Excessive testing causes "burn in" on the vessel's radar display.

Testing in port or even at sea may cause interference to other radars or a test signal may be misinterpreted as a genuine Distress situation .

To prevent overheating, a SART requires sufficient ventilation that is significantly reduced when the SART is being tested.

If another SART is testing at the same time, the two signals will cause damage to the unit that transmitted them.