RADARTRON MICROWAVE MOISTURE SENSOR

• RadarTron measures the moisture of fine aggregates such as sand, crushed stone and other granular materials. Its microwave technology eliminates all errors associated with resistance and capacitance methods, guaranteeing an accurate reading every time.
• RadarTron 2250D gives you consistent concrete yield, consistent colour/texture, consistent workability, consistent strength and consistent durability.
• RadarTron has empty bin detection which holds the reading when material falls below the sensor, avoiding spoiled batches.  NOW with digital alarm output.
• Simple digital calibration through external computer.
•   Windows Graphic User Interface makes setup and calibration fast and easy - Watch 2 minute video.

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• Easily installed in the bin wall, allowing insertion into flow region above gate.  Measurement must be made on the material flowing out of the bin, not the stagnant material against the bin wall. One-hole mounting allows installation in bin. Can be installed in sand without emptying the bin. The easiest sensor to install.
• The angle of the sensing head packs the flowing material precisely during the flow period so that measurement takes place on compacted material This is important in achieving the best accuracy.
• Flow averaging software gives an average reading over the flow period and holds this reading between batches, eliminating errors caused by dry or wet spots. It is essential to do these three things to get accurate results.
• Linear output does not require curve fitting techniques during calibration, guaranteeing good results. 
• Insensitive to temperature; does not require temperature compensation as do other sensors. More accurate as a result.
• One-step digital calibration using laptop computer or batching system.   RadarTron is one step ahead;  no other sensor is this easy to calibrate!
• Can be calibrated to read surface moisture or total moisture.
• Multiple calibrations - up to 10 material calibration sets can be stored in sensor, for use in bins that handle multiple ingredients.
• Stainless steel body and ceramic faceplate for long wear free life;  The ONLY sensor guaranteed 5 years for wear and 18 months for internal electronics.
• RadarTron model 2250D is 3.5" (89mm) diameter, 20" (635mm) long with 7.5" (190mm) diameter adjustable mounting flange. Moisture range is 0-20% on building sand. Now runs from 12 or 24V DC power.  Output is analog 0-10V, 0-5V or 4-20mA signal plus serial RS232/485, industry standard, compatible with Hydronix, Command Alkon etc.
• Optional digital display for manual reading.
• RadarTron has been proven accurate and reliable in thousands of installations across North America, Europe and the Far East. We offer a free 30 day trial period in your plant. Alternatively, we can test a sample of "new to us" material to verify that it can be measured accurately.  Consistently more accurate than the oven dry tests you use to check it.
• RadarTron is manufactured in North America, guaranteeing you fast service, repairs and parts. Our instruction manuals are in North American English; you can read and understand them easily.
• RadarTron is used by some of the largest concrete equipment manufacturers. Call or Email us for names.

WINDOWS GRAPHIC USER INTERFACE

Single sensors can use either RS232 or RS485.  For multiple sensor systems, connect sensors in daisy-chain or bus fashion, using RS485.  USB/RS485 adaptor plugs into computer.  The RS485 protocol is Modbus compatible, allowing the sensors to be used in SCADA systems. Load the software onto a laptop or PC from CD or internet and run through the guided setup of your serial port. Same software is used for both RadarTron aggregate sensors and MixTron mixer moisture sensors.  They can even be connected on the same RS485 line if the batching controller can handle it.
	Click the Discover Sensors button and the software automatically makes the connection, runs through all sensors on the line and reports back as seen at left.  Each sensor is identified, showing you which ones are on-line, together with the current moisture readings in filtered and raw states and the temperature at the sensor faceplate.
Configuration screen allows entry of setup parameters with easily understood titles.  For more complex parameters, complete manual is available at the click of a button. Multiple languages are available directly on the menu - contact us for availability of your choice.
	Calibration screen displays current moisture value and raw value, plus temperature reading.  Table allows entry of oven-dry test results, along with corresponding sensor readings.  You can select or disable each set of readings according to a "consistency" value that shows the best fit of your readings, allowing you to obtain the best calibration curve. Up to 10 such tables can be entered for different materials, allowing the same bin and sensor to be used for these different materials with full accuracy.

Two 1400C RadarTrons installed side by side in sand bins.     

Why do you need accurate moisture measurement? In concrete production, measurement of the moisture in the aggregate allows the proper weight of dry aggregate to be batched. If the sand contains 10% moisture, when 1000lb is weighed out, the scale contains only 900lb of sand; 100lb of the contents is water. If the moisture is known, 1100lb of sand is weighed out, giving 1000lb of sand and 100lb of water. The proportions of dry ingredients are corrected according to the mix design.

If the concrete has to meet NRMCA, NPCA or State requirements for accuracy of, say 2%, and the batch plant accuracy is 1.5%, the allowable error on moisture measurement is 0.5% in order to keep the total within 2%. It is impossible to meet these requirements by doing occasional oven dry or Speedy tests, even if one person is employed full time taking samples and running the tests. A moisture sensor allows the moisture to be sampled all the time and guarantees that the weights meet requirements on every batch, as well as saving the cost of manual testing.

It is impossible to guarantee that regulatory requirements are met without some form of automatic moisture measurement.

More background information - Concrete, water and moisture

Other applications: RadarTron can be installed in vertical bins, horizontal bins, chutes and conveyor belts. On conveyor belts the sensor can be installed as shown here. The sensor glides on the surface of the material, compacting it and allowing maximum depth for best accuracy.  Shoe plate is chromium carbide cladded for extra hard wear.  Optional lifting cylinder pulls sensor out of material when not used, to reduce wear further.
	"Star" type plants - a difficult application but by no means impossible:  install RadarTron in the bin wall as close to the gate as possible. Where mounting space is insufficient for the standard mounting flange, use a 4" pipe welded to the wall at an angle, with a standard ANSI flange welded to the end as the mating connection for RadarTron's mounting flange.  Ensure that you angle it upward at 45 degrees and insert it far enough to clear the edge of the skip when it raises.   The illustration at left shows a good example of this type of installation in a Liebherr plant at Emirates Precast in Dubai;  ideally the sensor should be angled steeper upwards than shown.

Several RadarTrons can be easily connected to a computer or PLC. The standard analog output can be fed into the analog input of most batching controllers and PLCs.  The serial RS485 connection allows several sensors to be connected by a single cable. This connection is industry-standard and compatible with almost all batching controllers, PLCs and computers.  Alternatively, the RadarTron sensor handles Modbus commands for use in Scada systems.

Non-concrete applications: RadarTron is in use in many industries, concrete being the most common. Any granular material can be measured with the exception of metallic particles. Conductive materials such as carbon can be measured, as can most grains. As a rule of thumb, the smaller granule sizes will give better accuracy, 0.25" (6mm) and less giving more accuracy than the larger sizes. The moisture range depends on the bulk density of the material; in sand with bulk density of 100 to 150 lb/cu.ft, a moisture range of 0.5 to 15% can be measured accurately, the high end being limited only by saturation of the material. Lighter materials require a proportionately greater moisture range.

Before installing the RadarTron in a non-sand application, we usually test the material to ensure success. We need a sample of approximately 1 cu.ft. Call us to discuss your application.

Plastic pellets with moisture ranging from 0.01 to 0.1% cannot be measured with the RadarTron; its sensitivity is insufficient for this and similar applications. Call us if you are unsure, however.

RadarTron 2250D new features    Frequently Asked Questions on RadarTron  
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RadarTron cost/payback analysis     RadarTron evaluation technique   Concrete, water and moisture