1. Radar Plotting Refresher

This small-craft radar tutor offers step-by-step instruction in using radar on a boat. It teaches most of the essentials of radar use, but concentrates on collision avoidance, rather than coastal navigation. You will learn to measure and interpret the movements of contacts on the radar screen and take any necessary action to avoid a collision.

Radar Tutor Description

The Radar Tutor is PC software, supplied on a CD. The program must be installed to the hard drive of the PC and is then launched from its desktop icon when required. The program is organised as a set of tabbed pages, as you can see if you click and enlarge the pictures above.

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Free Plotting Sheets

Radar Plotting Refresher

You can practice the manual plotting exercises using paper plotting sheets, which you can print out from the program. Even if your radar set has an automatic plotting aid such as MARPA, You should learn to plot targets manually, so that you understand what the MARPA is trying to do.

Simplified Radar Screens

Unlike the Radar Training Simulator, which provides highly-detailed and realistic displays, the Radar Plotting Tutor deliberately uses simplified screens and controls, to concentrate on teaching the collision avoidance techniques. The focus is on measuring and identifying movements of targets on the screen, then translating these to real vessel activity.

Animated Teaching

The Tutor uses progressive animations to illustrate how to measure and calculate target movements. You control the pace of the lessons and watch the necessary steps performed on the screen.

Interactive Exercises

The Radar Tutor is an interactive teaching tool. You operate the various controls in each exercise and observe the results. You will take measurements, plot movements and calculate true courses and speeds of targets. You will also be determining the closest point of approach of any target to your course. You are then marked on your results.

IRPCS - Rules of the Road

Collision Avoidance is the main aim of the Program. You will learn how the Collision Regulations apply specifically to vessels using radar. Each relevant Rule is explained, and animations illustrate the correct response to different situations.

SART - Search & Rescue Transponder

A special bonus in this Tutorial is an interactive, animated explanation of a SART, deployed by a vessel or lifeboat to guide rescuers to the casualty. You can control the range and direction of the SART from your vessel and view the resulting radar display. Many books are completely wrong in their descriptions of SART displays, so here you have a chance to learn what really happens.

PC Requirements to Run the Tutor

• Windows™ 2000, XP, Vista or Windows™ 7
• 20Mb Hard Drive Space
• 1Gb RAM
• CD drive - for program installation - alternative methods possible