Press Release
Plextek launches production standard version of its Blighter radar
Blighter 202 series with enhanced networking capability to be showcased
at Farnborough International Airshow
Plextek has launched the Blighter 202 series, a new production standard
version of its unique man-portable radar system ideal for numerous 'homeland
security' applications including area intrusion monitoring and airport,
pipeline and utility services protection. The Blighter 202 series has
been enhanced with a new state of the art electronic design and an improved
networking capability which allows multiple Blighter 202 units to be
easily linked together, along with camera systems and other devices,
for fixed wide area surveillance such as border security. A number of
other feature enhancements to improve detection performance, power consumption
and portability have also been made.
Plexek will be showcasing the Blighter 202 series radar for the first
time on stand C25 at the Farnborough International Airshow. A live demonstration
of the Blighter radar can also be seen at the BAE Systems Pavilion (stand
OE14) where Blighter features as part of BAE Systems' Deployable Surveillance
Unit (DSU) vehicle.
Mark Radford, Blighter Product Manager, Plextek comments: "We've
been evolving the Blighter radar system for the last three years and
with the 202 series now have a genuine production standard version on
which we can take orders. Blighter is still the only product of its
kind, in its price range, in the marketplace, offering an affordable,
man-portable solution to high performance security systems that have
traditionally relied on cameras and thermal imagers."
Blighter 202 uses electronic beam-scanning, with multiple scan modes,
to detect moving people and vehicles without having to physically rotate.
It is suitable for use in most weather conditions and can detect a single
person out to 2km and vehicles out to 5km.
Colin Smithers, Managing Director, Plextek comments: "The market
asked for a low-cost, covert, movement detection system that can be
networked with other sensors, and we responded. We've pulled on our
extensive defence electronics experience and been able to cleverly engineer
classic technology into a truly innovative solution which we fully expect
to transform the use of radar in diverse defense and security applications
across the world."
The entire Blighter 202 system, including integrated electronics, e-scan
antennas and built in GPS and digital compass is combined into a single
self-contained unit weighing just 15kg making it extremely easy for
one person to carry, set-up and use. An external 12V-battery pack and
wireless enabled laptop or PDA allow the radar to be operated in almost
any land-based location. Blighter 202 is an extremely power efficient
system, drawing only 40W from a 12/24V power supply, while various power
saving modes extend battery life even further by allowing it to 'sleep'
between scans. The Blighter 202 specification includes compliance with
FCC and CE type approvals.
Plextek have designed an interactive user interface to work with the
radars which indicates when movement has been detected by placing a
distinct marker at the target co-ordinates superimposed on a map of
the area. The radar can provide additional assistance with identification
by providing the target Doppler signature as an audio output. Plextek
has also offers a software development kit to allow the radars to be
integrated into third part display systems.
For more information please visit www.plextek.co.uk/blighter.
Issued 28/06/2006
