TMA and range determination

Doc Savage · 05-04-06, 04:15 PM

I have a bit of a specific question.
I understand most of the logic described in the above posts and have been putting it in practice pretty accurately. However I almost always have problems when the contact is travelling almost directly towards or away from me (something like <20 degress and >160 degrees to the LOB). In these cases my solution is pretty much way off.

What I currently try to do, is get some kind of range by increasing speed to 10knts+ perpendicular to the last LOB and using the point where the bearings cross as the range. This gets me some kind of accuracy if the contact is close (like 20-30 kyrds). The only trouble is that now that I've hit the throttle so close to the contact, he knows I'm there and tries to hit me with something.
Also, at longer ranges, the point where the LOBs cross becomes a bit "mushy" and I frequently end up with a 20-30kyrd stretch of water where the contact might be.

The other problem I face with the above is that I usually cannot figure out whether the contact is coming towards me or going away.

Does anybody have any advice on how to deal with this kind of situation?

05-04-06, 04:15 PM	#21
Doc Savage Seaman Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 32 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I have a bit of a specific question. I understand most of the logic described in the above posts and have been putting it in practice pretty accurately. However I almost always have problems when the contact is travelling almost directly towards or away from me (something like <20 degress and >160 degrees to the LOB). In these cases my solution is pretty much way off. What I currently try to do, is get some kind of range by increasing speed to 10knts+ perpendicular to the last LOB and using the point where the bearings cross as the range. This gets me some kind of accuracy if the contact is close (like 20-30 kyrds). The only trouble is that now that I've hit the throttle so close to the contact, he knows I'm there and tries to hit me with something. Also, at longer ranges, the point where the LOBs cross becomes a bit "mushy" and I frequently end up with a 20-30kyrd stretch of water where the contact might be. The other problem I face with the above is that I usually cannot figure out whether the contact is coming towards me or going away. Does anybody have any advice on how to deal with this kind of situation?