As a research-driven organization Navico maintains center of technological excellence around the world, including development facilities for GPS and echo-sounder products in the USA, utosteering in Norway, instrumentation in the UK, and radar in New Zealand. The development of Broadband Radar is an excellent example of the long-term approach that Navico takes to ensuring that it remains at the forefront of marine electronics.

Over five years of R&D and the application of substantial funding, including a grant from the New Zealand government, went in to achieving this revolutionary advance in marine navigation, but the enthusiastic response to its introduction from the worldwide boating community demonstrates the benefits of investing time and resources in seeking radical new solutions to the challenges of the marine environment.

Yachtsmen, anglers and professional mariners can expect to see a steady flow of similarly exciting new products from the Navico brands in the coming years. With a commitment to ever-enhanced performance, ease of operability and seamless systems integration, Navico will continue to set the pace in innovation for the marine electronics industry for the foreseeable future.

Conventional pulse radar uses a magnetron to generate a pulsed microwave signal that is
transmitted from the rotating radar antenna. This “bang” of microwave energy is reflected off targets that it hits and returns to the radar, the time it takes determines the range and bearing.

This type of radar transmission is, in layman’s terms like shouting loudly in one direction and then listening to see if you hear an echo, turning and then repeating.

Broadband Radar uses a different type of technology, allowing the radar to send out a continuous radar signal, with a changing tone or frequency, at a very much lower power and listen for the change in that signal, also continuously. This is more like whispering continuously and listening at the same time for the echo, made possible in the radar by using two antennas, one whispering and one listening.

The change in the tone of the transmitted radar signal determines the time taken for the signal to reach the target and return. This time determines the range and the bearing. There is a distinct advantage in sending out a much lower signal, the distortion in a normal radar transmission, that is likened to a shout gets distorted at close ranges, this is often referred to as “main bang” interference and appears on the screen as a sunburst in the center of the screen. At short ranges this noise covers up any close in targets, reducing the effectiveness of the radar at short range. Many types of radar suppress this pulse and hide the noise; this also hides any short-range targets effectively blinding the radar to close by targets.

With the Broadband Radar only sending out a “whisper” the noise and distortion is just not there, hence there is no noise in the center of the screen and also no need for noise or main bang suppression. The benefit of this is that close up targets are not lost or hidden, with the radar able to show targets right up until they are alongside the boat. This short-range performance has never before been seen.

Conventional radars emit a pulse, and this pulse varies in length depending on the range. This pulse length determines the ability of the conventional radar to distinguish between close targets on a similar bearing. Usually this can be as short as 90ft at short ranges and up to 500ft at longer ranges. The Broadband Radar, using the continuously transmitted signal, is able to see targets as close as 6ft from the dome on the shortest scale and separate targets 30ft apart in range on the scales used for navigation.

This short-range performance is also enhanced with the minimum range scales now going beyond the conventional 1/8th of a mile range down to 1/32nd of a mile. To help with the comprehension of these shorter ranges the radar switches to feet for the shortest ranges, you can display 400ft, 300ft and 200ft, with range rings of only 100ft.