• Radars have been playing a vital role in

ship navigation for several decades now,

assisting in collision avoidance and early
detection of obstacles.
• The history of marine radars goes a long way
back to the time of World War II, when radars
were introduced and effectively used by war
ships for tracking and detection.

• Radar technology has improved immensely from

post-WWII period to the present and the
application of computer technology to
commercial marine radar sets resulted in the
introduction of Automatic Radar Plotting Aids
(ARPA).
• ARPA provides all the necessary information for
the radar users and helps in saving a lot of
critical time from observing a target to finding
the data using radar plotting and calculations.
Collision avoidance and detection data is
thus readily available to the radar users in no
time, just by a click on the target.
• Radar (Radio Detection And Ranging) consists of different parts
which can be mainly divided into:
a) Transmitter
b) Receiver
c) Scanner and
d) Display
• The working process of Radar starts with an
oscillator known as ‘magnetron’, which has a
fixed frequency. The magnetron takes electrical
inputs from a power source through a modulator
and produces an output of electro-magnetic
energy known as ‘pulse’. These pulses are sent
to the scanner or the antennae through a
metallic tube known as ‘wave guide’.
• From the scanner these pulses are sent out to the
atmosphere. The number of pulses sent out through the
scanner per second is called the Pulse Repetition
Frequency. The pulses travel through the atmosphere
at the speed of light and gets reflected back after
striking any target on its way. The reflected echoes
reach back the scanner and the receiver processes and
amplifies it and shows on the display screen as a ‘blip’
which is identified as the detected target.
• The above diagram depicts the working sequence of Radar as
explained. In the diagram, the following parts mentioned, serve
for the purpose as stated below.
• Delay Line – It stores the energy received from the power
source.
• Modulator – It switches on / off the Magnetron and releases
one DC pulse from delay line to magnetron.
• TR Cell – It blocks receiver part of the waveguide during
transmission and blocks transmitter end during reception.
• Mixer – Mixes received echoes with local oscillations.
• ARPA (Automatic Radar Plotting Aid) is a computerised
additional feature to the Radar. ARPA takes feed of
the own ships course and speed, and target’s course
and speed, and calculates the collision avoidance data
and simplifies the need for the users to calculate the
data themselves. ARPA provides various other
additional features and controls as well.
• Now that we have discussed the foundations of Radar, we will
specifically look into the rudiments of Radar watchkeeping and
the essentials of making use of Radar for collision avoidance
and early detection.
• Radar Watchkeeping is the process of monitoring the
Radar and making use of all its functions to make a
full appraisal of any situation and early detection in
order to avoid collision of ships.
• Monitoring Radar is not limited to one single
observation, but multiple observations of range and
bearing will give better idea about the target’s course
and speed and its track of movement related to
own ship.
• After a series of quick observations, the target should
be plotted and the target’s data should be checked.
The longer the plotting period the better will be the
accuracy of the plot. The target should be plotted and
monitored till it has passed and clear off from
your own ship.
• The most effective way to use Radar is to
detect the target as early as necessary (using
range scales) and to plot it much before it
approaches own vessel.
• When the target is detected well in advance
the actions to be taken by the ship will be a lot
easier. It will also help to avoid close quarter
situations and big alterations to avoid collision.
• While having multiple targets in a situation such
as fishing traffic, it is best to tackle it by taking
actions one at a time rather than doing it all
together. The targets with risk of collision should
be avoided before giving importance to others.
• The Radar and ARPA should be used as an aid, the
actions and course alterations of own ship should be
made with good seamanship in compliance with
COLREGS.