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On Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:27:23 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

If someone has unlimited electrical power, is he likely to keep his
Radar on all the time when he is far offshore? Offshore, far from
anything else with a functioning radar system, what would prevent
someone from detecting a sailboat before a collision. Assume clear
weather.

Sailboats are notoriously poor reflectors. Even with RADAR reflectors
mounted on the mast, they don't always give much of a return.

Far offshore and away from known routes, it's usual to put the RADAR
on the "Watch" setting, which cycles it between standby and transmit
modes. You can set it to wake up and take a look around every 10
minutes, 20 minutes, whatever you want. This is a pretty standard
feature on most RADARS that you find on recreational vessels.

RADAR doesn't use nearly as much power as you seem to think. I sure
don't have unlimited electrical power on my sailboat with a 9.9 hp
outboard alternator as my only battery charger. I still use my RADAR
a lot. I just don't leave it in transmit mode when I'm not looking at
it.