Radar gauge for boats

[dswo]

For awhile, I've been looking for a radar gauge that can see AI boats. Skippy Bing is working on one, but in the meantime someone has emailed me about this. I've tried it, and it works. What I'm finding, in practice, is that it needs some sort of filter (e.g., for size or speed). There are so many AI boats, just in the default traffic, that finding the big ones is tough. Still, we are getting there...

<table align="center" bgcolor="#aaccee" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" align="left">Flight Simulator X - Helicopters (http://library.avsim.net/index.php?CatID=fsxheli) </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left" width="*"> BO-105 Coast Guard </td> <td align="right" nowrap="nowrap"> <!-- http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/images/Link.png (http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/esearch.php?DLID=136834) --> http://library.avsim.net/images/ZipDive.png (http://library.avsim.net/zipdiver.php?DLID=136834) http://library.avsim.net/images/Download.png (http://library.avsim.net/download.php?DLID=136834) </td> </tr> </tbody></table> File Description:

FsX Project BO-105 (helicopter - complete aircraft) Coast Guard vers.2.0 with Virtual Cockpit.
You find it under Rotorcraft MBB/FTBVA". BO-105 Coast Guard New: Emergency Doors ( Open press Shift+E and 4),Switch Panel for Winch and Rescue show up with Shift + 2. If you like to make a donation for my work just send me an e-mail, I would be very gratefull. � by Fireeagle 2009 By Dirk Stuck EMail: Dirk@Flight-Team-Bremerhaven.de

<table align="center" bgcolor="#aaccee" border="0" width="50%"> <tbody><tr> <td width="25%">Filename:</td> <td width="75%">bo105cg.zip</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="25%">License:</td> <td width="75%">Freeware</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="25%">Added:</td> <td width="75%">27th March 2009</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="25%">Downloads:</td> <td width="75%">1559</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="25%">Author:</td> <td width="75%">Dirk Stuck</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="25%">Size:</td> <td width="75%">18338kb</td></tr></tbody></table>

[Rich]

I tried it unfortunately it lumps ai aircraft parked on the ground in white the same as ships so close to land it is useless for shipping, the only way to differentiate which is which is to check each one looking for a ship type speed, I spent ages around the Manila area tracking what I thought was a ship only to arrive at Manila International, another time I ended up at the old Clarke airbase some 40 miles inland.

I think it is a 2004 gauge maybe even 2002 if it could be brought up to date with coastlines maybe and different colours for parked aircraft and ships then it may be ok

[dswo]

I tried it unfortunately it lumps ai aircraft parked on the ground in white the same as ships so close to land it is useless for shipping, the only way to differentiate which is which is to check each one looking for a ship type speed, I spent ages around the Manila area tracking what I thought was a ship only to arrive at Manila International, another time I ended up at the old Clarke airbase some 40 miles inland.

I think it is a 2004 gauge maybe even 2002 if it could be brought up to date with coastlines maybe and different colours for parked aircraft and ships then it may be ok

Yes, it looks like we are still out of luck until Skippy Bing saves us.

[Bjoern]

Well, the default GPS *can* display AI traffic after some mods as well as coastlines, so maybe one could start working towards a radar gauge from there.

As for a plane/aircraft filter, one could look into reading the airport test radius variable from AFCADs and just exclude anything inside them.

Or, one waits for the Bucc...

[strykerpsg]

I tried it unfortunately it lumps ai aircraft parked on the ground in white the same as ships so close to land it is useless for shipping, the only way to differentiate which is which is to check each one looking for a ship type speed, I spent ages around the Manila area tracking what I thought was a ship only to arrive at Manila International, another time I ended up at the old Clarke airbase some 40 miles inland.

I think it is a 2004 gauge maybe even 2002 if it could be brought up to date with coastlines maybe and different colours for parked aircraft and ships then it may be ok

If I'm not mistaken, real world surface search RADAR tracks all moving things, regardless of land or water, just ship based RADARS are limited by mast height and power of the setup, which generally limits them to about a dozen miles before curvature effects their display. For aircraft, it tracks moving objects, again not limited to water only, but generally land returns so much clutter. Any WSO/Pilots/ and SME are more than welcome to chime in and correct me, but have seen Ground Surveillance RADAR and it tracks anything that moves, just a matter of measuring it's speed and movement patterns to predict what you are tracking.

Matt

[SkippyBing]

If I'm not mistaken, real world surface search RADAR tracks all moving things, regardless of land or water, just ship based RADARS are limited by mast height and power of the setup, which generally limits them to about a dozen miles before curvature effects their display. For aircraft, it tracks moving objects, again not limited to water only, but generally land returns so much clutter. Any WSO/Pilots/ and SME are more than welcome to chime in and correct me, but have seen Ground Surveillance RADAR and it tracks anything that moves, just a matter of measuring it's speed and movement patterns to predict what you are tracking.

Depends on the search RADAR. Pulsed Doppler radars can track moving contacts against the ground/background clutter etc. down to a certain speed, the shift in returned frequency gives you the contact speed relative to the transmitter. There's an area/effect called the Doppler notch where you can reduce your speed relative to the transmitter to below the threshold value and disappear off the scope.

A non-Doppler RADAR just displays what it sees and it's up to the operator to pick out moving objects, airfields etc. and figure out what they're doing. Generally this prevents you detecting contacts below you over land although it depends on the equipment and the contact to some extent. For example a tank will give a much better return than the field it's sitting in so by minimizing the gain it may still be possible to detect it.

For ships the RADAR horizon is generally around 12 NM depending on masthead height, in fact the radar horizon in Nautical Miles for anything can be calculated as 1.25 x Height in Feet^0.5. Obviously this doesn't stop ships detecting aircraft at altitude at ranges over an order of magnitude bigger.

The problem with the default FSX GPS is that it won't display AI ship traffic (that was my first line of investigation!) although the FS9 one does! I really need to get on with adding the land to the Bucc's radar and then include a lock facility so the HUD can give steering clues to the pilot. Unfortunately I got talked into re-modelling my bathroom so I'm a bit time poor until that's done!

[roger-wilco-66]

The PBY-5 and other contemporaries (PBU, PBN, PVN-2, TBM, etc) had the AN/APS-3 (ASD-1) microwave radar on board, with the following capabilities:

Maximum reliable ranges: surfaced submarine (broadside), 20 miles; 4,000-8,000 ton ship, 40 miles; well-defined coastline, 80 miles. Minimum range is 200 yards. Range accuracy, ± 1%. Covers 160° in bearing, with accuracy of ± 3°. When 60° of bearing is expanded on scopes for torpedo-laying, accuracy is ± 1°. elevation limits are +9° to -9°.

There were also earlier ASB / ASB-Series medium wave radars on many planes (easily identified by the dipole antennas). Installed on SBD, SO3C, TBF, SB2 C, PBY-5, PBY-5A, PBN, PB4Y, PV-3 aircraft.

Reliable maximum ranges: surface submarine (broadside), 8 miles; 4,000-8,000 ton ship, 25 miles; well-defined coastline, 60 miles. "ASB Series" extends these ranges to 15 miles on surfaced submarine, 25-35 miles on 5,000-ton ship, and 70 miles on coastline. Minimum range is 350 yards. Range accuracy, ± 10%. Covers 180° in bearing when searching, and 40° when homing on target. Bearing can be estimated to about ± 3°, when homing.



In order to simplify things, the FSX radar gauge could be limited to 20 miles for all ships, and the coastlines could be omitted. It would be a blast if a radar operator would audibly give bearings of the nearest target!


Cheers,
Mark