Generalized nearfield acoustical holography (GENAH) has been applied to the study of the radiation from the vibration of cylinders radiating underwater. This experimental technique provides a complete description of the acoustic field from the surface of the vibrator to the farfield. Pressure, vector velocity, and vector intensity fields in three dimensions are reconstructed from a (two‐dimensional) cylindrical hologram of the acoustic pressure measured in the nearfield of the source. One of the limitations of GENAH has been the use of a discrete excitation frequency, usually a resonance frequency of the cylinder structure. A new hologram had to be measured for each frequency of interest. We have eliminated this restriction by developing a broadband excitation technique, so that a single broadband hologram contains several octaves of information. The broad frequency band is derived from a one‐cycle, modified sine wave, which powers a mechanical shaker driving the shell. Narrow‐band holograms are then created from this broadband hologram by data reduction. Applying GENAH to these holograms provides a complete, three‐dimensional description of the radiation from the cylinder over several octaves. Also, the modes of radial vibration are obtained along with a three‐dimensional mapping of the vector velocity and intensity fields. Experimental results will be shown.