The kit
Locator limits
11 things filed against this subject, in every format the Bureau holds.
Power Mode Problems: What It Sounds Like On Site
A CAT running in Power mode on site, recorded so you can hear the response and where it becomes hard to trust.
Watch 1:36 →Earthing, Clamping, and the Limits of Induction
Where the earth goes and why it matters, connection angles at 45 and 90 degrees, double ended connections, and an honest account of what induction will and will not do for you.
Watch 1:26:46 →High End EM: Frequencies, Connections and Current Direction
Multi-frequency locators and what changes when you move up to them: frequency selection, distorted fields and what causes them, connection technique, and reading current direction to know which way the signal is running.
Watch 1:56:21 →High End EM Locators: RD8000, RD8100 and vLocPro2
The top end of the locating kit and what it does that a basic set cannot: signal strength and current measurement, what those numbers tell you when you are stood over a line, and the pipeline corrosion work these instruments are built for. Pete Ashcroft and Steve, in full.
Watch 3:44:52 →Power and Radio: What the Passive Modes Miss
Why passive scanning is not enough on its own. What Power and Radio modes can and cannot see, why the same cable answers differently at different times of day, pot ended cables, and what the twin aerial design is doing.
Watch 47:01 →The Problem With Relying on Induction
An outdoor demonstration of what induction gives you and where it stops being enough to trust on its own.
Watch 1:31 →Checking and Turning Off StrikeAlert on a CAT4
How to see whether StrikeAlert is switched on, and how to turn it off.
Watch 0:27 →The Genny First Approach Explained
Why the signal generator goes on before anything else, and what a passive-only sweep is actually telling you. The training video behind the method.
Watch 16:07 →Why You Connect the Genny First
Passive detection alone is not enough to find buried services. The Genny-first method, and why it changes what a survey is actually capable of finding.
Read →Detecting Plastic Pipes: Methods and Their Limits
Why a Genny and CAT cannot find plastic gas or water pipes, and what each alternative (acoustic, sonde, GPR, tracer wire, trial holes) can and cannot do on site.
Read →