Nautel Ltd. is a Canadian manufacturer of AM and FM radio broadcast transmitters, navigational radio beacons, Differential Global Positioning System (

DGPS Differential Global Positioning Systems (DGPSs) supplement and enhance the positional data available from global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs). A DGPS can increase accuracy of positional data by about a thousandfold, from approximately to ...

) transmitters,

NOAA weather radio NOAA Weather Radio (NWR), also known as NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards, is an automated 24-hour network of Very high frequency, VHF Frequency modulation, FM weather radio stations in the United States which broadcast weather information direct ...

transmitters, LF PNT/

eLORAN Enhanced LORAN (commonly known as eLoran; also known as eLORAN, E-LORAN, or e-LORAN) is a long-range radio navigation system that uses terrestrial towers and the hyperbolic navigation technique. It is an advancement in receiver design and transmis ...

transmitters,

SONAR Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...

high-power low-frequency amplifiers and

systems,

medium frequency Medium frequency (MF) is the International Telecommunication Union, ITU designation for Radio frequency, radio frequencies (RF) in the range of 300 kilohertz (kHz) to 3 megahertz (MHz). Part of this band is the medium wave (MW) A ...

(MF)

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

and

NAVTEX NAVTEX (NAVigational TEleX), sometimes styled Navtex or NavTex, is an international automated medium frequency direct-printing service for delivery of navigational and meteorological warnings and forecasts, as well as urgent maritime safety inf ...

transmitters, and

high frequency High frequency (HF) is the ITU designation for the band of radio waves with frequency between 3 and 30 megahertz (MHz). It is also known as the decameter band or decameter wave as its wavelengths range from one to ten decameters (ten to one ...

(HF) amplifiers for

dielectric In electromagnetism, a dielectric (or dielectric medium) is an Insulator (electricity), electrical insulator that can be Polarisability, polarised by an applied electric field. When a dielectric material is placed in an electric field, electric ...

heating applications. Nautel was the first company to develop a commercially available, fully solid-state AM broadcast transmitter.

History

Nautel was founded in 1969 in the rural community of Hackett's Cove, Nova Scotia. Its primary operation was building and supplying solid state navigation

beacons A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...

for the Canadian government. In an effort to better serve the US market, Nautel Maine Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary located in Bangor,

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, was founded in 1974.Radio Guide Magazine cover story
Nautel diversified into the sonar market with the acquisition of Marport C-Tech Ltd., a manufacturer of military and commercial sonar systems in Cornwall, Ontario, in 2013. Nautel delivered its first transmitter, a

radio beacon In navigation, a radio beacon or radiobeacon is a kind of beacon, a device that marks a fixed location and allows direction finding, direction-finding equipment to find relative Bearing (navigation), bearing. But instead of employing visible lig ...

for the Canadian government, in 1970. This was a fully solid-state unit operating in the 190–535 kHz Aeronautical/Marine navigation band. These were the first transmitters made not of the tube variety (that were commercially available). Because of the greater reliability and longevity of solid state transmitters many of these early models are still in use today.Nautel equipment archive
/ref> The introduction of 10 kW and 50 kW solid state AM transmitters from Nautel in 1982 and 1985 was another first for the broadcast industry. The first 50 kW AM transmitter from Nautel was purchased by

CBA (AM) CBAM-FM (106.1 MHz) is a public, non-commercial radio station in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. It is the local Radio One station of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The studios and offices are at 165 Main Street, in a building known as ...

in Moncton where it remained operational until April 8, 2008, when the station's AM signal was taken off the air.CBC New Brunswick
Although commonplace today, solid state transmitter technology was non-existent before Nautel entered the market. More than 30 years after being introduced, many of Nautel's first generation of AM transmitters can still be found operational at transmitter sites around the world. Nautel's introduction of solid state transmitter technology has had a significant impact on the radio broadcast industry. As the benefits of solid state technology became clear, the industry began to shift away from the use of tube transmitters and began to adopt the more reliable and efficient solid state designs. By the early 1990s, solid state transmitters were being widely used in radio broadcasting, while sales of vacuum tube transmitters began to decline. Since its inception in 1969, Nautel has focused solely on solid state broadcast technology with a lineup of 100% solid state radio transmitters at power levels ranging from 300 W to 2,000 kW. With the July 10, 2014 shutdown of Larcan, Nautel is the only Canadian manufacturer of broadcast transmitters. Nautel's founder, Dennis Covill, was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada on December 30, 2012.{{Cite web, url=http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=14904, title=The Governor General of Canada, last=General, first=The Office of the Secretary to the Governor, language=en, access-date=2017-09-08

References

External links

Nautel Broadcast website

Nautel Navigation website

Nautel Sonar website

Nautel Power website
Radio technology Manufacturing companies of Canada Companies based in Halifax, Nova Scotia Companies based in Nova Scotia Manufacturing companies established in 1969 Telecommunications companies established in 1969 1969 establishments in Nova Scotia