I personally feel like a major part of the radar is how you only know exactly where an entity is when you are inside the base, and have to go off just an approximation when you are outside it.
You can target the location of a radar dot, but it doesn't live update, and I do know that annoying feeling when the entity dot you just went after is nowhere to be seen when you arrive.
My idea would be having the handheld radar (sandbox item) actually function like the radar and not a metal detector, so you can see entities X meters around you on the fly, but no further than that. Would help in seeing if the entity is actually still there.