"Bruce in Alaska" wrote in message news:

OTN, the Horozontal Beamwidth of your Commercial Maritime Radar is
significantly smaller than that of the units found on most Pleasure
type vessels. That makes a HUGH difference in the Target Discrimination
Ability between the two radars. Apples and Oranges, here.......


Bruced in alaska


This I understand. However, and here I need to be careful to note that my
comments are not technical, rather, practical experience based, dating back
to Decca 101's and KH 17's , on multiple size/type vessels ...... I've
rarely experienced a serious problem with close aboard, lost targets that
would negatively impact the navigational procedure I was using, including
docking.
Admittedly, some units were better than others, either due to the basic unit
and/or it's condition and you needed to adjust some procedures, but, my
point is that you don't want to consider a radar's use "drop dead useless"
below a certain range, based on pure technical data, without first checking
your particular unit under real conditions to see if they apply or are
indeed a problem.

MOFWIW

otn