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False and Unwanted


Radar Responses
Sometimes echoes are displayed on the screen in
positions where no genuine targets exists.
1- Indirect echoes (reflected echoes)
These can occur when radar energy is deflected in
the direction of anobject by some obstructions in the path
of the radiated energy, either on board the ship or ashore.
The returning energy follows a reciprocal path and so
causes an echo to be displayed in the direction of the
obstruction
Where echoes are suspected of being false,
they should be assumed to be real until
proved false beyond all reasonable doubt.
False echoes from bridges
2Multiple echoes

ultiple echoes are likely when a target is close and


energy bounces back and forth between the hulls of
the target and the observing ship, with some of the
energy entering the antenna at each return (Figure
3.59). The features of this form of response are that
the echoes:

a) Lie along a single direction.

b) Are consistently spaced.


1- Side echoes:
Side echoes are again associated with targets that are at
close range and result from the radar beam being
surrounded by smaller beams or lobes.

Some of the echoes will appear to be separate but all will


be at the same range, i.e. as if all were lying on the same
range circle.

This phenomenon is generally associatedwith smaller


antennae and those which are dirty or damaged.
– Radar- to- radar interference
All civil marine radar systems are required to operate
within a fairly narrow slot of approximately 200 MHz
allocated in the X-band or S-band. When it is considered
that the receiver bandwidth of a marine radar system may
be as much as 20 MHz, and given the high power and
antenna height of a shipboard system, it is obvious that,
except in mid-ocean, there is a very high probability of
receiving interfering radiation from other vessels in the
vicinity which are operating radar equipment.
If the radiation received is within the limits of the receiver
bandwidth the signals will be amplified in the same way as
those reflected from targets and will produce a visible
response on the display.
5- Second trace echoes.
Under conditions of extra –refraction the radar energy
follows closely the surface of the Earth and travels to
greater distances than under standart conditions. This
means that echoes from distant targets can arrive back at
the receiver one trace late. (i.e. on the second trace) or even
later, be accepted by the receiver and so be displayed but
obviously at an incorrect range.
6- False echoes from power cables
It has for some time been recognised that electromagnetic
waves can react with the electromagnetic field surrounding
a cable carrying a current in such a way that a false echo
appears on the radar display. The false echo so produced
will appear in the direction of the perpendicular from the
vessel to the power cable and at the range of the cable
(Figure 3.67).
Unfortunately the actual power cable itself does not
produce a response and so it can be very difficult to
associate the observed echo with the cable and thereby
have some indication that the echo may be false. Where
- the cable is at right angles to the channel, the false echo
will appear in the channel so that, however the vessel
manoeuvres in the channel to avoid it, the false echo will
always move into the vessel's path.
Where the cable is angled across the waterway, the false
echo may initially appear among the shore echoes and so
go unnoticed, but as the vessel approaches the cable, the
false echo will appear on the water as if from a vessel on a
converging course.
Consider the situations illustrated in Figures 3.67(b) and
3.67(c). As the vessel approaches the cable, a 'vessel' would
appear to put out from the starboard bank and proceed on
a collision course. Any attempt by the observing vessel to
pass under the 'stern' of the false echo would cause the
false echo to return toward the bank, i.e. again into the
vessel's path. If the observing vessel stopped, the 'target'
would also appear to stop.
In Figure 3.67(c), the false echo would put out from the
port bank, again on a collision course. Here the logical
manoeuvre would be for the observing vessel to move
farther over to the starboard side of the channel. The false
echo would continue to crowd the observing vessel into the
starboard bank. The result of stopping or a port
manoeuvre would be as described above.
On some waterways, power cables have had radar
reflectors fitted to them in order that their line will appear
on the radar display. The unusual behaviour of echoes in
the vicinity of the cable may thus be associated with the
cable and should be treated with due caution.

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