User Manual

Page 28 of 28
Document Reference Phalcon NT, Issue 9 and Date 07/04/2020
THIS IS THE PROPERTY OF PHAROS MARINE AUTOMATIC POWER LIMITED. DISCLOSURE OR REPRODUCTION IS FORBIDDEN
UNLESS AUTHORISED
Appendix D. Commissioning of the Racon
Care must be exercised in the location of the RACON:

The racon must be installed in an area that has a clear view or sight of where the client ships or vessels are
located. Do not install the racon behind poles, posts, fences or guard rails. The racon signal behaves like
light and cannot go through or around objects of any kind.

The racon should be levelled. For fixed mounting surfaces, install the racon within a few degrees of true
vertical. For best results, locate the racon as high as practical in order to provide a clear line-of-sight path
between the racon and where the client ships or vessels are or will be located. In general, the higher the
racon is mounted; the better is its useful range.
Care must be exercised in the use of the radar display controls:

The radar must be switched to a display range scale appropriate for the distance of the RACON from the ve
ssel.

Radar is correctly tuned.

Switch off rain and sea clutter. The settings of the rain clutter and/or sea clutter controls on some radars
may cause the RACON response to disappear partially or completely. If such effects are suspected, these
controls should be switched off for the desired RACON observation period.

Adjust enough gain when looking for RACON response.
Please note:

The observer must be aware that RACONs are programmed and are active for only (typically) 15 seconds in
each minute.

Radio propagation conditions may cause a RACON response to be seen at distances significantly greater or
less than the geographic range. The most important radio propagation factor is the multi path effect. This is
due to reflections from the sea interfering with the direct signal between the radar and the RACON, causing
cancellation of the received signal. The effect can be pronounced in calm sea conditions. It can cause the
loss of RACON paints well within the geographic range of the racon to radar antenna path. Multi path effects
may cause a RACON paint to intermittently disappear and reappear as a vessel gets closer to a RACON. The
distance over which a RACON paint disappears could be only several metres, but it could be up to a few
miles. For more information about racon range estimates, please see the latest IALA publication “Guideline
1010 on Racon Range Performance”