"Bobsprit" wrote in message

Is the scanner one of those types with a
narrow vertical propagation?

Honestly, I know very little about Radar, but I'm learning. Yesterday I
spent a
bit of time with it (and the manual) while Suzanne sailed.

There are two types, so far as I'm aware. The one with a narrow vertical
propagation pattern is suited to motorboats becuase they don't heel. If that
type was used on a sailboat, the output would be firing into the surface of
the water on one side, and into the sky on the other. So, there's a type
with a wider vertical propagation pattern which helps to ensure that land
and other craft are still within the scanning area of a heeling sailboat.

The type with the narrow propagation has, I believe, better range for a
given power because the pattern has inherently less dissipation.



--
Wally
I demand rigidly-defined areas of uncertainty!
www.art-gallery.myby.co.uk