On Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:24:41 -0500, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

On Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:54:58 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:38:47 -0500, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

I was wondering about radar reflectivity a couple of days ago and
thought about this - I wonder if aluminized paint, non-fiber or fiber,
epoxy might be a way to paint a dignhy to make it visible to radar.

Or any small boat for that matter.

Might be worth testing out sometime. I can't find any relevant data
on the web about radar reflectivity of aluminum impregnated paints,
then again, I might not be using the right search terms.

The problem is that dinghys and other small boats are so close to the
water that they quickly get lost in sea clutter on radar. Even the
small reflectors and metalic flags that offshore lobstermen use on
their pickup sticks are a lot better than nothing. A decent radar
reflector 10 to 20 feet off the water makes a huge difference.
Liferaft canopies are supposed to have some sort of radar reflective
material, probably metalized mylar, but I'm not sure.

http://www.theradarreflectorsite.org/Articles/MiscellaneousReflectiveMaterials.pdf

Good point.

I wonder though if you couldn't put a reflector on a short pole - say
three feet or so and add a radar transponder?

Anything like that will help a lot, and a transponder will make you
look like a super tanker. However it's one more electronic gizmo to
keep working and no real easy way to test it.

Speaking of electronics, have you been on 20 meters lately? The
sunspots are coming back. We are open to the North East for 2 or 3
hours every day, California and the PNW later in the afternoon. I've
actually made a few contacts on 15 meters lately.