It is highly likely that if you are working within or with the underground utilities sector then you may have come across a variety of businesses that offer a wide range of cable avoidance tools. Now as a common fact, not all of these tools are great, some maybe not that promising, some of them may offer real measurable value to your business, and others you would not even want to touch.

With our immense hands-on experience and immense product knowledge, we are here to make it easy for you to distinguish between good quality and reliable cable avoidance tools and a budget-oriented option giving you limited functions and availability. But if you are just introduced to these fantastic tools, then it is not so easy to determine the right tool for your requirement and can be really hard to determine from where you should start. So, what are the questions which you should ask while browsing the right Cable Avoidance Tool for your requirement?

You need to think that will you be using the CAT in isolation or with a signal generator

This might seem like a trick question towards many as best practice requires you to always use a cable avoidance tool in contact with a signal generator. Studies have suggested that an average user can detect around 50% more buries services with the help of a signal generator than without. Also keep in mind that when used in isolation in Power Mode, a Cable Avoidance Tool can only detect cable through which current is flowing. So, if you are surveying a pavement at night when the streetlights are turned on, you can determine the cable positions very easily but if you survey the same pavement during the day time when the lights are not one, you may fail to pick them up.

The tracing distances

Almost all cable avoidance tools when used with a signal generator can operate using the two industry-standard detection frequencies of 8khz and 33khz. A little more advanced model will emit two additional frequencies which will help the users to detect signals over much longer distances. This can be incredibly useful when you are doing highway surveys or other large area surveys and can dramatically reduce the amount of time which is spent to reposition the signal generator as you start moving. It is always important to use the right signal generator and cable avoidance tool combination. You can carefully consider your application and the distances over which you would ideally like to trace before you purchase.

Will you measure the depth of the services along with the position?

Previously, the average cable locator would simply offer you with the lateral position of any services which are detected but now, in the modern era, technology has improved and certain models are also available which can offer you with a depth reading which is extremely important in the field of the service location. You may only be digging trenches to a depth of 1 meter, but if you can ascertain that the services are 2.5 meters down then while remaining cautious, you can proceed with a little more confidence.

Will you just mark up the services on the ground or store that for later analysis?

If you are just looking to mark the ground showing with market paint to show the location of your services for later mapping with GPS or total station then it is ideal to use a more basic tool. These tools can help you in identifying the lateral position of service and with some models can also ascertain the depth. But if you are trying to record location data while scanning, you may however need a more advanced model. These models have the ability to manage data in a variety of ways.

If you are looking for Cable Avoidance Tools, then you can get them from Dutco Tennant LLC. Dutco Tennant LLC is a leading and famous civil infrastructure product supplier in the Middle East and GCC area. We provide much such equipment in Saudi Arabia, Emirates, Oman, Qatar, and other nations. Contact us for good quality underground cable locator, and other such products in this area.