Realized I was interpreting radar returns wrong after 5 years in the shop

I was chasing a ghost signal on a King Air radar last Tuesday in Seattle, and the senior tech just pointed at the gain setting I always left on auto. Has anyone else had a basic setting trip them up for way too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

leo23817d ago

The auto gain feature actually masks a lot of the subtle signal fade patterns you need to see for proper returns. I noticed the same thing on a Collins system until a guy named Dave showed me how much cleaner the image gets when you lock gain manually. Took me four years to figure out I was basically flying blind with that auto setting on.

margaret_bennett317d ago

Dave over at Collins? That guy's been around since the 80s. Might want to double check that - Collins was bought out by Rockwell before you were probably born, the name got sold off later to a different company.