Abstract Modification of pulse radiolysis (PR) setup and construction of a new laser flash photolysis (LFP) setup at the Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology (INCT) is described. Both techniques are dedicated to studying fast reactions in real time by direct observation of transients. Time resolution of the PR setup at INCT was ~11 ns, limited by the duration of the electron pulse. Implementation of a new spectrophotometric detection system resulted in a significant broadening of experimental spectral range with respect to the previous setup. Noticeable reduction of the noise-to-signal ratio was also achieved. The LFP system was built from scratch. Its time resolution was ~6 ns, limited by the duration of a laser pulse. LFP and PR were purposely designed to share the same hardware and software solutions. Therefore, components of the detection systems can be transferred between both setups, significantly lowering the costs and shortening the construction/upgrading time. Opened architecture and improved experimental flexibility of both techniques were accomplished by implementation of Ethernet transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) communication core and newly designed software. This is one of the most important enhancements. As a result, new experimental modes are available for both techniques, improving the quality and reducing the time of data collections. In addition, both systems are characterized by relatively high redundancy. Currently, implementation of new equipment into the systems hardly ever requires programming. In contrast to the previous setup, daily adaptations of hardware to experimental requirements are possible and relatively easy to perform.