DE GUZMAN GRANT KYLE F.

JANUARY 25, 2023

BSMT-3 RADAR/ARPA
ASSIGNMENT NO.3

QUESTION
Determine the different RADAR controls and its functions?

ANSWER
Brilliance

The brilliance control on an analogue radar (old style) controls the brightness of
the rotating trace and will also affects the brightness of the displayed echo so it needs
to be adjusted so that the trace itself is just visible, to give a good contrast between echo
and background.

Focus

ability of the antenna is often described using an antenna lobe diagram, which
plots the directional gain of an antenna over the azimuth (side to side) and elevation (up
and down). The range of the radar system is also influenced by the choice of frequency.

Gain

Gain affects the receiver and not the display as the brilliance does. Turning up
the gain increases the amplification of the incoming signal, making weak echoes look
stronger, but confusing the display with background speckle or noise, similar to the
background crackling of an ordinary radio. Turning down the gain will reduce the
sensitivity of the receiver and reduce the noise, but care must be taken not to overdo as
weak or distant echoes can be lost.
Tuning

The Tune control is used to tune the receiver in the Radar antenna for maximum
target returns on the display. The Radar comes from the factory already tuned so this
operation is not necessary at first installation. In general Radar tuning may be necessary
if the Radar antenna was serviced.

Anti sea clutter

The radar beam will bounce echoes off the sea around the ship, particularly if the
weather is a little rough. This result will be a bright sunburst pattern in the middle of
the screen which will be more pronounced in the upwind direction. You could reduce
this by turning down the gain, the down side to that solution however, is that the echoes
of more distant targets will be lost as well.

The solution is the sea clutter control. It works by reducing the receiver gain for a few
microseconds after each pulse is transmitted, then gradually restores it to its former
level. It works very well, but its use requires care. Too much sea clutter control will
result in the loss of close range targets. At sea the sea clutter control must be continually
monitored and adjusted.

Anti rain clutter

The rain clutter control will reduce the interference on the screen due to the rain
and increase the chance of seeing targets within rain showers. The effect on returning
echoes from rain on the screen is usually no more than a transparent smear, looking a
little like cotton wool, but it can be dense enough to conceal other echoes within the
shower. In a tropical downpour however, the rain can completely block out all echoes,
at times requiring the operator to stop the vessel.

The rain clutter control works by making use of the fact that the returning echo from
rain is different from the returning echo of a solid object. The returning echo from rain
is much longer and very much less dense than the echo from a solid object. The rain
clutter circuitry works by passing on to the receiver only the leading edge of a returning
echo. This does not affect the returning echo from a solid object like a ship, but drawn
out, weak returning echoes from the rain however, will be weakened considerably.
Heading marker

heading marker changes its direction according to the ship's heading. If the TRUE
motion is used, own ship and other moving targets move according to their course and
speed. Fixed targets such as landmasses appear as stationary echoes.