Radar Reflective Paint - Pigment

[SuW]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

MMMMmmmm.

Actually, for the Tanzer at 1 mi., I bet your radar was picking up the corner where the spreader and mast join.

I have had some wooden fishing boats that did not return a "target" to the radar. And most grp boats are invisible to ours until under 2 miles distant. Their AIS signals reach us from a lot further off, and the bearing gives one a good idea where to look for them on the radar. IMO, the deal is to use all one's tools; and, even more so when one does not carry hull insurance.
...

Yes, likely. The other boat was on a reciprocal bearing. We could clearly see him by eye. The water state was small waves ~1m.

Although the radar display has rings nominally at 2nm at that range, I have no idea if my splicing affects any calibration. (I added a couple of Chinese "military" disconnects and about 10m cable to properly install the radar display and allow the mast to be taken down.)

Distances to fixed points (range markers and islands) seems to be right; we were just amazed that the thing worked at all after having been unused for over 15 years.

I agree about AIS. I'd say it's more useful on the St. Lawrence River which is quite winding - a freighter may be about to exit a lock or around the next bend...not to mention the many 1000 Islands tour boats.

[C420sailor]

Fair point about commercial ship radars. I assumed they would be pretty good. Guess not. My Garmin Fantom 24 picks up mooring balls in smooth water, and my other radar experience is with the APG-79...and that thing can see god himself.

[nepal]

Radar(reflector),AIS and watchkeeping are different things. You'll need those 3 things to avoid a collision. In exceptional cases it will not be enough.

There are already since the 80's a lot of studies mentioning that classical radarreflectors are no guarantee that a fiberglass / wooden boat will be seen on a S or X radar.

The Echomax Active XS Radar Target Enhancer/Reflector does the job but is not cheap.
https://www.echomax.co.uk/active-xs

A good source is this official report.
https://www.gov.uk/maib-reports/sink...oss-of-3-lives