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Wayne.B Wayne.B is offline
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First recorded activity by BoatBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 10,492
Default X-band and S-band Radar

On Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:23:34 -0600, Geoff Schultz
wrote:

In an attempt to discuss something related to cruising, can someone explain
the differences between X-band and S-band radar systems? From what I know,
S-band is used on large ships and X-band is used on vessels less than 300
tons.

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org


The key difference is that they operate in two completely different
frequency ranges, much like the difference between VHF and UHF
television. X-band is from is from 7 to 12.5 GHz, S-band is at a
lower frequency (longer wavelength) between 2 and 4 GHz.

Because of the shorter wavelength, X band radar can resolve between
smaller objects but usually has less range because of increased signal
attenuation. S band typically has greater range but requires much
larger antennas, too large for the average small to mid size pleasure
boat.