23 October 2002

Kelvin Hughes launches new Low Profile Antennas

Hainault, UK - At the recent SMM Exhibition held in Hamburg, Germany, Kelvin Hughes, part of Smiths Marine Systems, showed for the first time their revolutionary new Low Profile Radar Antennas for X and S Band Transceivers. The antennas will be manufactured at the Kelvin Hughes facility in Hainault, UK and will be available in 2003 for use with X and S band transmitters/ receivers and high and low speed turning mechanisms.

“This exciting development proves our dedication to the future,” says Ron Nailer managing director of Kelvin Hughes. “The company has led the industry with its innovative products for more than 50 years. It will continue to grow and supply the marine market with products that will satisfy the customer and improved safety at sea.”

About the Low Profile Radar Antennas

This development in antenna technology is the first major change since the development of the End Fed Slotted Array more than 50 years ago and is part of Kelvin Hughes’s future development of their systems.

The new antennas, against which patents have been granted, will be manufactured using a polyrod to establish the elevation beamwidth. This will simplify the mechanical structure and reduce the number of components used in the manufacture. All Kelvin Hughes systems will comply with the new regulations which will come into effect on the 1st January 2003 aimed at reducing the spurious emissions and ‘out of bandwidth’ transmissions of marine radar systems.