
the innermost edge of the contact , the range is displayed on the top right-hand
corner of the Vigil RX radar and on a separate readout in a similar position on the
RD1-30 display unit.
Ideally range measurment should be taken with the set operating on the shortest
possible range because its more accurate
VRM ACCURACY : 2 MILES -----40 YARDS ; 16 MILES----320 YARDS
Bearings are taken using the electronic bearing line (the EBL or EBM)
On RD1-30 : only after the central knob has been turned to the position marked
EBL
The EBL is a line streching from the center of the screen to its edge wich
can be moved round the screen by pressing the switch marked EBL incrase
and decrease
When dealing with a small echo such as a buoy its obvious that the EBL should be
adjusted so that it cuts thourgh the center of the contact , the same principle
applyes to larger contacts such as land masses
A more accurate bearing is obtained by moving the EBL in land from the
apparent coastline by a distance equivalent to half the beam width

The bearing shown is not a compass bearing unless your boat is fitted with an
electronic navigation supervisor to feed information from an electronic compass to
the radar . The radar has no means of knowing the boats course so the bearing it
shows its relative
RELATIVE BEARING+OUR COURSE = COMPASS BEARING
The set itself has an inherent accuracy or plus or minus 1 degree
In bad weather it should not be relied on !(radar)
Every vessel shall keep a proper lookout by sight and hearing as well as by all
avaible means appropirate in the prevailing circumstances !
Every vesel shall use all available means appropirate to the prevailing
circumstances to determine if a risk of collision exists.
Proper use shall be made of radar equipment if fitted and operational
Assumptions shall not be made on the basis of scanty information , especially
scanty radar information.
GUARD ZONES : sounds an audible warning when a contact appears within
an area defined on the screen
RD1-30 GUARD ZONE : is a circular band 400 yards wide , it can be set at
any range using the VRM, any contact in the circle will triggle an alarm
buzzer and a warning light will glow to show the guard zone is operating
VIGIL RX GUARD ZONE : is more sophisticated and more complicated to
set up , it acts like RD1 in open seas but in confined waters it can be
reduced to cover a specificed arc
A sector guard zone is setup in the same way but instead of setting EBM
to 0 its used to define the 2 edges of the zone, so a guard zone can be
setup over any specified angle at any position around the boat
Usually when a bearing of a vessel is steady or nearly steady there is a risk of
collision
Aproaching on a steady bearing = risk of colission
The track facility is obtained on both sets by pressing the switch track , its
effect is to mimic the appereance of on older-style display on each moving contact
left a blowing trail behind it on the screen
Radar plotting involves keeping a record of the movement of contacts either on
paper plotting sheets or with a china graph pencil on the radar screen itself
intersection of 2 bearing = fix ( se incercuieste )
3 bearings= cocked hat (large cocked hat--->>fix is unreliable)

Accuracy of radar bearing is good enough for practical navigation and its
better to use radar range measurement intead
2-3 landmarks chosen must be visible on the screen and on the chart
( best to choose cliffs , light houses , lightships)
Wide beaches and mudflats should be avoided because you cant be sure if
the radar echo is really being reflected from the extreme edge of the land
The edge of a low shoreline may be bellow the radar horizon
The symbol for a position line devided from a radar range (VRM) is an
arrowhead on each end of the short arc drawn on the chart , and the fix is
shown by a circle around the position and marked with a time
Ideally every fix should be plotted using position lines but theres no need
for all of them to come from the same source
Visual bearings of 2 landmarks can be checked using radar range or 2
radar ranges with 1 visual bearing
If only a landmark can be seen a visual bearing can be made in
conjunction with a radar range
Many navigation marks are outfited with racon transponders , when radar
waves strike the transponder it replies by transmiting a coding signal on
the same frequency.Navigation marks equiped with racons are indicated
on Admirality charts by a magenta circle and the word racon and details
are given in the Admirality list of radio Signals and most nautical
almanacs

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