CRICKET WARNS OF HIGH VOLTAGE
October 1st 2005

The Cotec Cricket is a low cost safety device that warns personnel working near exposed high voltage equipment and power lines that the conductor they are approaching is live and dangerous.

It is so named because when a high voltage source is detected, the device chirps loudly in a tone quite similar to its namesake. It also emits a bright red flashing light from an LED. Should the user proceed towards the source, the chirping gets faster and faster until a continuous tone is emitted.

The Cricket has been developed in collaboration with railway electrification specialist Elec-track Installations. It can be worn fixed to a hard hat or handheld and pointed at the HV source. It uses a non-contact method of detection, picking up the radio frequency interference given off by AC power conductors.