Originally Posted by Name User

Beam width is the entire beam which means at 3* beam width and -1 tilt you're scanning from -2.5 to +0.5 already. The radar width is like a flashlight/cone of light. It's also important to know that the same energy at the -1* set tilt does not exist at the fringes of the beam.

The same math works for centering the beam, don't worry about beam width when crunching the numbers. Yes, you'll pick up above and below your target altitude but knowing where to center the beam is the most important aspect of using it.

Personal opinion only, I don't work for DL but was interested in this thread. I do not take my radar out of auto on the a/c equipped with it. We have some of NG's that have manual only where it is important to use tilt theory but on a/c equipped with auto, just leave it there IMO.



I cannot envision a reason to reduce gain except for one - you have absolutely zero options for penetrating a line of weather and it's all painting red+ everywhere, and you just want to know which of the red's are VIP 3's and which are 4's+.


Lightning strikes in the flight levels are of little concern IMO.