I looked it up - nice.
How is it at a 3 foot burial depth?
It nails it down to 5 feet. That's the furthest I've used it at. I would assume that given the way it works, it would be accurate to more than what a traditional backhoe could reach.
Keep in mind the fault indicated will be perpendicular to the ground. So if you're finding a fault on a slope, you need to dig perpendicular to the slope, not 'straight down'. It also helps to use a normal locator to determine the path of the cable first. You can pinpoint the fault either way, but it's much faster when you know where the cable actually is. And knowing the path of the cable can also help identify multiple ground faults should they exist.
I borrowed one of these years ago and was very impressed how accurate it was. I thought it would give me a general area to dig up, maybe 2-5 feet in diameter. But it found it very precisely. Ended up right where the teleco trenched and nicked a cable. So I put one on my wish list.
Later that year, one came up on ebay with a starting bid of 9.99. I put it on my watch list and figured I'd try to snipe it at the end. Turned out, the auction ended on Christmas Eve at around 4PM. No problem, I thought. We're knocking off at noon, so I'll have plenty of time to get home and check out the bidding. I get back to the shop and get shanghied for the entire afternoon. I suddenly remembered the listing, and jumped on to one of the office computers. I had TWO MINUTES left, and the top bid was.........FIFTY FIVE bucks!
So I logged in and hastily punched in a $225 bid just as the seconds were counting down. I hit 'Submit" just before the time hit 3 seconds left and hoped for the best. I ended up winning the dang thing for a whopping $85. Man, did I ever steal it! Maybe because everyone else was starting to imbibe in eggnog instead of bidding on fault locators on ebay. Oh well, their loss is my gain. I'll take it.
Turns out, the transmitter needed a new battery, but that was around $20 at Interstate Battery. I installed it myself as I'm pretty handy with a soldering gun. So for just a shade over a c-note I got a heckuva fault locator that has
more than paid for itself many times over. About half the time, it's homeowners who just need the locate done and don't need me to repair anything. So I just show up, locate the run, find the fault, collect the check and leave. No digging, no dirty hands and knees, no mud, no splice kits..... well, you get the picture. Best hundred bucks I've ever spent.
