Navico FMCW (Broadband)radar...will it deliver?

Kieran_Breheny

Kieran_Breheny

Active Member
Joined
24 Sep 2008
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Location
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www.navigate-us.com
I previously posted a note about the launch of the Navico broadband radar at Mets. Since then I commissioned a report outlining the pro's and con's of Traditional Pulse radar (Raymarine, Furuno et cetra) versus the Navico's new FMCW radar. If you are thinking about a new radar or just want to keep upto date please take a look.
The report is free and can be downloaded from
http://www.navigate-us.com/site/guidance/radar
 
Thanks for this - its very interesting - I am sure that we will be seeing a lot more about this exciting development.
 
From what I've heard and researched, it will certainly deliver, and at a far lower cost than its alternative pulsed and high powered systems.

I will be adding one to Play d'eau, maybe this season but certainly next, as a second radar to my existing Simrad. It will be interesting to see the differences.

It's intertesting to see that broadband radar has been in use by the military for some time, and that this is a leisure version of it. I suspect that if it is good enough for the military, it's probably good enough for us?
 
I don't think you read that correctly Piers. What the excellent and unbiased comparison of the two systems said was

"The first is that it is easily overwhelmed by interference from pulse radars. That is one reason why FMCW radars are not generally used by the military for surveillance or weapons control:"

While not an expert, I have been involved in fitting out and commissioning warships and have never seen an FMCW radar used for any purpose on a warship.
The fact that conventional X band jams FMCW has always been a problem and although potentially the target definition is better at very short range the fact that it is pretty difficult to mount low down makes very near targets difficult to see with any antenna. Long range the pulse radar has no competition. By long range I mean over a mile. (The article does not make this clear) In theory if a small vessel has FMCW it should "see" targets closer than pulse but if for instance, you were finding your way into a harbour in thick fog and a fishing boat nearby fired up x-band you would be blind! I am also not sure you could run both on the same vessel without interference.

So far all I have heard is that it is cheap, so a guy with limited funds might get an advantage from it if he can't afford a decent pulse set. Most of us however will only have one set on board and for me that will always be pulse.
 
Thanks boatmike for the heads-up. Now that I've read Bill's report (I worked with him on a data gathering exercise for sea-clutter) I see that the info I have been sent recently may not be the full story and that some fundemental questions need answering before broadband radar can be used in full-on anger.
 
[ QUOTE ]
SPAM!

[/ QUOTE ]That's perhaps a little harsh - the website is of course unashamedly commercial, doesn't necessarily list all available products, and the quotations offered only come from dealers who've paid to advertise there (not necessarily from the most competitive dealers) but otherwise it's probably fairly impartial, don't you think?
 
We are trying to provide a service and help boaters at the same time run a business, we have over 600 products listed and we add more every day as they become available. The dealer we sign up for a modest ammount are technical dealers who provide both their best price and a high level of service. We have only just started and so far the responce has been positive. Suggestions on improvements are welcomed. We thought a single location for specification for the major products would be useful.
 
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