Tarkenta provide power for a small radio transmitter placed in the drilling head which transmits information about the location and orientation of the drill bit’s face to a crew member, who walks directly above the drill head with a handheld monitoring unit. As a result of this information the drill operator can make changes to the direction of the bore.
Battery size and type vary with equipment model, and while the use of off-the-shelf rechargeable NiCad (nickel cadmium) batteries in the tracker will look to initially work it is not a cost effective option for the leading horizontal drilling companies. Conditions underground present a number of issues and Tarkenta provide specific longer life batteries, which overcome these issues and add two to three times the capacity of equivalent off the shelf equivalent, having a higher density of energy.
