And finally - would you know the answers to the following:

You are in thick fog. There is another vessel in your vicinity that you can only see on your radar screen. Who has right of way now, (according to the Coll-Regs?).

Could the radar picture (on the right) be optimised?
On the radar course you can try it yourself.

How would you know if the blob on the screen is a buoy or a ship?

Can you make your yacht more visible for other vessels?

How do you calculate CPA, TCPA and speed of another vessel?
Can MARPA do this automatically?

Which controls must be treated with extreme caution?

Which IRPCS rules are radar-relevant?

All these subjects – and many more, are dealt with during the course.

Munich Germany:

- 17. April 2010
- 18. April 2010
- 12. Juli 2010

Liechtenstein:

- 28. March 2010

Winterthur, Switzerland:

- 20. June 2010


Lucerne area, Switzerland:

- 19. June 2010


Lustenau, Austria

- 30. April 2010

COURSE DATES

Further dates on request. Courses can also be held in your vicinity, e.g. at sailing club. Please contact the training centre for course price, application form, etc.

General
Radar is mainly used for collision-avoidance and thus contributes towards safety at sea. However, it only brings benefits to skippers who are familiar with the principles, functions and its limitations.

Our Instructor has combined his 5 years at sea, together with 25 years in the radar industry, to present a realistic and easily understood radar course.

This one-day course serves as an introduction to radar. Modern equipment such as video-beamer and laptops are used throughout the course.

A video-beamer and laptop is used to present the following subjects of the theoretical part of the course:

• Basic principles: Principles of function; typical terms; wave propagation
• Components of a radar set: Main components and their functions; practical safety
• Resolution: Features that influence the picture (e.g. horizontal beamwidth, pulse-length, pixel)
• Targets: Target-characteristics; reflectors; RACONs; RTE (Radar Target Enhancer).
• Switch-on and picture-interpretation: The main controls; optimising the picture; additional controls.
• Navigation: Various methods of plotting your position using radar, e.g. bearing, range, etc.
• Collision Avoidance: calculating CPA, TCPA, course and speed of a target; MARPA; the Radar-relevant IRPCS rules.

During the practical part of the course, all students will be given the use of a laptop, to enable the practice of various scenarios on a professional radar simulation programme. This includes working with proper charts and plotting-sheets. The following subjects are practiced during the course:

• Switching on and picture-interpretation: The main controls; optimising the picture; other useful controls.
• Navigation: Various methods of position plotting, e.g. bearing, range, etc.
• Collision avoidance: Calculating the CPA, TCPA, course and speed of a vessel; MARPA; practical use of the Coll-Regs (IRPCS)
• Practise with the Raymarine Simulation program: All the modern Radar-functions, e.g. Cursor; Auto Gain/Tuning; Wake; MARPA; Guard Zone; Evaluating Data Boxes; etc.

Additionally, an original Raymarine E120 Multifunktion-Display Unit is used to demonstrate how a modern display unit performs with various features, e.g. Radar, Plotter, AIS, GPS, Echo-sounder, Radar-Overlay, etc. All participants get the opportunity to "practice" with this unit.