Thanks to Cannoneer #4 for sending me this, and this is an excellent addition to The Defense of Farms and Ranches post. The other thing I like about articles like this, is it highlights exactly what works and what doesn’t work out there. What these ranchers are dealing with, is a daily issue that has been going on for years. An individual protecting his land will come across a multitude of ideas, and try everything under the sun to get a job done. They will also be pushing that equipment’s lifespan to the limits, and all of this information about the products longevity and usefulness is vital to other end users and to the company that made it.
Personally, I have not used this product, so I cannot endorse it. I also have no connection to the company, and this just came across my desk as something that was interesting. If any FJ readers have experience with this equipment, I am sure the rest of the readership would be interested to hear about that-good or bad. –Matt
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Calif. Ranchers Wield British Radar to Detect Illegal Border Crossers
December 2009
By Grace V. Jean
LONDON — Frustrated by trespassers attempting to cross into the United States illegally, ranch owners in southern California have purchased a British radar in an effort to protect their property and to help Border Patrol agents nab more intruders.
The Blighter B202 Radar, developed by Plextek Ltd., an electronics and communications design consultancy based near Cambridge, U.K., detects people walking or crawling through the rocky, hilly landscape from four kilometers away, says Nicholas Booth, manager of Blighter sales and marketing.
The man-portable, scanning radar is mounted on a tripod and runs on rechargeable lithium ion batteries. It has a 20-degree wide vertical elevation beam that permits the detection of targets in the distance as well as up close.
“You can see people walking up and down the mountain and on the plains at the same time,” says Booth.
Traditional radars would require tilting to cover the same area.