BEAM-SHAPING ARRAYS

While most radars employ patch-array antennas, Raymarine spec’d Cyclones with dielectric-resonatorantenna arrays. “The difference is the way the signal is fed to the radar,” Raymarine’s Jim McGowan says, adding that while these arrays are more expensive, they offer better control over the shape of the radars’ transmitted beams, bolstering performance. by combining long- and short-range pulses into a single, high-resolution radar image. “You can be sitting in a harbor, looking at nearby buoys and coastlines, plus distant islands, ships and storms,” McGowan says. “RangeFusion delivers a usable radar image from the center of the scope to the far end of its range.” ¶ Stereo manufacturers commonly use digital signal processing, which allows algorithms to adjust equalizer settings. Radar engineers can likewise use DSP to “teach” a radar what a specific return looks like. This technology, McGowan says, allows Raymarine to create better operating modes than analog filters. For example, “for Harbor Mode, we trained Cyclone to recognize lots of small contacts,” he says. Raymarine also trained Cyclone to expect glass-covered buildings and suppress their false echoes. ¶

Given that Cyclone was partially created for serious offshore anglers, it comes with Cyclone Bird Mode—which uses chirp capabilities to tweak the radar’s gain and tuning settings—and DSP to differentiate birds from sea clutter. ¶ Similar engineering went into Cyclone’s Buoy Mode. “We trained it to recognize aids to navigation,” McGowan says, explaining that buoys are typically augmented with a radio-frequency reflective tape. “We trained [Cyclone] to look for these signatures.” ¶ Cyclone is compatible with only Raymarine’s Axiom displays, and other radars still deliver more power; however, this latter spec could change. Overall, Raymarine’s Cyclone radar should help boaters get on the fish faster while dodging weather and potentially dangerous navigation situations. And given its ability to spot swimmers, it could help rescue anyone who goes overboard.