So: I am sort of a newbie, just enough knowledge to ask the wrong questions. That said, I'm 60 yo with a Physics degree, so... I'm looking for help thinking about this. I'm not very familiar with some of this science (i.e. radio transmissions & antennas, I guess). Trying to get smarter here.
I'm about to buy an underground line locator: a Ridgid SR-20. It's a fairly expensive ($1500 used) unit with antennas and circuits to try to tell you the depth and location of underground power and water lines. The water lines have to be metal, and are energized with an associated Transmitter. A number of transmitters are available, in the Ridgid line that would include the ST-305 and the ST-510, battery-powered units rated at 5 & 10 watts each.
Each of those transmit by attaching to the metal line, and to a nearby ground, and transmit several different frequencies: generally, lower frequencies work better apparently, by remaining more local to the line/less dispersion (might be improper use of a technical term).
Anyway: I'm a cheapskate, especially after having dumped $1500 into the SR-20, so I want to fake the transmitter (the ST-305/510 retail for $800/$2000 or something). But I can't quite figure out what I'm looking for: is this a sine-wave signal generator? Some kind of power-limited blah blah... uh, I'm in unfamiliar territory. I can tell that I'm trying to get the pipeline to function as an antenna, unless I'm even wrong on that. Any help thinking about this will be appreciated.
Thanks!
Oh, I meant to mention: these units transmit at specific frequencies, with 512 Hz often identified as ideal, up into the few thousand kHz.
I'm about to buy an underground line locator: a Ridgid SR-20. It's a fairly expensive ($1500 used) unit with antennas and circuits to try to tell you the depth and location of underground power and water lines. The water lines have to be metal, and are energized with an associated Transmitter. A number of transmitters are available, in the Ridgid line that would include the ST-305 and the ST-510, battery-powered units rated at 5 & 10 watts each.
Each of those transmit by attaching to the metal line, and to a nearby ground, and transmit several different frequencies: generally, lower frequencies work better apparently, by remaining more local to the line/less dispersion (might be improper use of a technical term).
Anyway: I'm a cheapskate, especially after having dumped $1500 into the SR-20, so I want to fake the transmitter (the ST-305/510 retail for $800/$2000 or something). But I can't quite figure out what I'm looking for: is this a sine-wave signal generator? Some kind of power-limited blah blah... uh, I'm in unfamiliar territory. I can tell that I'm trying to get the pipeline to function as an antenna, unless I'm even wrong on that. Any help thinking about this will be appreciated.
Thanks!
Oh, I meant to mention: these units transmit at specific frequencies, with 512 Hz often identified as ideal, up into the few thousand kHz.