5 August 2008

Garmin Goes High-Definition with its Marine Radar Offerings

Garmin today announced improvements to its two most popular marine radomes – the GMR 18 HD and GMR 24 HD.  These now provide better target separation and clearer definition, particularly at close ranges.

“These new radar scanners process up to eight times the information of their predecessors, which helps take the guesswork out of identifying the precise location of targets,” said Chris Boyle, Garmin’s UK Marine Product Manager.  “And unlike many competing products, these new units are completely backwards compatible with the current Garmin marine line up.”

Both radomes also offer a full 4kW of transmit power.  The GMR 18 HD features a 5-degree horizontal and 25-degree vertical beamwidth, which allow for accurate target acquisition and separation, and boasts a best-in-class range of 36 nautical miles (nm).  The GMR 24 HD features an industry-leading 3.6-degree horizontal and 25-degree vertical beamwidth, and has a maximum effective range of 48 nautical miles.  For navigating in tight quarters, skippers can switch the GMR 24 HD’s rotation speed from 24 RPM to 30 RPM for rapid target updates. 

Like other Garmin radar (and unlike most competitors), these new units process signals within the radome via a digital signal processor, and is dynamically presented on a Garmin Marine Network compatible chartplotter/multifunction display (MFD).  Digital processing allows for more precise recognition, enhancement, and filtering of radar echoes – making the finished display easier to read and interpret.

The new units support all of the following features when paired with the appropriate Garmin MFD:
• MARPA (Mini Automatic Radar Plotting Aid) collision avoidance capability, which allows boaters to track the course, speed, and predicted closest approach (by both time and distance) of multiple targets.  Requires an optional heading sensor.

• Chart overlay capability, allowing boaters to reconcile radar signatures with known objects on the chartplotter.
• Split the screen between standard radar presentations and radar overlay.

The GMR 18 HD and GMR 24 HD feature sensitivity and tuning controls, including gain, sea clutter, and rain clutter – which allows boaters to spend less time tuning the unit and more time navigating.  The units also boast selectable interference rejection, which mitigates the effect of nearby radar transmissions

The radomes communicate with the Garmin Marine Network through a waterproof 100-megabit per second plug-and-play proprietary network – which affords users the ability to expand their boat’s system as needed.  A Marine Network cable connector kit is also included for customizing installation.  Like its counterparts, these new scanners come with a full two year warranty. 

Recommended Retail Prices:
Garmin GMR 18 HD - £1099.99 inc VAT
Garmin GMR 24 HD - £1599.99 inc VAT

Visit www.garmin.co.uk  for more information.

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