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Woodsy · 10-24-2007, 08:35 AM

Bear Islander...

To your first question.... I really thought you were smart enough to figure it out, but I guess I need to explain it to you. Let me quote the MP report...

"The radar was generally effective with vessels traveling toward or away from the patrol boat; however, when the target vessel was approaching or leaving at an angle, the reading tended to be inaccurate and those numbers are not included in this sampling."

The reason those numbers are not included in the sampling is because of the reasons I stated in my post that you so nicely linked to this discussion. I will state it again... Radar works best when the boats are traveling in a straight line towards or away from the unit. ANY angular deviation results in an error in the readout. This is called the Law of Cosines. The greater the angle, the greater the error. The error is ALWAYS lower than the actual speed. The state will not meet the burden of proof required in court of law.

To your second question...

I was at the work session, I sat in the front row right behind Capt. Gallagher. There was no mention if the boats collecting the data were marked or unmarked. The public was not allowed to ask questions, and it wasn't a question that one of the committee members thought to ask. I would assume they were marked patrol boats. This study was not funded, and was done in conjuction with regularly scheduled MP patrols to save $$$. Not that it matters...

You are thinking that the results would have been markedly different if they had used unmarked patrol boats. I don't think that marked or unmarked would have made any difference whatsoever. Going fast isn't illegal, and with the exception of the two public test zones, the other 7 radar test zones were unknown to the boating public. To me and everyone else, it was just another MP boat on patrol.

If you are thinking an unmarked patrol boat would have yielded different results, then you prove the point I have been trying to hammer in for years... more MP patrol boats = less Capt. Boneheads!

You still haven't answered my question on funding HB-847! How do you propose we fund this debacle?

Woodsy

10-24-2007, 08:35 AM	#41
Woodsy Senior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Weirs Beach Posts: 1,966 Thanks: 80 Thanked 980 Times in 440 Posts	Bear Islander... To your first question.... I really thought you were smart enough to figure it out, but I guess I need to explain it to you. Let me quote the MP report... "The radar was generally effective with vessels traveling toward or away from the patrol boat; however, when the target vessel was approaching or leaving at an angle, the reading tended to be inaccurate and those numbers are not included in this sampling." The reason those numbers are not included in the sampling is because of the reasons I stated in my post that you so nicely linked to this discussion. I will state it again... Radar works best when the boats are traveling in a straight line towards or away from the unit. ANY angular deviation results in an error in the readout. This is called the Law of Cosines. The greater the angle, the greater the error. The error is ALWAYS lower than the actual speed. The state will not meet the burden of proof required in court of law. To your second question... I was at the work session, I sat in the front row right behind Capt. Gallagher. There was no mention if the boats collecting the data were marked or unmarked. The public was not allowed to ask questions, and it wasn't a question that one of the committee members thought to ask. I would assume they were marked patrol boats. This study was not funded, and was done in conjuction with regularly scheduled MP patrols to save $$$. Not that it matters... You are thinking that the results would have been markedly different if they had used unmarked patrol boats. I don't think that marked or unmarked would have made any difference whatsoever. Going fast isn't illegal, and with the exception of the two public test zones, the other 7 radar test zones were unknown to the boating public. To me and everyone else, it was just another MP boat on patrol. If you are thinking an unmarked patrol boat would have yielded different results, then you prove the point I have been trying to hammer in for years... more MP patrol boats = less Capt. Boneheads! You still haven't answered my question on funding HB-847! How do you propose we fund this debacle? Woodsy __________________ The only way to eliminate ignorant behavior is through education. You can't fix stupid.