Description

The course covers all aspects of practical radar usage that would be needed to get underway using your radar. It covers the topics of the text book Radar For Mariners and fills in the details on radar functions and operations while honing your skills with more emphasis on evaluating risk of collision and subsequent maneuvers that might be called for.

Estimated to be about 20 hours of your time, depending on how much optional material you choose to cover. You work at your own pace, and at your own schedule.

Nothing beats radar for guiding your boat through the darkest night or the thickest fog. Radar enables you to plot a fix from just a single buoy or landmark, and it is the only navigation tool that tells you not just where you are, but who else and What else is out there with you. Today's smaller, affordable, more powerful radars make more sense than ever for sailors and powerboaters.

The Starpath Radar Trainer program was designed for those who are brand new to radar, but it is so realistic and so versatile that it is also used by navies, coast guards, merchant marine, and navigation schools around the world. The first version of this program was the first PC software ever approved by the USCG for use in certified radar endorsement schools.

Just a few hours practice with the Radar Trainer will make a world of difference to the anxiety level experienced when you first encounter a radar target bearing down on you in the fog. Practice with radar navigation using its realistic simulated land images to learn how to negotiate tricky entrances to harbors in the fog.

This is an all new version of a program that has been in use around the world since 1990. It teaches all aspects of radar use including radar navigation and piloting using realistic land simulations with thorough in-line tutorials along with all the features of ver 2 to master collision avoidance using built-in traffic patterns and chart scenarios in very convenient and versatile radar simulators.

Radar Course Topics include:

• Basics of radar operation and controls
• Corroborate a GPS position using the radar
• Pinpoint your position on a chart from radar alone
• Use of radar as a general tool for seeing where you are
• Use radar for a piloting aid to hold a desired course or maneuver
• Evaluate the risk of collision with an approaching vessel
• Radar performance and specifications
• Radiation safety near radar antennas
• Practical use of AC-Rain (FTC) and AC-Sea (STC)
• Identifying radar interference
• Figure true course and speed of a target vessel from its radar trail
• Value and uses of compass and GPS input into a radar unit
• Pros and cons of Head-up, Course-up and North-up displays
• Understand how the Nav Rules apply to radar usage
• Radar maneuvering in the presence of traffic