All those water babies out there, meet the new Garmin 4kW GMR 18 "a space-saving 18-inch radar" which packs quite a punch regardless of its puny size. The 4kW GMR 18 was unveiled at the 2006 Marine Equipment Trade Show (METS) in Amsterdam and this small wonder is capable of transmitting four thousand watts of power!

The 4kW GMR 18 best in-class range is 36 nautical miles and it includes a 5-degree horizontal and 25-degree vertical beamwidth for maintaining accuracy in target acquisition and separation. The onboard digital signal processor helps to digitally process all radar data and it also supports MARPA (Mini Automatic Radar Plotting Aid) capability for tracking bearing, course, speed and predicted closest approach (by both time and distance) of multiple targets (number varies by MFD).

The radar is capable of communicating with Garmin Marine Network via a waterproof 100-megabit plug-and-play proprietary network and some other features also include; automatic and manual sensitivity and tuning controls, including gain, sea clutter, and rain clutter. Users can also subscribe to the XM WX Satellite Weather and XM Radio to access info pertaining to GPS, radar, sonar, and near real-time graphical weather data and audio channels via the GMR 18 in conjunction with Garmin Marine Network.he GMR 18 is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2007 for a suggested retail price of $999.99. For more info visit: http://www.garmin.com/marine2007/