Articles on SharpEye™

A Commercial Perspective

We all know how difficult working in the marine industry is. Whether you are an equipment manufacturer, ship manager, superintendent or ship's Captain we all have priorities which often conflict. We want the best equipment but don't always have the budget. We want to be quick to meet our customers' needs but have to remain safe whether in a type approval process or a ship's transit. What I believe is that SharpEye™ delivers the best of both worlds.

SharpEye™ is a product that can be retrofitted onto an existing onboard display. That means it is available to you as soon as we have finished our sea trials early in the New Year. As early as July next year you will have a radar with a performance capability far beyond the reach of conventional systems.

In rain or in good weather SharpEye™ will provide better tracking and better visibility, which will lead to safer navigation. We certainly hope that the governing authorities take a good look at this technology and think about specifying this for the future.

SharpEye™ fits the envelope of an existing Kelvin Hughes gearbox, there is no need to change the mounting arrangements, so you will not notice any difference in the installation, or in the price of that installation

SharpEye™ is a product that can be upgraded when our new wide-screen display and digital processors become available later in the year. When the regulations for radar change in 2008 SharpEye™ will become even more capable. Linked to wide-screen display with a gigabit Ethernet cable you will have the most advanced system even then. Dual PPIs for example will allow monitoring of two different range scales simultaneously, in either head up mode or north up mode for example.

This will allow OOWs and Captains to personalise their radar configurations and still remain safe. It has all the characteristics that you need today. Its performance will far supersede expectations of existing S band systems. So in heavy weather you will be able to make good a decent speed whilst maintaining the utmost safety.

As there is nothing to wear out within the S-Band transceiver there is no need to restrict its usage. In fact I would not be surprised to see the SharpEye™ to be the radar of choice for anti collision as well as heavy weather operations. Subject to an annual test that could easily be combined with the VDR annual performance test Kelvin Hughes would keep your system running as long as the ship does. By using lower voltages and removing the magnetron we have been able change the way radar performs and ultimately how you think its service should happen.

Lastly but by no means least is the price. We at Kelvin Hughes know that you need to remain competitive as we do. The SharpEye™ system will be competitive with existing S Band systems. When we first embarked on this development we always wanted as many as possible to benefit from this technology and that safety shouldn't have to come at a ridiculous price. Yes the technology is advanced but latest innovations have enabled us to provide this military style technology at prices that are appropriate for the commercial shipping market.