Originally Posted by
John Pennekamp
It is terrible. I fly around at gain +2 and +2 degrees tilt (FL300) just to see anything. And you can't see anything beyond 80 miles. Unless it's huge, you can't see it beyond 40 miles.
I haven't had too much problem with the EMB radar (8000+ hours). At first, I felt it had some issues, but the only issue that remain is its greater susceptability for attenuation. In anything greater then light precip, its effectiveness is greatly reduced more so then mainline aircraft with larger antennas. but that's to be expected.
I've had little problem using it effectively out to 50 miles which is enough for planning. Even very large returns can be identified farther, but ground clutter due to tilt and downward slope of the signal requires understanding.