8 4 YACHTING MARCH 2018INSIGHTS ELECTRONICSfuture-generation Quantum radars will
have ARPA capabilities. “It was a hard-
ware hurdle to get Doppler processing,
but now it’s a software hurdle moving
forward.” ¶ Murphy says Raymarine may
roll out an open-array Quantum based on
demand: “We’ll see how the market pro-
gresses, but we won’t be releasing a ‘me-
too’ product.” ¶ Simrad released its Halo
open-array radars in 2015, becoming the
first recreational marine manufactur-
er to use a solid-state gallium-nitride
power amplifi er to transmit on X-band
frequencies. These radars didn’t offer
Doppler processing; instead the origi-
nal 25-watt Halo-3, Halo-4 and Halo-6
radars used pulse compression coupled
with Simrad’s beam-sharpening technol-
ogy. The company is allowing customers
recreational-radar product manager,
adding that VelocityTrack limits an-
tenna rotation to 24 rpm but doesn’t
aff ect the radar’s transmission scheme
or signal processing. “Dual range is also
unaffected, so you can use Halo with
VelocityTrack turned on or off and be
confi dent [that] core radar functionality
is performing optimally,” says Harnett.
Simrad’s VelocityTrack, like the Garmin
version of the feature, is friendly to those
who struggle with red-green colorblind-
ness. ¶ “You can choose any of our existing
color palettes,” Harnett says. “Approaching
targets are either yellow or red, depending
on the palette you choose; diverging targets
are always a blue-gray color.” ¶ Whatever
Doppler-radar technology you choose,
one thing is certain: Seeing is relieving.to upgrade new or existing Halo radars
with an unlockable Doppler-processing
software called VelocityTrack ($500),
which lets Halo radars graphically dif-
ferentiate dangerous targets from be-
nign returns. ¶ “We made sure that we
had ‘no compromise’ when Doppler was
activated,” says Mark Harnett, Simrad’sHALO UNLOCKED
Simrad’s Halo radar Velocity-
Track software unlocks the unit’s
Doppler tracking ability.810 Oregon Avenue, Ste. F - Linthicum, MD 21090 - Ph. 410-636-5991 - Fax 410-636-5995WORLD-CLASS NAUTICAL EQUIPMENT