Can the radar see through the flybridge?

[av8torrich]

I just wanted to note, most commercial RADOMES, and military ones for that matter are constructed from fiberglass mixed with other non reflective materials. I can tell you from personal experience, fiberglass boats can be difficult to see when attempting target acquisition because they have such a low RADAR cross section (RCS). Typically the primary return comes from other metallic structures (i.e. Engines, T-Top Support, Antennas, Metallic Paint Etc). Drug smugglers have gotten keen to this fact, and have gone to great lengths to reduce the RCS, that we are now often forced to track them by observing the wake of the vessel. This of course requires fancy processing, which is another topic in its entirety.

For this reason, RADAR can typically "See" through fiberglass. What becomes problematic is if there are other metallic or reflective material inside of the fiberglass structure which your are trying to "See" through. I can also imagine a scenario where moisture trapped in fiberglass could cause issues too.

With regards to safe distances from the RADAR, there are many variables which delineate this. These typically include EIRP (I would go with Worse Case), Beam width, Free space Path Loss, and Frequency. Using some pretty straight forward equations, one can calculate what the minimum safe distance should be from the array. That being said, virtually all the manuals from RADAR manufacturers address what is acceptable and safe.

Another item I would be cautious about is the term "blanking". Typically blanking takes place in processing (i.e. video blanking). Just because you see no returns in the video does not mean the transmitter is not longer turned on when the array is pointed towards you, or to the aft of the vessel. The term I typically use is sector scan, which typically works as follows; Transmitter is turned on from 271 through 089 degree, and then is off from 090 through 270 degrees. It is entirely possible consumer RADAR manufacturers consider these two terms as synonymous, but I would double check to make sure you are not getting a false impression the RADAR is in fact not transmitting in your general direction.

The radar does not pick up through the fiberglass. You will see 180* forward.