RAMAC/GPR
A digital Ground Penetrating Radar System

New!! Multi-Channel System

• Impress your clients & Your competition

• Ramac System Components

• Specifications

Features:

• Full frequency range, 25 MHz to 1.0 GHz, in a single system.

• Highest data quality available with true 16 bit A/D.

• Up to 200 Scans per second.

• Lower initial investment.

• Lower mobilization costs.

• Higher field productivity.

RAMAC's simple user interface is easy to learn

Lake Bottom Studies

Site Assessments

Geotechnical Studies

Concrete Inspections

Impress Your Clients and Your Competition

The Ramac ground penetrating radar system keeps you looking good and in control. Data collection proceeds rapidly and easily. Even your client may want a turn. Certainly you won't mind your client looking over your shoulder because you are confident in the data and the depth scale displayed. All it took was a quick and easy CMP measurement prior to running the profile. No need for velocity adjustments to the data that the client might see as questionable. You can even do some quick filtering in the field and point out the targets of interest.

The Ramac system exhibits the pride of design for which Sweden has a well earned reputation. This system is engineered to perform with true 16 bit technology. Configured with a powerful 32 bit processor, the RAMAC / GPR boasts the highest pulse repetition rate (100 kHz) and highest scan rate (up to 200 scans/sec) in its class. No other system comes close in speed or cost.

Your competitors will be both surprised and impressed. They will wonder how you consistently under bid them and deliver high quality results. It's simple: lower initial investment; lower mobilization costs, due to Ramac's light weight and one operator design; and higher field productivity. The Ramac GPR System can do it all. Frequency range from 25 MHz to 1 GHz; shielded, unshielded, and borehole antennas; light weight, cross country surveying in single point measurement mode, or continuous profiling at 45 kilometres per hour with a sampling interval of 10 cm. Owning a Ramac GPR system means operating with confidence that you can deliver the data without any compromise of quality. You can sleep at night knowing your clients will be happy and will be back again.

The Ramac GPR system uses 16 bit technology to create the cleanest, highest resolution data available. With a high dynamic range receiver there is no need to apply gain prior to storing data. Linear and exponential gains can be applied in real time or to recorded data for redisplay at any time.

Data quality is further enhanced by the faster operation of the Ramac GPR System. With a pulse repetition frequency of 100 kHz more than 200 scans per second may be collected. In the field this translates to being able to stack more times, improving your signal to noise ratio, while also being able to increase sample density along the profile.

The ability to stack more times while collecting data continuously allows for deep, weak reflectors to be seen more clearly, A programmable time window of up to six micro seconds allows for deep, probing which is particularly valuable in applications such as glacial studies.  ground penetrating radar.

Horizontal resolution, optimized by using high sample density along the profile, is most easily controlled through the use of measuring wheels. The Ramac GPR System offers a further enhancement for rougher terrain through implementation of a hip chain. The hip chain, or alternately the measuring wheel, are easily calibrated and sampling intervals are software selected. The thoughtful design of these options allows the operator to start and stop profiles whenever needed. Inadvertent backing up of the measuring wheel is automatically corrected and does not cause collection of unwanted data.

Further confirmation of system operation is easily carried out by calibrating the system using the velocity of air. This calibration routine provides a Quality Control check that can be documented. Though system calibration should remain nearly constant indefinitely, this does give a measure of confidence to clients and the operator.

Ramac/GPR was designed
to be easy to use.
You don't need to be an expert
to operate this system.

On the left. Antenna Case with 50,100,200and 400 Mhz antennas,
On the right Ramac System Transit Case.
The Ramac GPR System defines what a light system should be.

Colour display of underground storage tank profile.

Roadway Survey with 1 GHz antenna.
Water pipe reflections at left and road
filling at Right

Colour display of a water main profile.

Ramac System Components

The major components of the Ramac Ground Penetrating Radar System include the backpack mounted Control Unit, Transmitter/Receiver Electronics, the Antenna, and a Notebook PC Computer.

Low power consumption was a prime design consideration for the Ramac System. Minimizing power use allows the GPR to be designed with lightweight batteries and permit up to 4 hours of continuous operation. The result is a system that is very portable which is not dependent on a cable linked to a heavy power source. Cross country, difficult access areas can easily be surveyed with the Ramac GPR System.

Radar Control Unit

The Control Unit features a 32 bit processor which provides the processing power needed to allow the RAMAC system to collect data at such an unprecedented rate. The backpack carried unit, including batteries, weighs just 4.9 kg. Connectors are provided for parallel and serial data transfer, the external distance encoder, and the optional external triggering box, along with the fiber optic connectors. An optional 12V external power connector is also available.

Antennas

Lightweight, unshielded, bistatic, antennas are available with frequencies of 25, 50, 100, 200, and 400 MHz. Antenna separation is flexible, allowing collection of CMP type data for velocity calculations.

Shielded

Shielded antenna designs include 1 GHz, 800 MHz, 500 MHz, 250 MHz and 100 MHz. These antennas offer optional 12V external power supply for the electronics, but also use the same rechargeable battery packs as used on the Control Unit. Other options for these antennas include integrated measuring wheel, extension handle, and extended fiber optic cables and an external transmitter for transillumination and CMP measurements.

Ramac Major System Components


Antennas

Transit Case

250 MHz shielded antenna

Borehole

The world's only complete borehole radar logging systems (22-60 MHz) with a logging depth capability of over 1000 meters have been commercially available as the Ramac System since 1985. System capabilities include single hole and cross hole measurements as well as directional antennas that can be operated in a borehole as small as 2 inches.

The Ramac borehole antennas have now been redesigned to work with the Ramac Control Unit. The first generation of these new antennas include both 100 and 250 MHz dipole designs suitable for shallow crosshole, or single hole reflection, measurements.

The borehole antennas are powered by integrated batteries. For operations deeper than 300 meters use of a fiber optic winch is recommended.

Options

One of the favourite options of Ramac users is the hip chain. This inexpensive device consists of a two inch diameter wheel, wrapped with a few turns of a roll of 2700 meters of cotton string, connected to an optical encoder. Tie the end of the string off at the beginning of your profile, take up the slack by moving the antennas to the start of the profile, select start sampling (F8) and the magic begins.

As the operator walks, triggering at the preset sampling distance automatically starts. Stop to reset the gain, or for any field obstacles, and sampling stops too! Profile distances are recorded and a fiducial marking feature can be used to mark site attributes. Field notes may also be entered.

Reflection Profile. 100 MHz borehole
antennas 75 meters deep

Hip chain

A Measuring Wheel, quite often used in connection with a skid box, is a common feature of many systems. What makes the Ramac design unique is it's intelligent implementation. Quite often profiles need to be started and stopped in the middle of a line, and often the circumstances require repositioning the skid box.

When an operator backs up the skid box in this type of situation the Ramac measuring wheel does not keep recording. Only forward movement will add to distance down the profile.

Two sizes of Skid Box are available. One that holds the 100 MHz antennas and a second that can accommodate either the 200 or 400 MHz antennas. A flexible plastic sledge is also available that can accommodate either 100, 200, or 400 MHz antennas.

Field Computer

The Ramac GPR System requires a notebook computer to be in the field. Any basic PC with 8 MB of RAM and a hard disk will do. A rough guideline for the amount of hard disk space needed is that a 100 meter profile at a 5 cm sampling distance will generate a 2 MB file. Data is continuously written to the notebook's hard disk. It is not necessary to view the data as it is collected, but a handy optional PC holder is available so that the computer may rest at the operator's chest.

For those users who need a rugged, waterproof, tough field PC for the Husky line of field computers is offered. These units are delivered with operating software loaded and ready to run. The Husky uses rechargeable batteries for a typical field life of six hours. A spare battery is provided, and recharge time is about one and a half hours.

Software

With the only controls on the hardware being power switches one might think software set up would be complicated. But, with the preset defaults for each antenna, set up is surprisingly easy, even for the novice. The user interface guides you efficiently through data collection, filtering and printing.

Start up menu with antenna selection

Part of the simplicity of set up is due to only storing data in it's raw format. This makes gain setting more a matter of personal choice than a critical operating step. Profile length will be accurately recorded either by the hip chain or measuring wheel.

Fiducial markers can also be used. Data may be displayed in either linescan (grey scale or colour) or a single trace wiggle format.

RAMAC Software Running on a Husky Field Computer

Optional Survey Parameter Setup Menu

Triggering choices are by distance encoder, time interval, keyboard or manual external trigger. The Automatic Pulse Finder sets the first arrival at the appropriate time reference.

Time varying gain functions, topographic corrections and a broad range of filters are included available within the basic operating software. A single or double cursor function can be used to measure distances to and between targets. Any portion of a data file may be captured and saved to a PCX file. Any portion of a data file may be captured and saved to a PCX format for importing to Windows applications. Time varying gain functions, topographic corrections and a broad range of filters can be used to measure distances to and between targets. More advanced post processing software is also commercially available.

Display Setup Menu

Filter Selection Menu