The Basics Part 1-1: Locating Methods

Most of the filming done for this training project took place at Staking University in Manteno, Illinois. The skilled trainers at Staking U are familiar with almost every utility installed on the campus as far back as the 1930s to 1940s, and this created the perfect setup to demonstrate different locating scenarios and techniques. 

The transmitter is the key to the electromagnetic locating instrument. Proper use of the transmitter is what gives us the ability to receive good signal with the receiver. The Basics video series begins with a lesson on the two ways to energize a line with the transmitter—conductive and inductive. 

Conductive is another way of saying that we are making a metal-to-metal connection between the metal pipe or cable and earth—the two conductors in every locating circuit (Figure 1).