With no firmware being released for the Radar system for ages, is the radar dead and buried or do you think there is a market for a new version - maybe from another manufacturer?
Exactly what the others have said. My RTL seems to work exactly as it's supposed to, not sure why new firmware would be needed. Besides, new firmware opens the possibility of introducing new bugs to a stable product.
... do you think there is a market for a new version ...?
Could be that a future proximity-detection product from Garmin is LIDAR-based. Garmin now sells its LIDAR-Lite product, which it got through the acquisition of PulsedLight in 2016. Although the LIDAR-Lite is not currently an end-user product, it's conceivable that it could be the basis for a future replacement for the Varia radar.
It is sold by Garmin to retail consumers (unit quantities). It is not a consumer product but rather a component for incorporation into other designs. E.g., the product information page at Garmin.com shows it mounted on a quad-copter drone.
So for the DIY / maker crowd, it is something you can get and use (as in incorporate into a device of your own design). It integrates with Arduino, e.g.
Could be that a future proximity-detection product from Garmin is LIDAR-based. Garmin now sells its LIDAR-Lite product, which it got through the acquisition of PulsedLight in 2016. Although the LIDAR-Lite is not currently an end-user product, it's conceivable that it could be the basis for a future replacement for the Varia radar.
LIDAR beam is too narrow, the reason cops have gone to it is because it doesn't have the spread of Radar and you have less chance of having a detector pick it up and other vehicles within its Zone of Influence.
