New Garmin GMR Fantom Doppler marine radar
Garmin International
Garmin International Inc., a unit of Garmin Ltd., recently announced the GMR Fantom solid-state pulse compression radar series with MotionScope™ Doppler technology and 40W of power, the highest in the industry for its kind. Available in a 4- or 6-foot open array, the Fantom series uses the Doppler processing to detect and highlight moving targets to help users avoid potential collisions, find flocks of birds, and track weather in a single ping. With its pulse compression technology, Fantom provides high resolution while maximizing energy on targets to enhance detection and identification of targets. Pulse expansion can then maximize target size to help differentiate real targets from noise.
Featuring a unique design that’s smaller and lighter than previous open-array radar models, the new Fantom radars deliver high sensitivity for both close- and long-range without compromise in ruggedness or reliability. No warm-up time is needed, so mariners can start tracking targets instantly.
“Fantom is the first radar of its kind that allows mariners to see targets moving instantaneously thanks to MotionScope,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of worldwide sales. “Whether the targets are moving toward or away from the radar, Fantom provides instant detection, highlighting the targets on the radar display so you can navigate around other boats or severe weather, or toward fishing spots where birds are feeding at the surface.”
The Doppler effect is the frequency shift in the radar echo due to the relative motion of the target. This allows for instant detection of any targets moving toward or away from the radar in real time. MotionScope highlights the moving targets on the radar display with an easy-to-see color so that users can navigate around other boats or severe weather, or toward fishing spots where birds are feeding at the surface. When the Echo Trails setting is turned on, a fading “trail” on the screen can help easily identify the direction of the moving targets and potential collision threats. The trails shown are corrected for the boat’s rotation when an autopilot or heading sensor is connected to the Garmin Marine Network.
The Fantom series offers excellent range performance with close- and long-range detection from 20 feet to 72 nautical miles. Thanks to the dual range feature, mariners have the ability to see both close- and long-range simultaneously, with an overlay on a chart for one or both ranges. This eliminates the need to toggle between views, and allows the captain to keep a close eye on immediate surroundings and those on the horizon to ensure weather patterns, land and structure can always be observed.
These powerful new radars also offer Auto Bird Gain, a unique feature that lets mariners easily locate flocks of birds at the water’s surface, indicating a potential hot fishing spot. They also come standard with dual radar support that provides radar redundancy and more flexibility to view different data on independent display units.
Dynamic Auto Gain and Dynamic Sea Filter continually adjust to surroundings, water and weather conditions to provide optimal performance while reducing excess noise and clutter. And MARPA settings enable the tracking of 10 targets simultaneously.
The Fantom series is compatible with the GPSMAP 7400/7600 series, the GPSMAP 8000/8200 series, and the new GPSMAP 8400/8600 series. Expected to be available in Q2 2016, the Fantom 4 has a suggested retail price of $6999.99 US, and the Fantom 6 is $7499.99 US. Learn more at garmin.com/marine2016.