The purpose of marine RADAR is navigation and collision avoidance, understanding echo formation, and system parameters that matter to operators and technicians: what controls echo size and what controls detection range. A duplexer enables a single antenna to transmit and receive. There are two transmission power metrics: peak and average, and the duty cycle relates them. The synchronizer coordinates transmitter pulses, receiver gating, and indicator sweep with precise timing for accurate range measurement. The sweep frequency must match the PRF to maintain accurate range scaling; its parameter is the Pulse Repetition Frequency (PRF).
An echo is generated when a transmitted pulse strikes a target. The primary parameters influencing echo size:
• Transmitter power — how radiated energy affects returned signal strength.
• Antenna effective area — relationship between antenna size, gain, and echo quality.
• Transmit and receive losses — waveguide losses, receiver inefficiencies, and their cumulative impact.
• Radar cross section (RCS) of the target — how shape, material, and orientation affect reflectivity.
• Range to the target — inverse-square law and signal attenuation over distance.
The factor that does not affect maximum RADAR range is recovery time. What does not affect maximum range is receiver sensitivity, antenna gain, pulse power, frequency, and atmospheric conditions.
