Cte ee ate) THE RYA’S COMPLETE GUIDEThe RYA Radar Course This book accompanies the RYA one day Radar Course and is also an essential quick and easy reference book for all boaters who use radar. Aim: To teach Siderits to use small boat radar to assist decision making in collision avoidance, pilotage and navigation. Assumed knowledge before the course: Some knowledge of navigation and collision regulations (to a level comparable with Day Skipper shore-based). Certificate issued: RYA Radar Certificate. eet us n The cause and cure for ‘The practical limitations of small The main components of a radar interference. craft radar set The purpose of echo stretch. Assessing the risk of collision with How a radar set measures The dangers associated with clutter another vessel distance. clearance tools. Assessing the closest point of How a radar set measures bearing. * The difference between Head Up, approach of another vessel, and The limitations imposed by the Course Up, and North Up modes. determining whether it will pass ower, antenna size and display ‘Adjust the sea clutter and rain ahead or astern. size ofa typical small oraft radar. clutter controls to sult prevailing Assessing the course and speed of Switch on a typical small craft conditions. ‘another vessel radar set; adjust its briliance, Identity whether a radar isin Head Contrast, gan, range, and tuning. Up or North Up mode. ‘The pringiples of a three point fix. Selecting landmarks for a three How antenna size and frequency How radar cross section is Doint fo affect beam width. measured, How to fake-and plat a position tx How puise length and PRF are Types of passive reflector in using the EBL. varied with range. ‘common use (octahedral, stacked _* Limitations of the EBL for position The factors that determine the array, Jens), strength of echo returned by a ‘Types of active reflector in common i e33el'3 position on a taroet use (RTE, Racon, SART). u The effect of beam width on The limitations of passive radar discrimination, reflectors. The effect of pulse length on discrimination. s The effect of blind arcs, shadows __* The principles of relative mation. sectors, and radar horizon. The existence of automatic radar plotting aids, The implications of IRPCS Rule The cause and cure for sea clutter. Numbers 5, 6, 7, and 19 (look out, The cause and cure for rain clutter. safe speed, risk of colision, — Testricted visibility)Written in consultation with Tim Bartlett FRIN Edited by: Jon Mendez Robert Avis VA Published by The Royal Yecting Assozation VA Howse Ensgn Way Hambe Southampton $031 4YA Te: 0845 345.0400 Fax 0345 345 0329 Emi: info@ryaorg.k Web: [Link] Design by Avalon Designs rt Pri in Chia trough Wot Pit Biigh Cataloguing in Pubicaton Dat: ‘ACatalogue record ct ths book is avaiable fom the Bish Lwary 1S6H.9781905104109 22005 ‘Aight resorvod. No part ofthis publcatien may be transmit slred in a retrieval system, or transmits, any lorm oF by ary means, ‘electronic, mecanical, photocopying, recording o otvenwise, without the Dr permission of the publish Note: Whie ll easoaahie cae nas been tken in he preparation ct nis > ook the publisher takes no resporsbit forthe use ofthe methods or products or contracts described inthe book,CONTENTS Background briefing Limitations of small craft radar Switching on and setting up The radar picture Refining the picture Understanding the picture Discrimination, pulse length, and PRF Blind areas Radar reflectors Fixing position by radar Pilotage by radar Collision avoidance GlossaryBACKGROUND BRIEFING Marine radar is an electronic device which measures the bearing and distance of solid objects and presents this information in the form of a plan view, showing the location of objects such as land, navigation marks, and other vessels. It works by transmitting short bursts of super high frequency radio energy (called microwaves) and receiving the echoes that are returned when these pulses of energy are reflected back from solid objects. How radar measures distance Radio waves travel at an almost constant speed, so the time between a pulse being transmitted and its echo being received gives an indication of distance. Radio waves travel at approximately 162,000 nautical miles per second, or 300 matres per microsecond. If @ pulse is received 100 milliseconds after it was transmitted, it must have travelled 30,000 metres (30 kilometres). This is the distance from the radar to the object and back, so the object must be 15 kilometres (about 8 nautical miles) away. How radar measures direction Radar uses a continuously rotating aerial - often called a scanner - to measure the direction from which returning echoes are received. The same aerial is used to transmit the microwave pulses, focussing them into a fairly narrow beam; rather as the reflector and lens of a lighthouse focus the light of its lamp The antenna rotates, usually at about 20(pm, to sweep the beam of microwave pulses around the horizon, In principle, echoes will only be received from an object when the antenna is pointing at it - so if the radar knows which direction its scanner is pointing, it knows the direction of the object. Terminology Pulse refers to the short burst of microwave energy transmitted by the radar. Echo refers to the short burst of microwave energy returned to the radar from a target Target refers to an object which returns an echo, Contact refers to the representation of a target on a radar screen - the blob, Millisecond ‘one thousandth of a second. Microsecond ‘one millionth of a second,The parts of a radar set ‘Al marine radars have five main parts, usually spit between two main units: the scanner unit and the display, which are linked by a thick, multi-core cable. Which unit contains which parts varies between different makes and models: in older radars, especially, it is usual to find parts of the receiver in the scanner, and other parts in the display unit. * Neither of the two units contains any user-serviceable parts or controls, and both may use potentially lethal voltages which may persist even after the radar has been switched off, + Do NOT remove any part of the casing unless specifically told to do so by the manufacturer's instruction manual. 1. The main part of the transmitter is a special electronic valve called a magnetron, which produces short pulses of microwaves. In a typical ‘small craft radar, each pulse lasts less than a microsecond, and they are repeated several hundred times a second. 2. The TR Cell (transmit receive cell) acts as a one- way valve: it allows pulses to travel from the transmitter to the antenna or from the antenna to the receiver, but does not aliow the powerful pulses from the transmitter to reach the sensitive receiver. 3. The antenna focuses the microwaves into a fairly tight beam, It also catches the returning echoes, and passes them to the receiver. 4, The receiver receives the very weak echoes received, and amplifies them. Echoes from nearby objects are generally stronger than those from distant ones, so it ampiifies the late-returning echoes more than those that arrive soon after the puise was transmitted 5. The display converts the range and bearing data trom the scanner and receiver into a form that a human operator can understand — usually a plan view that is sometimes called a Plan Position Indicator or PPI 6. The trigger signal tells the display when each pulse is transmitted, so thet it can be compared with the amplified echoes arriving from the receiver. 7. The heading mark signal and rotation signal tell the display which way the antenna is pointing. Frequency All small craft radars transmit and receive at a frequency of about 9.4 Gigahertz (9400 milion waves per second, or about 60 times higher than marine VHF radio), with a wavelength of Just over 3 centimetres. For this reason, you may hear small craft radars described as 3- centimetre or X-band, to distinguish them from the 10-centimetre or S-band racers sometimes used by large ships. The most important differences between small craft radars and those used by large ships is their size and power.