How to use it
- Pick Radar sweep (a rotating beam) or Sonar ping (a ring that spreads out from the center).
- Choose a color, how fast the sweep turns, how many contacts are on the scope and the range shown on the rings.
- Press Full screen radar or F. Tap or click inside the scope to drop a new contact there.
- Press Esc to exit. On a touch screen, tap and use the small Esc button in the top right corner.
What is on the scope
- Range rings. Four rings, each a quarter of the range you pick, labeled in nautical miles.
- Bearings. Ticks every 5 degrees and labels every 30 degrees, clockwise from 000 at the top, like a compass.
- Contacts. Each blip is drawn where it was when the sweep last passed, then fades over one turn, the way the afterglow on an old radar screen did. Most of them move slowly and carry a short line showing their heading. Labels show a track number, bearing and range.
- Clutter. Faint flickering speckles near the center, like the returns from waves or ground close to a real radar.
Everything is made up. The contacts do not come from any real radar, aircraft or ship data.
Ideas
- Prop and set dressing. A radar screen on a spare monitor or TV for a film, game night, escape room, school play or submarine birthday party.
- Prank. Leave it running on a friend's laptop with the sound on and tell them it is tracking their lost socks.
- Screensaver. The amber or green sweep at a slow speed is calm to leave running in a dark room.
- Kids. Tap to add "enemy submarines" and let them call out bearings.
Questions
Is this a real radar?
No. It is an animation. The contacts are generated in your browser and move at random, and there is no real data from aircraft, ships or weather.
Can I add my own blips?
Yes. Click or tap anywhere inside the scope and a new contact appears there. New contacts gives you a fresh random set.
Does it make sound?
Only if you turn it on. Radar mode gives a soft beep when the sweep passes a contact, and sonar mode plays a ping with an echo. The sounds are generated in your browser.
How do I exit full screen?
Press Esc, or tap the screen and use the small Esc button in the top right corner.