Originally Posted by
Aucky
Are the implications of this statement more wide reaching than SAR? As someone who has never flown offshore ARAs, is the weather radar performing a purely ‘terrain mapping’ function during an ARA, i.e. confirmatory position information for the rig location, rather than proximity warning or anti-collision protection? I had always assumed, perhaps incorrectly, that it was used to ensure the path was clear on final approach track to the decision point (and thereby performing an anti-collision function), and also was also used to provide essential proximity information on which the decision point was based.
You’re correct in that is exactly how it is used during an offshore ARA. I would (cynically) say that the wording of the limitations of the Honeywell radar is more of a liability-covering legalese.
That being said the phrases “proximity warning” and “ant collision protection” are quite vague. On approach to a rig using the radar, it is used to determine floating obstacles such as standby vessels or other boats in the desired approach path and the range to those obstacles and the destination. Whiles this provides proximity information, it doesn’t provide a proximity “warning”, neither is that information considered particularly accurate below 0.5nm. Anti-collision protection falls under much the same logic I would think.
In my anecdotal experience, the GMAP terrain modes of the radar weren’t particularly more effective than fiddling with the gain and tilt of the normal Wx mode