TRG-715

Synchronization is the key

Image of Triggering Device TRG-715

There are times when a double channel radar is not enough. There are available solutions with multiple channels radars from several manufacturers. GSSI offers a multiple antenna system with 14 antennas, the TerraVision. That sounds great, but what if you don't need fourteen antennas or don't want to invest in such a system? Then the possibility of using two independent gpr systems becomes more attractive.

The only problem with using independent ground penetrating radar units is the the fact that they are not synchronized. One solution is to feed both radar units with only one survey wheel. In many ocasions that might work just fine and nothing else would be required. However, in some other situations like surveying railway ballast at 80km/h that just might not be possible to achieve. The vast majority of the snap-on survey wheel encoders in the market are not prepared for this kind of high r.p.m.; we tried two FGMOD620 and ended up ruining both of them. So, what can be done?

Collect Asynchronously, Then Assemble Synchronously!

We decided that if we were able to put marks in the data files at the same time then it wouldn't matter if both radar systems started at the same time or even were running at the same speed. The only thing we had to do later on was to make sure that the markers from one data file and the markers from the other data files correspond to each other.

A simple arrangement with an ordinary push button would have worked just fine, except for the simple fact that we wouldn't have had any information about the distance! That's where our solution the TRG-715 excels, it puts the markers not only in two independently running ground penetrating radar systems, but also into a GPS correlated database.

What else do you need?

Besides the dual marker switch you will also need a copy of our software GeoPointer X©, and of course to install the drivers to run this unit. The unit comes with all the required cables and a CD containing the drivers and a small version of the software GeoPointer X©. It can be up and running in no time at all.