Page 61: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 2, 2010)

June 2010 www.marinelink.com 61

JRC America

Debuts of New River Radar

JRC America, in a joint development effort with

Campbell Transportation, introduced a new generation of the JMA-5200MKII and JMA-5300MKII, into the in- land waterway market. To fully assess the products, evaluations were performed on actual shipboard envi- ronments on three vessels: Bill Stile; Georgetown; and

Allegheny, in separate locations on the lower Ohio, Al- legheny and Kanawha Rivers. The test on actual work- ing vessels allowed operators to address their concerns in a real-world environment, specifically their concerns with poor close target image quality, ghost echoes, pri- marily caused by barges and power lines, and riverbank outlines with their current systems. “We are making progressive efforts to better the situ- ational encounters of our vessel operators by seeking out, testing, and providing our fleet with the best equip- ment available,” said Tim McCahill, Director of IT and

Communications, Campbell Transportation Company.

In addressing the needs of Campbell Transportation

Company (CTC), JRC presented the opportunity to test market the JMA-5200/5300MKII systems on CTC ves- sels. This testing was performed simultaneously using

JRC equipment in conjunction with the current systems to provide a clear evaluation. Most notable improve- ments included barge icons allowing the tug to see the barges (available in different sizes) on their screen while navigating; notable echo quality, even in poor weather conditions; superior radar picture quality; and the abil- ity to display the radar screen in a portrait mode while featuring the statue mile and rate of turn indicator on the display. Available in June 2010, the new generation of

JMA-5200MKII/5300MKII are the first systems to be marketed exclusively to the inland waterway market. “With the recent push to move more commerce from the roads to rivers in an already populated river system, it is extremely important the captains and crew have the best technology available. This industry has been neg- lected, navigating with a basic open water radar prod- uct. Unlike Europe with the Rhine River specification, the U.S. has not mandated any such provisions,” said

John Schwiering, Regional Sales Manager of JRC

America. As always, the JMA-5200/5300MK II is also equipped with the Constaview feature, offering in-house tornado technology, that uses three high-speed proces- sors, allowing smooth image rotation within millisec- onds, ensuring top-quality picture and split second speeds to ensure the safety of the crew and vessel.

For more information, Email [email protected]