Ingangsdatum: 01-01-1997
7 Shore-based facilities to support opration of the system
The Corsen/Ouessant vehicle traffic service is set up at the Regional Centre for surveillance and rescue operations at Corsen. This service has radar and radio facilities.
7.1 Radar facilities
The surveillance radar type THOMSON TRS 3405 is installed at the Stiff tower at Ouessant. The installation includes three transmitter receivers, a main antenna and a stand-by antenna. The nominal range of the radar is 64 miles. The antenna is positioned at 110 metres above the chart zero. Technical staff are permanently on duty at the tower. Radar messages are sent to the centre at Corsen via a radio-relay system where they are processed and then used by the staff on watch. The watch is carried out using visual display screens. The operators work using synthetic radar display. Each ship detected in the area of applicability has its echo noted as an automatically referenced radar track. Additional information is collected by the operators for each track identified. The vessel traffic service is equipped with a system for processing and storing radar data that allows statistics and course calculations to be printed. A complete reorganization of the processing and display chain will be carried out in the near future. The extraction and follow-up performances of the new system will be improved. Aids for the operators will form part of the new equipment. The operator will be alerted automatically as soon as violations or unusual behaviour is detected. It is also intended to add the Lloyds file, on CD ROM, to the "ships" file. It will be possible to obtain the record of a ship's track rapidly, to print texts and courses automatically and to write messages. Other databases will be used on office-type computers.
7.2 Radiocommunications facilities
Surveillance staff use the radio equipment installed at the Stiff tower in the Corsen centre. The vessel traffic service has the use of four single-channel VHF transmitter receivers. If necessary, the VTS may, from time to time, use the VHF and MHF radio equipment belonging to the MRCC. These are VHF installations at Stiff, at the Pointe du Raz and at the Corsen site.
The VTS is also equipped with VHF air and UHF installations allowing links with aircraft carrying out surveillance missions.
A renovation of the equipment is being undertaken. With regard to radio facilities, it will include the installation of channel 70 digital selective calling VHF equipment at Stiff and at the Pointe du Raz.
The vessel traffic service operators use VHF radio direction-finding equipment precise to within 0.5º. One is installed at the Pointe du Raz, the other at the Ihare de Creac'h lighthouse. On each radio direction-finder it is possible to select two different tracks.