TABLE OF CONTENTS There is an ever increasing range of commercially available equipment for surface-penetrating radar applications. There are now a number of manufacturers and suppliers of equipment, and a list is provided in Section 15.2. This Chapter provides a brief introduction to selecting equipment.
Prospective users of equipment must satisfy themselves that their selection meets their perceived needs in terms of application, material environment, speed of operation, etc. Section 15.2 does not imply any recommendation or endorsement of any of the products or their manufacturers. It is to be hoped that incremental developments in the overall performance of radar systems will result in a more sophisticated and user friendly generation of equipment. The end-user requires value for money, lightweight, compact, rugged equipment and easy to interpret radar images. The designers and manufacturers should be encouraged to meet these needs.
All equipment should meet National and International regulations and no equipment (of whatever age) should be operated in contravention of these requirements. Operators of surface-penetrating radars are required to comply with their country's licensing and EMC requirements and any safety regulations, for example intrinsic safety in hazardous environments.
As a general rule it is unlikely that one size of antenna will cover a full range of applications and it will be necessary to use large antennas to achieve greater range and small antennas to provide increased resolution. In general, manufacturers of surface-penetrating radar offer a range of antennas which can be used with a single control unit. There are considerable variations...
