I've probably been aware of these Nav Aids for awhile but never
encounted them until this week in the Puget sound..

I noticed an unusual 'smear' behind the radar return from a channel bouy
(part of the Puget Sound Traffic Control system). At first I was going
to try and tune it out but recognized that this shadow or smear
resembled the old "Boy Scout" Morse Code representation of the letter
"N" "- ." (who says Morse Code is dead).

I'm assuming that this is 10+ yr old technology since my older Furuno
1721 radar wasn't able to detect this NavAid ID while me newer Furuno
1721 mkII does.

Since I was surprised to find a RACON NavAid ID response, I'm wondering
how wide spread it's useage is, or is it another good idea that was
never fully implimented due to USCG budget short falls (like SSID, etc).

I only did a quick look at one Puget Sound chart and " at a glance " I
only saw a half doz. bouys with RACON designation ID..

Since the radar MFGers have now incorporated this capability, I would
hope that more and more Nav Aids would be upgraded to RACON..

My opinion, FWIW.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions