GPR – why do we have radio locating equipment on site but not a GPR Unit
It is mind boggling why we are so religious about having a CAT & GENNY unit on every site and not a GPR unit. What is the bloody difference between the two – the answer is NONE!
Some people think that CAT (on its own) will trace everything and that by waving one of them left and right will exorcise all underground gremlins. We know the answer to this question.
Lets be clear here about what CAT & GENNY can do – it can find only about 70% of services on average. And some of those you cannot find can be more dangerous than any power cable!
So do invest in this technology and have a clear conscious in case if anything was to happen.
Like with RD8000 model back in 2014 when it was £12k to purchase a set – what is the price of the same equipment today? Less than £4k.
So if we all start investing in GPR equipment it will become a very accessible technology at our estimate – £6-8k in 2-3 years from now (2020).
Is it a high price to pay for someone’s life? Lets leave it as a rhetorical question.
CAT & GENNY or RD8100 or other
We should not be making recommendations here – but there is a very critical difference between CAT and RD8100 or other more advanced equipment – RD8100 can find potted cables and it can also trace loose end cables.
The power of the generator TX-10 is much greater and it can also induce higher frequency than the one GENNY can produce. And this is enormous advantage.
Potted Cables – they are traceable! (OFCOM)
So why we allegedly cannot find potted cables? Thank to OFCOM.
OFCOM regulated the ranges of frequencies assigned to utility locating industry. And the range officially stops at 131kHz.
However – if 200kHz is used on a potted cable or loose end cable the signal will be induced and those cables can be traced with relative ease. Except officially you are not allowed to do it – and Radio Detection trainers will never say it officially in their training.
And also RD equipment has its range of settings up to 200kHz. So our view is – when a human life is at stake use it but only sporadically when no other option is available.
And as you can see a lot of things can be done – we can prevent accidents but only if we understand technology in full.
Loose End cables – they are traceable (OFCOM)
The same as described before – loose end cables can be traced applying identical methodology as for Potted Cables. Simply put a clamp around the cable running on the pole and even with no full closure on the clamp the signal at maximum strength on your TX-10 will be generated and sent down the underground route.
And then you can trace it with ease. Once you have established the direction switch to using induction mode and use lower frequency of 131kHz.