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

NOAA weather radio NOAA Weather Radio NWR; also known as NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards is an automated 24-hour network of VHF FM weather radio stations in the United States (U.S.) that broadcast weather information directly from a nearby National Weather Serv ...

transmitters, LF PNT/ eLORAN 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 navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...

high-power low-frequency amplifiers and

systems,

medium frequency Medium frequency (MF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies (RF) in the range of 300 kilohertz (kHz) to 3 megahertz (MHz). Part of this band is the medium wave (MW) AM broadcast band. The MF band is also known as the hect ...

(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 p ...

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 range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) 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 ...

(HF) amplifiers for

dielectric In electromagnetism, a dielectric (or dielectric medium) is an electrical insulator that can be polarised by an applied electric field. When a dielectric material is placed in an electric field, electric charges do not flow through the mate ...

heating applications. Nautel is best known as the first company to develop a commercially available fully solid state broadcast transmitter.

History

Nautel was founded in 1969 in the rural community of

Hackett's Cove, Nova Scotia Hackett's Cove is a rural community of the Halifax Regional Municipality in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces an ...

. Its primary operation was building and supplying solid state navigation beacons for the Canadian government. To better serve the US market, Nautel Maine Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary located in Bangor,

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, 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 for the Canadian government, in 1970. This was a fully solid state unit operating in the 190–535 kHz Aeronautical/Marine navigation band. These transmitters were the first ever commercially available solid state transmission devices, all transmitters up to this point having been of the tube variety. Because of the greater reliability and longevity of solid state transmitters many of these early models are still in use today.
/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 is a radio station broadcasting at 106.1 MHz from Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, and is the local Radio One station of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. CBAM broadcasts with a power of 69,500 watts. History The Canadian Radio Bro ...

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 and on the air at transmitter sites around the world. Nautel's introduction of solid state transmitter technology has had a large 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