Garmin GMR Fantom dome radars

by Ben Sandman on 23 Feb 2017 Garmin’s new GMR Fantom 18 and GMR Fantom 24 solid-state pulse compression radomes offer MotionScope Doppler technology and 40W of power – the highest in the industry for its kind.

Available in an 18” or 24” footprint, they bring Garmin’s award-winning Fantom technology to a smaller size and lower price point, making them an attractive option for boats where open-array radar isn’t an option.

Revolutionising the way boaters use radar, Garmin Fantom technology uses Doppler processing to detect moving targets in real time, helping users avoid potential collisions, find birds, and track weather. Upon detection, MotionScope highlights moving targets on the radar display with an easy-to-see colour so users can navigate around other boats or severe weather. Auto Bird Gain also allows boaters to easily locate birds at the water’s surface, indicating the presence of game fish.

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 also corrected for the boat’s rotation when an autopilot or heading sensor is connected to the Garmin Marine Network.

With its pulse compression technology, the Fantom 18 and Fantom 24 provide high resolution while maximising energy to enhance target detection. Pulse expansion can then maximise target size to help differentiate real targets from noise. The Fantom 18 features a 5.2-degree beam width, while the Fantom 24 offers a narrower 3.7-degree width that paints a very precise, high-resolution image.

Both Fantom radomes offer excellent range performance from 6m to 48nm, without compromise in ruggedness or reliability. Thanks to the dual range feature, boaters 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 skipper to keep a close eye on immediate surroundings and those on the horizon to ensure weather patterns, land and structure can always be observed.

The Fantom 18 and Fantom 24 feature low power consumption (less than 25W) and instant turn-on, so no warm-up time is needed and users can start tracking targets instantly. With dual radar support, Fantom radomes can also be used with a Fantom open-array, a GMR xHD2 open array, or a GMR xHD dome radar to provide 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 and reduce excess noise and clutter, while MARPA settings enable the tracking of 10 targets simultaneously.

The Fantom 18 and Fantom 24 are compatible with the new GPSMAP 752/952 and 1022/1222 series, as well as the GPSMAP 7400, 8000 and 8400 series. RRP from AU$2999.

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