Radar course

[emnick]

Following on from a previous thread re radar, has anybody done the RYA radar course, is it worth it? or can you get all the info you need from the manuals. Just fitting a radar and want to get the best from it. Thanks

 

[[2574]]

I did a radar course with (the late) Robert Avis and it was worth every penny. I would highly recommend that you do the course - you'll find that Radar is a much more useful tool if you know the key techniques in using it. It's hard to learn from a book.

rob

 

[rusailing]

The RYA radar course is very well worth doing, especially given the money and time comitmment involved (one day, £80/90?). As with anything, go with a recommendation. Since the syllabus is governed, it's then all about the instructor you get. The RYA strive to make sure there is a minimum (high) standard for all its instructors but some are more enthusiastic than others....

And I don't teach it before anyone has a gripe!

Good luck

 

[Bejasus]

sent swmbo on one a couple of months ago and she enjoyed it. Now she has a qualification I don't. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[jstr]

Well worth it - I tried to learn from a book and nothing made sense until I went on the course. (This was before I had fitted one you understand) Enjoyed the course immensely and it was worth the effort as a few interesting experiences on night channel crossings last year can testify.

 

[Koeketiene]

The course is worth it - however, as with all one day courses, a lot/everything depends on the instructor on the day.

 

[davies]

Good value - we had an instructor who managed to cater to all levels of knowledge and experience in the group.

 

[KenMcCulloch]

Yes definitely do a course. After that take every opportunity to practise using your set in daylight and good vis so that you can develop an understanding of the relationship between what you see on the screen and what you can see in the visual frame.

Possibly the most salutary lesson in radar I ever had was seeing a large freighter emerging from a rain squall a couple of miles away. It had been quite invisible in the squall on the radar screen. Radar is not magic.