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81238_1.book Page 59 Thursday, September 16, 2004 2:49 PM
Using the radar
59
Rain mode
Your radar can see echoes from rain or snow. These returns from storm areas and
rain squalls consist of countless small echoes that continually change size,
intensity and position.
You should use the rain function to reduce large clutter masses from these returns
around your boat.
Sea mode
The sea clutter control reduces the gain level in the area near your boat, extending
for 3 to 5 nm depending on the wave and sea conditions. This reduces sea echoes
to intermittent small dots, while small targets remain visible. Gain levels further
away from your boat are unchanged.
The sea clutter control can be set to Auto-Harbor (default), Auto-Offshore, or
manual mode. In Auto-Off-shore mode, the radar optimizes its settings to account
for the effects of sea clutter. In harbors and close proximity to land, different auto
settings may be necessary to account for land clutter. To avoid losing small
targets, set the sea clutter control to Auto-Harbor mode. If you set the sea clutter
control to manual mode, be sure you adjust the settings to ensure that all close
small targets are visible.
Gain mode
The gain control adjusts the level of the display of signals received from the
scanner and is the equivalent to the volume control on a radio. The gain control
can be set in either Auto or Manual mode.
In Auto mode, the radar self optimizes its settings. In harbors or close proximity to
land, different auto settings may be necessary to compensate for the effects of
land clutter.
In Manual mode, you must adjust the settings to ensure that all close small
targets are visible, and you should check it every time you change the range scale.
On long range settings, the gain should be set to give a slight speckle in the
background of the radar picture. On shorter ranges, you may want to reduce the
gain slightly to reduce the speckle and improve target definition. Do not set the
gain too low, or you may miss small or weak targets. The gain mode and its
associated settings are retained each time you turn the radar off.
Tune
You can use the tune control to fine-tune the receiver in the radar's scanner to
yield maximum target returns on the display.
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