Navico’s New 4G Broadband Radar

Navico’s New 4G Broadband Radar

By L.J. Wallace, Jr.

I was aboard Simrad’s test boat to get a sneak peek at a new radar system with some other marine journalists on the Wednesday prior to the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. The Simrad guys were literally giddy about this new system… and for good reason. For the next 90 minutes, all of us aboard were shown what promises to be the next generation of radar technology.
“I’ve been involved in the development of all sorts of radars most of my life—marine and avionics. We’ve been working on this for over seven years, and it’ll take a long time for others (radar manufacturers) to catch up. I’ve never seen anything like this radar!” related Navico’s (parent company of Simrad/Lowrance/B&G) Senior Product Manager/Principle Engineer, Don Korte. Nor had I.
Broadband Radar simultaneously receives as it transmits, unlike a pulse radar that pulses loudly then has to switch the internal circuits from transmit to receive. This causes all pulse radars to have an unavoidable “main bang” which appears in the center of the screen as a sunburst. This covers up any close targets, reducing the effectiveness of the pulse radar at short range.
As we idled out of Bahia Mar Marina and headed south down the ICW, Don began the tutorial, and it was somewhat akin to listening to the proud father of a star athlete recounting how his kid made the last minute play to win the big game. It’d be tough to sum up a 90-minute demonstration session within this page, so I’ll simply share the major highlights with you.
- Don’t be confused by the nomenclature associated with this new radar. The word “Broadband” has nothing to do with wireless coverage, nor does the “4G” designation.
-They eliminate a traditional magnetron. Instead, the actual radar signal is produced by a portion of the microwave board contained within the radome. This technology also results in greatly decreased power consumption.
- There’s a 50 percent greater range and detection of targets, plus beam shaping technology for the sharpest possible screen images, according to company literature.
- Simultaneous Dual Range operation from a single dome, allowing 10 MARPA targets on each side of a split screen, facilitating unprecedented independent working ranges from 200 feet right up to 36 nautical miles—no other recreational radar in the world can provide this scaling, as well as the ability to display four separate screens simultaneously, providing the ultimate in navigational awareness on the water.
Product roll-out was slated for early November in the U.S. and Canada. The Lowrance unit has an MSRP of $1,899 while both the Simrad and B&G models are $2,999. navico.com