Tracing Wire - After the Pro700 transmitter has been properly connected and verified to
have a good ground and power, turn on the Pro700 receiver by turning the volume knob
on the front of the receiver. Place the receiver near the operating Pro700 transmitter. A
beeping sound should be heard indicating that the receiver is working properly. A high
pitched tone could indicate that you are too close to the receiver or your batteries are
low. A fading signal indicates low battery.
The volume control on the front of the receiver regulates the loudness of the receiver,
both headphones and external speaker. Additionally, the analog meter on the front of the
receiver will indicate the reception power level visually. After connecting and turning on
the transmitter and turning on the receiver, point the receiver toward the ground and
listen for the beeping signal. The closer you are to the cable, the louder the signal should
be except for directly over the cable. Directly over the cable, the Pro700 works on the
NULL principle. This means that the signal nulls or stops when the receiver is directly
over the cable. If you are a little to the left or right, the signal will be loud but directly
pointing the receiver at the cable produces virtually no signal. In this way, the user will
know the exact location of the wire or cable being traced.
Finding Faults – Breaks or severe wire damage can be found with the Pro700. The
setup of the unit is the same as when tracing wire. The difference comes in the
reception. Whereas the traced wire continues to emit a signal along the path of the
cable, a break will cause the signal to stop at the point of break. A nick or damage will
cause the signal drop to a lower level but not necessarily end. Either the speaker or the
analog meter on the receiver will indicate this drop. The faulted area will also produce a
“hot spot” of signal right at the cut as the signal is lost to ground.
Be sure the cable or wire you are tracking is grounded. The signal needs a path to return
to the ground stake and without it, you will not get a good locate. A bad ground is
indicated on the transmitter analog meter when the needle cannot achieve a 4 or better
even at full power. In many cases, a direct buried cable fault will provide this grounding
and allow for a locate.
Do not let the receiver level go above 10. You are looking for a drop in signal and you
may not see it if the analog meter is pegged to the right.
The greater the damage, the greater the drop off in signal. Conversely, minimal damage
or weak grounding will show little change and are sometimes so small as to be un-
locatable with the Pro700. Practice and experience will help immensely in this task.
Finding Solenoids and Valves – Finding solenoids and the attached valves is easy to
do. If you want to find a particular valve, connect the red lead of the transmitter to the
station wire leading to that valve and the black to ground as described above. Connect
the Pro700 as above and begin your locate. When you reach the point where a
valve/solenoid is located, the signal will expand into a large (approx 2-4ft) diameter area
of signal. This is your indication that you are over a valve or solenoid. Additionally, the
signal should not continue past this point.
There may be more than one valve on the cable being traced. You may wish to continue
past the first valve located to determine if other valves are also located on this wire.
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