Garmin just launched its new GMR Fantom 254/256 open-array radar series, and the company says it’s the highest-powered solid-state marine radar on the market.
The new Fantom radars have 250W of pulse compression power, and they can detect targets from just 20 feet away to 96 nm away, providing the best short- and long-range target detection and consistency. They more than double the power of Garmin’s existing series, and they maximize energy and range resolution for cruising boat owners.
The Fantom 254/256 use Garmin’s MotionScope technology with an adjustable speed threshold to detect and highlight moving targets, in different colors, in real time, helping to avoid collisions, track weather, or find flocks of birds.
New scan-to-scan averaging reduces sea clutter in the display to strengthen long-range performance, provide a clear scope of the waters ahead, and improve situational awareness. Also new is the mini-automatic radar plotting aid (MARPA) that lets captains track up to 30 targets with no user prompting.
“The increased power and pulse compression technology of the new Fantom 254/256 radars gives best-in-class target detection range and image resolution, making them the ideal radar solution for anyone desiring to equip their vessel with the highest-end marine tech,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin’s vice president of global consumer sales. “New features, like scan-to-scan averaging and MARPA Automatic Acquisition, optimize ease-of-use to better explore everything from shorelines to open ocean.”
The new Fantom 254/256 radars are compatible with many existing Garmin MFDs and chartplotters. The Fantom 254 is available in a 4-foot open array, and costs $9,999. The Fantom 256 comes in a 6-foot array and costs $10,499. Read more:
