Many, if not all electricity networks, are entirely repairable or upgradeable. Existing power lines that experience faults can be upgraded or repaired, but normally at high cost. It is virtually impossible to do any work planning for said upgrades effectively and efficiently without a comprehensive and up-to-date insight into the condition of the entire electricity network.

Power line inspections are best performed by helicopter. With experienced crew onboard which are able to interpret defects, excellent visibility, the ability to fly low and slow, or hover, make the helicopter the best aerial patrol aircraft around. The helicopter's ability to land immediately to evaluate activity in the servitude, or to provide real-time feedback, is a valuable assessment and prevention tool.

With our multi tasking helicopter platform, we carry out power line patrols and produce the following output:

• High Definition (HD) video of the servitude.
• From a 4-axis active gyro stabilised camera platform, slaved to GPS:
  • Hot spots anomalies captured with our Digital Radiometric Infra Red camera.
  • Corona radiation captured with our Bi Spectral UV camera.
  • HD video of selected tower hardware.
• All hardware defects are captured by experienced linesmen.
• High resolution still digital imagery of every tower position and of each type of defect found.
• The captured data is integrated into an interfaced report (soft and hard copies):
  • Digital images of tower positions and the recorded defects overlaid onto electronic mapping software (such as Google Earth).
  • All listed defects, prioritized for maintenance planning thereby providing the ability to predict line failures.
  • Real-time radiometric thermal images that accurately show heat patterns and thermal anomalies. Temperature detection ranges from -40°C to +120°C.
  • UV report showing Corona count where applicable.
  • The report serves as a comprehensive audit of network, listing all types of hardware installed.
  • The report allows the client to plan preventative maintenance or reactive repairs at a glance.
• Immediate, real-time feedback is supplied to the customer for priority defects, which if acted upon, will lead to the prevention of a breakdown.
• In excess of 500 km per week can be covered by air, depending on prevailing conditions.