Dragon Radar

Dragon Radar (ドラゴンレーダー),^[7] called Bleeper (ポケットベル) in the Ocean Group dub, and Dragon Ball Energy Locator (ドラゴンボールエネルギーロケータ) ^[8] in the live action film, Dragon Ball Evolution. Is a tracking device that makes finding the Dragon Balls more efficient, compared to conventional methods.

Overview

The portable Dragon Radar was designed, and built by Bulma to help locate Dragon Balls. Although the Z Fighters' Dragon Radar was developed by Bulma, Bulma is not the one who developed the concept of a Dragon Radar, as Emperor Pilaf, as well as the Red Ribbon Army, possess Global Dragon Radars that are implied to have been invented before Goku and Bulma met each other. Dragon Balls emit a faint electromagnetic pulse,^[9] which Dragon Radars can detect. The Dragon Radar developed by Bulma points arrows in the directions of nearby Dragon Balls. Pressing the button on the top can cause the view to zoom out and show a more detailed map of the area.

Under certain circumstances the Dragon Radar can't detect Dragon Balls, as shown in Dragon Ball when Pilaf puts a Dragon Ball he found on a Dragon Radar-proof box, and in Dragon Ball Super when Emperor Pilaf's radar can't locate the Dragon Balls because they're hidden inside a certain type of metal which interferes with the electromagnetic pulse.

Story

Dragon Ball

DragonRadar(PtP) — Dragon Radar redesigned in *The Path to Power*

The Dragon Radar is first shown in Dragon Ball right before Bulma meets Goku on Mount Paozu. She uses it during their first adventure to find the Dragon Balls, after which she gives the radar to Goku so that he can retrieve his grandfather's Four-Star Dragon Ball. After the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament, Goku accidentally breaks the Dragon Radar on the Muscle Tower, so he goes to West City in order to find Bulma and repair it. He breaks it again while fighting General Blue in Penguin Village. During his search for a capable mind to fix the radar, Goku meets Arale Norimaki from Dr. Slump, who asked her father/creator Senbei Norimaki to fix it, but Senbei could not make heads nor tails of it. Senbei's genius baby boy Turbo fixed the radar while nobody else was looking, but General Blue steals it, so Turbo builds a new one using material from Senbei's airplane.

DBLocationsOnNamek — Bulma using the Dragon Radar on Namek

Before the Fortuneteller Baba Saga, Emperor Pilaf creates a box that disrupts the electromagnetic pulse given off by the Dragon Balls, which obliged Goku to visit Fortuneteller Baba in order to find Pilaf's Dragon Ball and revive Bora.

Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT

The Radar is used frequently by Goku, his friends, and Emperor Pilaf and his crew in Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball Super, but in Dragon Ball GT, the Dragon Radar is assimilated by the robot Giru, giving him the ability to find the Black Star Dragon Balls for Goku and the others.

Unfortunately, the usage of the Dragon Radar has severe consequences; due to the massive overuse of the Dragon Balls, the negative energy within them accumulated and resulted in the birth of the Shadow Dragons.

Dragon Ball Super

Emperor Pilaf uses a Dragon Radar to find the Dragons Balls, which were on Bulma's ship during her birthday party. Pilaf later uses the Dragon Radar again and manage to gather six Dragon Balls before Sorbet and Tagoma decide to take control. They use the Dragon Radar to find the final Dragon Ball so they can revive Frieza. At least a year after the battle with Frieza, Bulma gives Vegeta the Dragon Radar to find the Dragon Balls to summon Shenron to look for the final Super Dragon Ball before she creates a Super Dragon Radar.

Dragon Ball: Xenoverse

The Time Patrol have access to their own Dragon Radar, used by the Future Warrior in certain Parallel Quests where they must collect several Dragon Balls and carry them to a waiting Time Machine while fighting off various enemies (from PTO soldiers to Cell Jr.) trying to steal them. In addition to the Dragon Balls, the Dragon Radar used by the Time Patrol has been designed so that it shows the location of the waiting time machine as well. In Xenoverse some Dragon Balls may be hidden inside buildings or behind obstacles, forcing the Future Warrior to destroy them using Ki Blast attacks and skills.

In the GT Pack 2 DLC, in the alternate history of Age 790 (GT Era), Giru detects Eis Shenron's 3-Star Dragon Ball shortly after they (Giru, Goku, & Pan) encounter his brother the 4-Star Dragon, Nuova Shenron. Giru runs off with Pan following him, confused when he states he has detected another Dragon Ball.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2

"The goal of this quest is to collect the Dragon Balls hidden throughout the area. Use the Dragon Radar to locate them. Once your have a Dragon Ball, take it to the time machine and put it in by pressing . The Dragon Radar will show you the location of the time machine."
— Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 Dragon Ball Collection Quest Tutorial

The Time Patrol continue to use their own Dragon Radar which is used by the Future Warrior (Xenoverse 2) in certain Parallel Quests. It also plays an important role in Guru's House Quests where the Future Warrior uses it to locate the Namekian Dragon Balls to protect them from the invading Galactic Frieza Army. In Xenoverse 2, Dragon Balls after found more out in the open and do not appear inside building or behind obstacles as they were in Xenoverse (presumably this was to make it less frustrating for players who fail are had a hard time realizing Dragon Balls could be hidden within parts of a stage in Xenoverse). The range of Time Patrol's Dragon Radar can be changed to show how many are in the general area or precisely pinpoint a Dragon Ball's location (just like it can in the original series).

In Parallel Quest 44: "Dragon Balls of the Future", the Built-in Scouter used by Future Android 16 is shown to be capable of detecting the energy signature produced by Dragon Balls allowing it to act as a primitive Dragon Radar. In this parallel future timeline, the Earth's Dragon Balls are mysteriously restored without Future Kami and are detected by Future 16 who informs his companions Future 17 & Future 18 who decide to collect the Dragon Balls and make a wish. The Future Trunks of this timeline, though unsure how the Dragon Balls can exist in his timeline without Kami is determined to prevent the Androids from misusing the Dragon Balls. The Future Warrior can assist Future Trunks by using the Dragon Radar to locate the Dragon Balls before the Androids. Additionally, the Super Dragon Radar appears as a non-functional accessory.

Other Radars

Main article: Global Dragon Radar

GiruRadar — Giru's Dragon Radar function

Bulma's Dragon Radar is not the only device capable of locating Dragon Balls. Throughout the series, many other devices that work much the same way are also seen. One often seen is a Global Dragon Radar.

Red Ribbon Army

During their hunt for the Dragon Balls, the Red Ribbon Army have their own version of the Dragon Radar, kept in the Red Ribbon Army Headquarters. While this radar contained rough drawings of the continents on the planet to assist in knowing where to look, the radar contained two fatal shortcomings. The first was that it was not portable. As such, soldiers looking for the balls had to rely on instruction given to them by the HQ, rather than being able to search on their own. The second, and perhaps most crippling, flaw that this version had was its inability to zoom in. This effectively meant that the radar could only give the dragon ball's general location within a 100-kilometer radius, whereas Bulma's dragon radar could be adjusted to focus on much smaller areas until the precise location of the ball was pinned down. As such, large groups of soldiers have to be dispatched to the area involved, resulting in many man-hours of backbreaking labor and invading of innocents' homes.

Emperor Pilaf

Emperor Pilaf eventually built his own, superior Global Dragon Radar version. It is shaped like a globe in order to minimize map distortion. It is installed in his floating airship, and is able to show the Dragon Balls' exact location on the planet.

Built-in Scouter

In Xenoverse 2, it is shown in a parallel timeline that Future Android 16's Built-in Scouter can detect the energy of Dragon Balls, allowing it to act as a rudimentary Dragon Radar, though like the Red Ribbon Army's radar it can only detect a Dragon Ball's general location instead of a precise location, though it is overcomes one flaw of the Red Ribbon Army's radar in that it is portable as long as Future 16 remains alive and functional. It is unknown if the Built-In Scouter used 16's main timeline counterpart possesses this ability or if it is unique to one used by Future 16.

Other Z Fighter Radars

Koreandragonradar — The Dragon Radar as it appears in the live action Korean Dragon Ball film from 1990

Along with radars invented by villains, the Z Fighters also had many different Dragon Radars. Although these radars did not differ in form or function from one another, they were still different items. In fact, the Radar used in the majority of Dragon Ball Z is actually not the one Bulma introduced in "The Secret of the Dragon Balls" (that one having been stolen by General Blue, and given to Colonel Violet and later to General Copper).

Turbo Norimaki created a new radar for Goku when the old one was stolen by General Blue.
Bulma created a new radar at Master Roshi's prompting during the King Piccolo Saga.
In the movies Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn, Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon, and the beginning of the Shadow Dragon Saga, the Z Fighters split up into seven groups, each tasked with finding one Dragon Ball. It is presumed that Bulma made Dragon Radars for each of them, otherwise, they would not be able to find the Dragon Balls so quickly.
In the video games The Legacy of Goku II and Buu's Fury, the Scouter developed by Bulma can be upgraded to work as a Dragon Radar.

Video game appearances

Dragon Ball: Shenron no Nazo
Famicom Jump: Hero Retsuden
Gokuden series
The Legacy of Goku series
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3
Dragon Ball Z: Sagas
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai - Another Road
Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World
Dragon Ball: Origins
Dragon Ball: Revenge of King Piccolo
Dr. Slump: Arale-Chan
Dragon Ball: Origins 2
Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi
Dragon Ball RPG: Shōnen-hen
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z (equipable item)
Dragon Ball: Xenoverse (Used by the Future Warrior in certain Parallel Quests and Giru in the GT Pack 2 DLC story)
Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 (Used by the Future Warrior (Xenoverse 2) in certain quests and by Future Android 16 via his Built-in Scouter)

Trivia

DOufus Dragonall — Kerub from *Dofus* with a Dragon Radar

In the Dragon Ball episode 84 entitled "Rivals and Arrivals", the monk running the registration for the World Martial Arts Tournament is looking at a clock that closely resembles the radar.
The Dragon Radar in the Live Action Korean film is an old handheld LCD game. Possibly a Nintendo Game and Watch.
In 15th episode of the French anime Dofus: The treasures of Kerub, the titular character briefly brings up a Dragon Radar that he has in his possession.
The iPhone/iPod Touch application named DRadar emulates the Dragon Radar.