Peter Ashcroft Submitted 2018-10-17 11:05:02 When it comes to cable avoidance tools (known in the trade as CATs) there are quite a number of different models on the market Darius Slayton Limited Jersey , so unless you are something of an expert it can be difficult to know which one you should buy for your particular purposes.
There are quite a number of articles online about CATs and their different modes, and cable avoidance training. To be sure, you do need to undertake a training course in cable avoidance because just reading the manual is not enough. When learning to drive a car it is not enough to know all the functions: you need to get out on the roads and actually drive it, and the same thing applies to CATs. You need a training course that takes you out into the field for practical experience.
For sure, there are some basic models of CATs which work on two frequencies of 8khz and 33khz. Those are the two industry standard frequencies Julian Love Limited Jersey , but some more advanced CATs also operate on two extra frequencies which enable you to detect underground utilities over much greater distances. This is really useful when you are working over something like a major road and going to have to locate services for a half mile or so. It means that you won鈥檛 need to keep moving the signal generator nearly so often. The basic models are fine if you are only ever going to be working in a small area, but how do you know? As a contractor or sub-contractor, you really don鈥檛 know what the next client you work with will need.
Now that we have talked about the signal generator, let鈥檚 look at what the CAT can and cannot do. In power mode, a CAT can only ever detect power lines that have power running through them at the time. What that means is that if you are working in a street at night when the street lamps are on Oshane Ximines Limited Jersey , you will easily locate them. If you are working in the same street the following afternoon you will not locate them because the lamps are off.
If you know that every power cable in the area to be surveyed will have power flowing through it the whole time, then you don鈥檛 need a Genny (the term used for a signal generator). However, there is no way that you can be certain of this. Statistics show that up to 50% more services are located when the CAT is used together with a Genny. This is why you will see courses advertising CAT and Genny training, because you cannot really use a CAT effectively without a Genny. When used together, the CAT will detect plastic pipes Deandre Baker Limited Jersey , metal water pipes, telecoms, clay pipes, and more, which it simply cannot do without the Genny.
Would you like to be able to measure the depth of the services as well as their position? That question was actually posed in an article about buying a CAT Dexter Lawrence Limited Jersey , although heaven knows why. Of COURSE you would like to know the depth! It is one thing to know that there is a utility there, and completely another to know how deep it is located. If you only need to dig down a metre, yet you know the utility is three metres below the surface then you know you can proceed. You still have to be careful, of course. It works the other way around too. If you need to dig down three metres and the cable is close to the surface, you are going to have to adopt a radically different approach.
The short answer when buying a CAT is to get the very best model that you can. It will do more and will enable you to bid for contracts that you might not otherwise be able to Daniel Jones Limited Jersey , and you will get better results. You should also invest in superior training. Some courses offer Level 2 cable avoidance training to obtain the QCF Level 2 Award in Utility Location and Avoidance both on knowledge based and practical based assessments.