ISEE Sponsor Spotlight: Dyno Nobel
Print this Article | Send to Colleague
Dyno Nobel’s Ranger: SAFE, SIMPLE, and SMART
Dyno Nobel launched the Ranger at ISEE’s Annual Conference on Explosives & Blasting Technique in 2022, and the rollout in the year since has been a massive success. There are over 114 units currently in the field, and many customers are now moving from NONEL toward electronic detonators thanks to the Ranger’s flexibility and ease of use.
The Ranger is a blast initiation system that was designed explicitly for the open cut, quarry, civil, and construction industries. The multipurpose device can be used as a Base or Bench Ranger to control the entire blast with two channels that can connect up to 300 detonators each for a total of 600. The Ranger also has a robust built-in long-range antenna that can handle even the harshest mining conditions with a range of up to 3 kilometers or 1.8 miles.
The Ranger stands out in the field for a number of reasons. Traditionally, detonators have been assigned a hole location only, and delay times are then set at the time of blasting. The process is often time-consuming and may introduce user errors. The Ranger’s flexible tagging option tackles these problems by allowing the user to assign both hole location and delay time at the hole or, alternatively, assign delay times at any time the user prefers. This feature enables the user to adjust the process to their needs, thus speeding up the tagging process.
The Ranger also offers a “tag by plan” option, which allows users to pre-design a blast plan using the CE4 Tagger or ViewShot Xpress blast application. The user then only needs to align the correct hole with the valid hole number on the tagger. The tagging path is flexible, so adjustments can be made to the plan during tagging and the addition of any new blastholes. This simple-to-use feature significantly reduces the potential for user error.
In addition to its tagging modes, the Ranger offers several key safety benefits. It automatically checks to ensure the correct number of detonators per channel and offers autonomous detection and testing of the detonators. Detonator energy can be monitored right up to the point of blasting for increased safety throughout the entire process, ensuring sufficient blast voltage at each detonator.
“Eliminating misfires is crucial to ensuring safety and productivity,” says Braden Lusk, President, Dyno Nobel Americas. “The Ranger delivers the safety and reliability that customers need by providing both automatic detonator detection and voltage verification in a rugged, easy-to-use unit.”
