The new release offers clear, private dialing digital voice capability, group paging, high-speed data access and two-way texting as well as location tracking, atmospheric monitoring and productivity analysis, and is designed for everyday use as well as for post-accident monitoring and communications.
Installed along existing fibre optic lines, high-speed wired networks or StrataConnect wireless backbones, StrataConnect expands communications and tracking beyond the limits of existing wire and fibre. The system nodes that form the backbone are also fully recoverable, making them ideal for extending existing fibre networks into temporary work areas.
The system is compatible with any standard IEEE 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi enabled device, and the wireless backbone is capable of handling up to 300Mbps of data over distances of up to 1200 metres.
In addition to digital voice communications, StrataConnect offers mines Intrinsically Safe underground GPS-like location tracking along with wireless gas monitoring and continuous data retrieval that can be beneficial for calculating productivity metrics.
It can also track individual miners and mobile machinery day-to-day and post-accident with 100% coverage in an operation’s working sections. Wireless atmospheric monitoring is handled by the Strata/Trolex Intrinsically Safe battery-powered Sentro Atmospheric Monitoring System.
The Trolex Sentro wireless detector has a battery life of up to 45 days and a wide range of gas sensor options; data collected by the detector is streamed continuously to the surface over StrataConnect.
“StrataConnect takes the proven reliability of Strata CommTrac and the high-bandwidth capabilities of Wi-Fi and combines them into one multipurpose wireless solution,” Strata president and chief operating officers Mike Berube said.
“It is a highly flexible wireless system that supports countless peripherals for countless applications.”
He said that Strata has established a rental program for customers seeking the capabilities of StrataConnect that will eliminate their up-front capital expenditures.
“Mines will be able to rent StrataConnect at a monthly rate that is much lower than the maintenance and advancement costs of their current systems,” he said.
StrataConnect is available now.
