Weather Radar

Price	25,995 CR
Restrictions	Unrestricted
Average weight	8.1 kg
Average MTBF (maintained)	Not specified

Weather Radar is an avionics inventory item that scans precipitation ahead of an equipped vehicle and displays colored returns on the cockpit moving map. Automatic antenna tilt and ground-clutter rejection help keep weather visible during approach and ground operation. Sufficiently deep heavy weather or intervening terrain can hide returns farther away.

Purchase and installation

Available from the Accessories menu at Rusty's Rentals for 25,995 CR. Installation requires a free avionics bay, and a vehicle cannot have a second Weather Radar installed. Aircraft and aerospace vehicles are supported; the T-27 Mammoth is the permitted ground-vehicle exception.

The equipment weighs approximately 8.1 kg (17.8574 lb). The cargo manifest rounds the installed weight to 8 kg. No maintained MTBF is specified for this item.

Operation

1. Supply cockpit electrical power and open the cargo/manifest display.
2. Use Shift+Up or Shift+Down to select Weather Radar under the avionics entries.
3. Press Shift+U (Use) to toggle its power. The manifest shows ON or OFF.
4. View the moving map and allow the forward sector to scan. Change the map range to change the radar range.

The radar continues scanning while powered even when the moving-map page is closed. Switching it off restores the ordinary map background.

Scan and range

• A narrow cyan sweep scans a 120-degree forward sector: 60 degrees left and right of the vehicle's heading.
• Each one-way sweep takes four seconds, reversing at either end; a complete out-and-back cycle takes eight seconds.
• Returns update when the sweep crosses their bearing. Between visits they retain their geographical position as the vehicle moves or turns.
• Radar range is twice the selected map inner-ring range, up to a maximum of 64 km. For example, a 20 km inner ring gives a 40 km scan; the 40 km and larger inner-ring settings reach the 64 km radar cap. A larger map scale does not extend radar range.
• Changing range starts a fresh scan. Allow the sweep to pass across the sector before interpreting the new picture.

Reading the display

Weather replaces the ordinary land/water shading or Remote Assay fill. Navigation fixes, labels, compass, range rings, airspace and traffic remain visible.

The colors indicate return strength, not what caused the return. Stronger precipitation generally produces stronger returns, but terrain also reflects radar energy. An unfiltered terrain echo can paint green, yellow or red just like precipitation: color alone cannot distinguish ground clutter from weather. Automatic ground-clutter rejection removes identified terrain echoes while retaining precipitation detected above the terrain.

Heavy precipitation can weaken the radar signal enough to hide weather farther away, leaving a dark-gray shadow behind the stronger returns. Purple is not required for this attenuation; both the intensity of the precipitation and the distance through it matter.

Color	Meaning
Black / no colored return	No detectable return. Check for attenuation or other limitations before interpreting an empty area as clear.
Green	Lower return strength.
Yellow	Moderate return strength.
Red	Strong return.
Purple	Highest return strength.
Dark gray	Radar shadow: terrain or heavy precipitation can conceal what lies beyond.
Dark blue-gray	The radar cannot assess this area. Do not interpret it as clear weather.

A dark area is not proof of clear weather. A strong nearby cell can cast a radar shadow and conceal another cell behind it. Use the annunciations and the surrounding returns when interpreting the picture.

Indication	Meaning
WX	Normal radar operation. The sweep may be empty when no returns are detected.
WX SCAN	The radar is acquiring a fresh picture. Allow the sweep to complete.
WX DATA LIMITED	Part of the radar picture is unavailable or unreliable. Do not assume that an empty area is clear, even if other parts of the display show returns.
WX NO DATA	No usable radar picture is available. Do not rely on the display for weather assessment until normal scanning resumes.
WX ATTEN	Heavy precipitation is weakening the radar signal and can hide weather beyond it. Some returns may remain visible. Terrain blockage alone does not trigger this indication. This can accompany another WX indication.

GPWS terrain/obstacle alert displays and self-test take priority over weather. TCAS advisory/test decluttering also temporarily suppresses the weather layer. Scanning continues behind these displays and the weather layer returns when they clear. Weather Radar adds no aural alerts.

Automatic tilt and ground clutter

Terrain is picked up by the radar when the beam strikes the surface. These reflections are called ground clutter. They can be strong during approach, in a hover or while parked, when the beam illuminates nearby ground or higher terrain. Landing or stopping does not stop the reflections. Before clutter rejection, they are indistinguishable from precipitation by their display color; a red echo does not by itself identify a storm.

Automatic tilt is active whenever Weather Radar is operating. The radar adjusts its search tilt for the selected range, the vehicle's height and the terrain ahead. It remains stabilized relative to the horizon as the vehicle pitches and rolls. Raising or lowering the nose does not directly aim the radar beam. There are no manual tilt or gain controls.

The AUTO readout beside the map scale shows the current antenna search tilt in degrees, not the vehicle's pitch angle. For example, AUTO +2.8° means upward tilt and AUTO -4.0° means downward tilt, relative to the local horizon. The value can change as the sweep crosses different terrain or the vehicle changes height or range. AUTO -- means no current search angle is available.

Automatic scanning combines the tilted search with a level look to retain nearby weather. Ground-clutter rejection operates during flight, hover and ground operation. It does not switch the radar off at touchdown or remove rain simply because it is close to the ground.

Clutter rejection cannot see through terrain. A ridge can leave a dark-gray shadow where it obstructs the radar, even though its own colored echo is removed. Weather visible above the ridge may still paint beyond it. An empty upper part of the beam does not make the obstructed region below it known clear. Terrain obstruction alone does not produce WX ATTEN.

Weather Radar is not a terrain-clearance or obstacle-avoidance display and does not replace the separate terrain-warning system.

Operating limits

The scan can operate on the ground, in VTOL/hover and during atmospheric flight. Low indicated airspeed and Autoflyte engagement do not disable it. Terrain can obstruct parts of the beam, particularly on the ground or below nearby higher ground. Automatic tilt and clutter rejection do not remove those obstructions; obscured regions remain unknown. Genuine weather attenuation can still produce WX ATTEN on the ground. Indications and shadows update as the sweep revisits each bearing; allow up to eight seconds for the whole sector to be revisited.

When flying above the weather, the radar may continue sweeping with no returns. During high-altitude flight, suborbital coast or orbit, an empty forward scan does not describe the weather below the vehicle. On descent, allow a fresh scan to develop before interpreting the weather ahead.

After restoring power or switching vehicles, allow the radar to acquire a fresh picture. If WX NO DATA or WX DATA LIMITED appears, treat the unavailable areas as unknown until normal scanning resumes. In the in-world simulator, the ordinary moving map is shown without Weather Radar.

This radar does not provide Doppler wind measurements, turbulence detection or predictive windshear alerts. Its colors indicate return strength; a purple return is not a dedicated turbulence warning.

See also

• Weather
• Doppler Radar — colony equipment supplying the portal weather layer.
• Remote Assay
• GPWS
• TCAS