IMPORTANT CHARECTERISTICS OF A RADAR

1) VERTICAL BEAMWIDTH (VBW):

IT IS THE VERTICAL ANGLE AT THE SCANNER CONTAINED BETWEEN

THE UPPER &THE LOWER EDGES OF THE RADAR SETS BEAM.AS PER THE IMO
STANDARDS THE RADAR SET SHOULD FUNCTION IF THE VESSEL IS ROLLING OR
PITCHING (+/-) 10 DEG WITHOUT DETERIOATION.
MARINE SETS HAVE A VBW OF 15-30 DEG.
2) HORIZONTAL BEAM WIDTH (HBW):
IT IS THE HORIZONTAL ANGLE AT THE SCANNER CONTAINED BETWEEN THE LEADING
& THE TRAILING EDGE OF THE RADAR BEAM .IT CAUSES ALL THE TARGETS TO
APPEAR LARGER IN AZIMUTH BY AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO HALF THE HBW.
3) PULSE LENGTH:
DUE TO THE PULSE LENGTH THE POINT OF THE PPI APPEARS TO HAVE A RADIAL
DEPTH OF HALF PL IN METERS.IT IS THE TIME INTERVAL BETWEEN THE TIME TAKEN
BY THE PULSE TO LEAVE THE LEADING AND THE TRAILING EGDES.
4) PULSE REPITION FREQUENCY/ (PRF):
IT IS THE NUMBER OF PULSES SET OUT THROUGH THE SCANNER IN ONE SECOND. IT
IS BETWEEN 500-4000.LONGER RANGES HAVE LOW PRF.SHORTER RANGES NEEDED
HIGH PRF FOR BETTER PICTURE RESOLUTION.
5) WAVELENGTH:
AFTER RADAR ENERGY LEFT THE SCANNER & THE PATH ENERGY TRAVEL ARE
INFLUENCED BY: 1) ATTENUATION, 2) DIFFRACTION.

X BAND: 3CM WAVELENGTH. (9300-9500 MEGS)

S BAND: 10 CMS WAVELENGTH. (2900-3100 MEGS)
3CM: GREATER ATTENUATION, LESS DIFFERENCE, GOOD FOR SHORT RANGES.
10 CM: LESS ATTENUATION, MORE DIFFERENCE, GOOD FOR LONGER RANGES.

LIMITATIONS OF RADAR SET.

1) RANGE DISCRIMINATION:
IT IS THE ABILITY OF THE RADAR SET TO CLEARLY DISTINGUISH TWO SMALL TARGETS
ON THE SAME BEARING AT SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT RANGES.
THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE TWO TARGETS IS EQUAL TO OR LESS THAN 1/2 PL.
2) BEARING DISCRIMINATION: IT IS THE ABILITY OF THE RADAR SET TO CLEARLY
DISTINGUISH TWO TARGETS OF THE SAME RANGE AND SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT
BEARINGS.
FACTOR: HBW.
3) MINIMUM RANGE:
A) THE PULSE LENGTH: THE TR CIRCUIT PREVENTS THE TX OF ANY SIGNAL BEFORE
RECEIVING IT.HENCE; THE THEOROTICAL MINIMUM RANGE OF DETECTION IS
REPEATED BY HALF PL IN MINUTES.
A PL OF 0.2 MICRO WOULD HAVE A RANGE OF 30 MTRS.
B) DEIONISATION DELAY: A SMALL DELAY OCCURS IN THE TR CELL BETWEEN THE
COMPLETIONS OF TX & RECEIVING. A DELAY OF 0.5 MICROSECS.WOULD INCREASES
THE MINIMUM RANGE A FURTHER BY 7.5 MTRS.
C) THE VBW +THE HEIGHT OF THE SCANNER.
4) MAXIMUM RANGE:
A) HEIGTH OF THE SCANNER: - INCREASES THE SCANNER, THE INCREASE OF RANGE.
B) POWER OF THE SET: - MARINE RADAR SET TRANSMITS AROUUND 25 TO 60 KWTS.
C) WAVELENGTH: 10 CMS HAVE EXTENDED RANGE AS COMPARED TO 3 CMS.
D) PULSE REPETION FREQUENCY:
E) PULSE LENGTH: LONG PULSES ENSURES BETTER MAXIMUM RANGES THAN SHORTER
PULSES CAUSE, LONG PULSES HAVE MORE WAVELENGTH IN THEM.
F) VBW/HBW: THE NARROWER THE BEAM WIDTH THE GREATER THE DIRECTIONAL
CONCENTRATION, INCREASES THE RANGE.
6) ANOMALOUS PROPOGATION: SUPER REFRACTION CAUSES AN INCREASE IN MAXIMUM
DETECTION RANGE. THIS IS CAUSED DUE TO METEOROLOGICAL FACTORS LIKE
TEMPERATURE INVERSION.
RANGE ACCURACY: ACCORDING TO IMO PERFORMANCE STANDARDS THE ERROR IN
THE RANGE OF AN OBJECT SHOULD NOT BE MORE THAN 1.5% OF THE MAXIMUM
RANGE SCALE IN USE OR 70 MTS WHICHEVER IS THE GREATER.
BEARING ACCURACY: ACCORDING TO THE IMO PERFORMANCE STANDARDS THE
OBJECT SHOULD BE MEASURED WITH (+/_) 1 DEGREE OF ACCURACY.

THE FOLLOWING ARE THE MERITS/DEMERITS OF USING HEADS UP MODE / NORTH UP MODE:

HEADS UP DISPLAY:
1) PICTURE SMUDGES IN AZIMUTH DURING ALTERATION OF COURSE.
2) BECAUSE OF SMUDGING ACCURATE BEARINGS CANNOT BE TAKEN AT THAT TIME.
3) PLOTTING TENDS TO BE HIGHLY INACCURATE DURING SEVERE YAWS.
4) ALL BEARINGS ARE RELATIVE.
5) RADAR PICTURE IS HEAD UP WHILE CHART IS NORTH UP.
6) AFTER LARGE ALTERATIONS OF COURSE THE OBSERVER TENDS TO GET DIS- ORIENTED
WITH PLOTTING AS ALL TARGETS HAVE SHIFTED.
7) NO INDICATION ON THE SCREEN OF GYRO COURSE STEERED.TEMPORARY WANDERINGS
MAY GO UNDETECTED.
NORTH UP DISPLAY:
1) PICTURE DOESNT SMUDGE IN AZIMUTH AND BEARINGS CAN BE TAKEN ACCURATELY.
2) PLOTTING IS QUITE ACCURATE EVEN DURING HEAVY YAWS.
3) ALL BEARINGS ARE TRUE.
4) CHART AND PPI. BEING NORTH UP IT IS EASIER TO RELATE.
5) THERE IS NO DISORIENTATION DUE TO ATERATION OF COURSE.
6) HEADING MARKER INDICATES THE GYRO COURSE STEERED AT ALL TIMES.
DRAWING FORWARD: IT IS THE VESSELS RELATIVE POSITION APPROACHING THE
SHIPS HEAD. IT CAN ALSO DRAW AFT.
EG: IF THE RELATIVE BEARING OF THE TARGET CHANGES FROM 090 TO 085 THE
TARGET IS SAID TO BEAR FORWARD.
ASPECT: THE ASPECT OF THE VESSEL IS THE ANGLE BETWEEN THE VESSELS TRUE
COURSE AND THAT OF THE REVERSE BEARING TO THAT VESSEL. ASPECT IS
EXPRESSED IN RED OR GREEN FROM 0180 DEG.
EG: ASPECT RED 90 MEANS THAT WE ARE ON THE VESSELS PORT BEAM.