Walk-through metal detectors: choosing for your site
Screening equipment is bought on different criteria from prospecting gear. Nobody cares how deep an archway detects; what matters is how many people you can move through it per minute, how often it cries wolf, and whether it holds up in the weather and the traffic your site actually gets. This is how to choose.
Why multi-zone detection is the whole game
A single-zone archway tells you somebody has metal on them. A multi-zone archway tells you where. The Garrett PD 6500i divides the passageway into 33 distinct zones — three vertical by eleven horizontal — with LED indicators showing exactly which zone alarmed, so your officer knows to check an ankle rather than pat down a whole person.
That is not a refinement, it is the difference between a queue that moves and one that does not. Precise pinpointing cuts secondary searches, which is where screening throughput is won or lost. The PD 6500i carries transmitters and receivers in both panels, effectively working as two detectors scanning from both sides, which reduces how often you have to fall back on a hand wand at all.
Programmes, standards and false alarms
The PD 6500i ships with 16 independent programmes covering different installation requirements, including TSA and EMD specifications. That range matters because the correct setting for a courthouse is not the correct setting for a school or a stadium — you want to catch what you are looking for without alarming on belt buckles and phones all day. A detector that alarms constantly gets tuned down or switched off by the people operating it, which is worse than not having one.
Siting and power
- Passageway: 30" wide x 80" high x 23" deep, in an overall footprint of 87" x 35" x 23" — measure your doorway and queue space before ordering.
- Power: standard 100-200 VAC, 50/60 Hz, drawing only 45 watts, with an optional battery pack giving up to 10 hours cordless.
- Environment: IP55 weatherproof rating and an operating range of -20°C to +70°C, which covers Gulf summer heat and outdoor event use.
The battery option is worth more than it looks. Outdoor events, temporary checkpoints and sites with unreliable mains all become straightforward when the archway does not need a generator.
Hand wands: the other half of the lane
Every archway needs wands behind it, and the choice is simpler. The Garrett Super Scanner V at USD 950 is the long-standing standard — the wand most security officers have already used, which cuts training to nothing. The SuperWand at USD 1,200 offers 360-degree detection with a pinpoint tip, so it locates the item faster on a secondary search.
For most sites the sensible pattern is one archway per lane plus two wands per lane, so screening continues while one is charging. Rechargeable battery kits are available for both wands and are worth buying at the same time — alkaline cells in daily-use wands become an ongoing cost and a reliability problem.
Throughput is the metric. Everything else is a means to it.
Sizing your installation
Work backwards from your peak, not your average. A school gate at opening time, a stadium an hour before kick-off and a hotel during a conference all have a peak that decides how many lanes you need — and it is usually more than the daily average suggests. Tell us your expected peak throughput and the physical space available and we will tell you the lane count rather than sell you one archway and let you discover the problem later.
Also plan for who operates it. The best-configured checkpoint underperforms if officers are not shown how to read the zone indicators and clear a secondary search efficiently. We can walk your team through setup and operation when we deliver.
Buying, warranty and delivery
We supply security screening equipment across Africa and the Middle East from our Dubai base, as an authorised Garrett dealer, with manufacturer warranty and a commercial invoice on every shipment. Archways are quoted per installation rather than listed at a fixed price, because configuration and shipping depend on the site. Message us on WhatsApp in Arabic, French or English with the application — venue entrance, school gate, checkpoint, hotel lobby — and expected throughput, and we will specify it properly and quote.
