SEARCH AND RESCUE TRANSPONDER (SART)

Two SARTs are required on cargo ships 500 GRT and over and on all passenger ships. One SART is required on cargo ships between 300 and 500 GRT. SARTs are to be located on each side of the ship in a position ready to be taken to survival craft. SARTs operate similar to RACON beacons in the 9 GHz band. And respond to X-band (9 GHz) radar signals. The response is visible as a series of twelve dots on X-band radar screens. The dots are displayed along a line of bearing with the dot closest to the center of the radar indicating the position of the SART. As the ship gets closer to the SART, the pattern of dots widens until when almost on the top of the SART the pattern becomes a full circle around the ship.

SARTs are manually activated. When activated, a visual and audible alarm is given when the SART is responding to a radar signal. When this alarm is given, it is advisable to immediately use survival craft’s portable VHF radio and establish contact on Channel 16.

Although designed to operate in the water, to be effective, SARTS should be mounted as high as possible on a lifeboat or life raft. A mast or mounting device is provided for this purpose. If possible the SART should be mounted at least 3 feet (1 meter) above the water.

It has been found that SARTs are not achieving the expected minimum range of 5 nautical miles based on a radar antenna at a height of 33 feet (15 meters). Search aircraft equipped with X-band compatible radars have had better success than ships at detecting SART signals, however, much depends on sea conditions and the motion or action of the SART. All this makes the requirement for posting good lookouts when searching for survivors very important.

The operating life of a SART battery shall be at least 96 hours in standby (listening) mode followed by 8 hours in transponder (reply) mode. Battery life is typically five years. Antennas are omni-directional, horizontally polarized with a vertical beam width of no less than 25 degrees to compensate for the action of the SART floating in the sea.

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