Iris PC radar, a new face
Iris PC Radar is a relatively new product purportedly able to “interface as a slave or display-only with almost any radar antenna, and at present can control Raymarine, Kelvin Hughes and the Simrad/Koden/Anritsu family…soon to be more”. Moreover, “its 8-bit digitization gives far superior picture quality and sea clutter performance compared to ordinary boat radars”, and it incorporates a target tracker with AIS input and S-57 chart overlay (screen below, bigger here). Iris is currently marketed for harbor surveillance and is also integrated into the interesting monitoring and control system FT NavVision, but–head’s up, integraters and developers!–owner Ledwood Technology is “looking for partners to sell and continue to develop the radar.” My sense, by the way, is that 2007 is going to be a significant year for marine radar.
That’s pretty cool, especially being able to see the AIS targets over the radar returns.
This would be an nice ad hoc way of testing out some of the questions about A/B duplex/simplex AIS receivers. If the AIS circle stays over the radar return then there isn’t a problem, or if it starts getting misaligned then there is.
Maybe someone set set this up with a good view of a busy commercial harbor.
Bob
It’s always great to see new technology, but what’s so new about this? The Maris Radar/PC Board has been available for a number of years and is IMO approved.
http://www.maris.no/productlines/pc-radarkit/
I’m not saying this company doesn’t have something new, but their website isn’t informative. Making claims that “IRIS is a revolution in radar technology,” is a bold statement. What’s so revolutionary; have they replaced the magnetron with some device powered by dilithium crystals?
It really seems the word “digital” is being misused by so many manufacturers these days in refering to marine radar.
It would be great to know what the cost and device driver situation is like. If this thing had a simple linux driver, that would totally make my day.
I agree with jlaffite, while the technology looks promising, there is a lack of detail on the website. Under the compatibility section they mention that it is “compatible with major marine radar/charting units” but what does that mean? Does it mean that I can control the radar with my PC down below, but still use it with a traditional (Furuno or the like) box up on deck? If this thing is indeed low cost as they claim, it is very attractive. I have to say though Ben that your parting words that 2007 is going to be a significant year for marine radar only makes me hesitant to spring for this.
The AIS circle doesn’t stay over the radar – that’s why we’ve chosen not to combine the two. There are two problems with AIS data – you don’t know how old it is and you don’t know how accurate it is. We’ve found in testing that up to 20 percent of vessels can be sending wrong information – it depends on the setup of their equipment.
The big improvement with IRIS is that we use all 8 bits of digitised data in the picture whereas most people (Maris included) threshold it to 1 bit, losing most of the detail in the process. It means that we are not badly affected by clutter and noise like most digital radars and can do things like moving target enhancement to help the operator.
Linux drivers are pencilled in for development but no date yet. If enough people ask for it, it may happen sooner!
I have mailed IRIS for pricing, but have not yet received an answor. Maybee the product is not ready for the market. Maybee they are not ready to sell the product.
Has anybody got price information?
Michael
I have just received the requested prices from IRIS.
The basic price is 1200 GBP plus vat plus scanner or radar system. Then off course you can add several bells and whistles. If you want to exchange NMEA you can add 6-800 GBP.
Michael
Interesting.. I wonder if there are any other products of this sort?
Well, at least Iris is still around, though their site’s main index file changed to php:
http://www.irisradar.com/index.php