Yes, Humminbird has introduced a radar. Well, actually they’ve just announced that they’ll introduce it, for the 2012 model year. Still, this is quite interesting - and it’s a first for Humminbird.

This is going to be a four-kW, 21-inch, 36-mile dome unit, which broadcasts a four-degree horizontal/25-degree vertical beamwidthwill, and will work with the following Humminbird chartplotters: the 1198c, SI, 1158c SI, 998c SI, 898c SI, 958c, and 858c. It’ll offer basic features like gain control, rain clutter, sea clutter, and target expansion, but MARPA (Mini Automatic Radar Plotting Aid, which is essentially a collision-avoidance function) isn’t in the plans.

In other big Humminbird news, much of their 2012 line will  become NMEA2000 compatible thanks to a mix of software updates and the addition of a black-box and five-port ethernet switch. Hmmm… after parent company Johnson Outdoors brought the saltwater-targeted Geonav line to the American market many folks didn’t forsee this kind of evolution in the cards for Humminbird… just what are these guys up to? 

Yes, that 36-mile radome says Humminbird!