Getting started with RADAR

[cpedw]

Our new boat (had it 2 seasons now) came with a RADAR installed (old Furuno but I can't remember the model). I've tried switching it on and twiddling the knobs a couple of times when there was spare power and nothing much happening. It seems to work alright but I don't have the impression that I could reliably interpret green spots on the screen into RIBs, ferries or coastline if I couldn't also see the objects themselves.
I've tried looking at the manual but it's not an easy read.
Can anyone recommend a book/website/alternative source of a Dummy's guide to RADAR?
Thanks.

Derek

 

[Prospero]

I am in the process of fitting RADAR and like you found the manual fairly incomprehensible. Last Sunday I did the RYA Radar course, cost £80, and as far as I am concerned money very well spent. I now understand what I am trying to do and what the manual is trying to say. I look forward to connecting it all up and playing with it in simulator mode to acustom myself to the multi keys so that it becomes instinctive, I hope! I don't however know of a child's guide. I am now suggesting that my family, before they borrow the boat, not only do the DSC course but also Radar.

 

[boatmike]

A very good first book on the subject is "A small Boat Guide to Radar" by Tim Bartlett. Furnhurst Books, 33 Green Parade, Brighton. Paperback. Probably cost about £10.
The best advice for any radar novice is to not rely heavily on it until you have practiced with it in good vis. ARPA is a superb thing too if you have it, but relies on a good compass to be accurate. In my opinion that means something a little better than most people have. So for heavens sake don't be lulled into a false sense of security with ARPA until you have tested it. There is nothing worse than a message which effectively says you are not on a collision course when you are!

 

[Robin]

I would agree with that choice of book although I hope they have reprinted/updated it since I bought mine some 16 years or so back!

PBO have run quite a few articles in the last 12 months too that are worth reading if people still have copies.

The best thing in my book is to get out and play with the radar in good visibility, a good time for a sailboat would be on a windless otherwise boring day motoring. Get to know what targets look like and more importantly how the picture evolves as these targets and your own vessel move because it is the video picture not the still picture that is important. Like you I too am doubtful about the use of small boat radar MARPA features because it requires accurate heading data from the compass and unless this is very responsive and accurate like a gyro there could be dangerous errors in it's prediction of CPAs.

 

[Oldhand]

Download and digest the complete manual from the below web site and you should be much more knowledgeable about using radar than anyone who attends a one day course. I recommend this as an excellent read for any users of radar. Enjoy!

http://pollux.nss.nima.mil/pubs/pubs_j_show_sections.html?dpath=RNM&ptid=10&rid=244

 

[homa]

Hi Derek,
As a seafarer who uses a Radar daily I would say get yourself on a Radar course of some sort so that you know what the picture should look like. Think of the set as a TV and you are in a foreign country, you have to switch it on, tune it in to the relevant channel (range) and then understand what you are looking at. Not too easy if you have never seen the program before and its in a foreign language. (sorry for the poor analogy).
Once you understand how to switch it on and tune it in and know what all the different knobs do, then you need to practice with it in daylight and good visibility so that you have confidence and know what you are looking at when the visibility drops.
We use radar 100% of the time every day in good vis as well as poor. We use it for tracking other ships/yachts etc plus we use it to monitor our track over the ground. By using it all the time every day we are confident that we can interpret what we see on the screen when the visibility drops.
Only worry then (and this is genuine !) is, are there any wafi's out there without their radar reflector or that have one that is not fitted properly !!
Homa