I had purchased an ACR brand SART, with the thought if there is an
emergency it can broadcast my position on radar. I did this not
realizing how close DSC is to being fully activated, and thinking SART
was an improvement over EPIRB for coastal use.

After receving the unit I made the recommended test. After testing (10
seconds at a time) with my Raymarine E-Series, I cannot see anything,
even thought my SART was beeping indicating it was responding to a
radar. I noticed, even with my radar off, it was responding to other
radars.

When I inquired with ACR, the technician wrote that I probably didn't
see it, because it was responding to some other radar. They will gladly
take a look at it, to confirm there are no problems.

BUT ... my question to the group is this : If I am in distress and go
use this thing, and lets say I am in range of 10 radars, will my
distress only show up on one of them ??? If that's the case, I am not
sure this is all that useful in coastal areas.

Dan
Huntington, NY

In article .com,
"b393capt" wrote:

I had purchased an ACR brand SART, with the thought if there is an
emergency it can broadcast my position on radar. I did this not
realizing how close DSC is to being fully activated, and thinking SART
was an improvement over EPIRB for coastal use.

After receving the unit I made the recommended test. After testing (10
seconds at a time) with my Raymarine E-Series, I cannot see anything,
even thought my SART was beeping indicating it was responding to a
radar. I noticed, even with my radar off, it was responding to other
radars.

When I inquired with ACR, the technician wrote that I probably didn't
see it, because it was responding to some other radar. They will gladly
take a look at it, to confirm there are no problems.

BUT ... my question to the group is this : If I am in distress and go
use this thing, and lets say I am in range of 10 radars, will my
distress only show up on one of them ??? If that's the case, I am not
sure this is all that useful in coastal areas.

Dan
Huntington, NY


The design of the SART is such that the transponder will trigger on
the Largest Signal Received. This means it will be responding to the
Biggest Signal in the neighborhood. There is one caveate on this,
the SART will not display properly IF that SART Signal is closer than
the sources Minimum Detectable Range. The SART Signal will show up on
only those RADARS that have their antenna "Pointed" in the direction of
the SART Signal at the time it is Transmitting its PulseTrain, which
is triggered by the Received Radar Signal and some Slight Fixed Delay.
SARTs are designed for Homing purposes and when used in a SAR situation,
typically USCG Aircraft ask other vessels to not radiate in the Search
Area during SART Homing, just for this reason.

Bruce in alaska
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