Lcd Contrast; Locating The Sonde - RIDGID Scout Operator's Manual

Scout™ Sonde and Line Locator
tery power. As the batteries near depletion, the backlight
will appear dim. Near the end of battery life, the backlight
operates at a very low level to conserve battery power.
To set the backlight to always off, highlight the light
bulb icon in the tools section of the menu and press the
select key to toggle it between Auto and OFF.
Figure 18

LCD Contrast

When this is highlighted and selected the LCD con-
trast can be adjusted.
Figure 19
Use the up and down arrows to make the screen lighter
or darker.
Figure 20

Locating the sonde

The Scout can be used to locate the signal of a sonde
(transmitter) in a pipe, so that its location can be identi-
fied above ground. Sondes can be placed at a problem
point in the pipe using a camera push rod or cable.
They can also be flushed down the pipe.
The following assumes that the sonde is in a hori-
zontal pipe, the ground is approximately level and
the Scout is held with the antenna mast vertical.
10
IMPORTANT! Signal strength is the key factor in de-
When locating a sonde set up the locate in the follow-
ing manner:
• Before putting the sonde in the line, use the Scout
to make sure it's operating and that Scout is re-
ceiving its signal.
• Once the sonde is in position and transmitting,
activate the sonde and match the same frequency
as the sonde on the Scout. Make sure it has a
sonde mode icon.
WARNING
matches the desired use. 512 and 33 are available as
both sonde AND line trace frequencies. Using a sonde
frequency for line tracing or vice versa, can cause the
Scout to display incorrect depth information.
• Go to the suspected sonde location. If the direction
of the pipe is unknown, push the sonde a shorter dis-
tance into the line (~15 feet from the access, is a
good starting point).
Next use one of the following methods to locate the
sonde.
Method 1 – Maximize Signal Strength
1. Hold the Scout so the mast is out away from your
body. Sweep the mast in the suspected direction of
the sonde while observing the signal strength and
listening to the sound. The signal will be highest
when the mast is closest to the sonde.
2. Lower Scout to its normal operating position (mast ver-
tical) and walk in the direction of the sonde. As you
approach, the signal strength will increase and the
audio tone will ramp and rise in pitch. Use the signal
strength and the sound to maximize the signal.
Figure 21
3. Once the maximum signal has been located, place the
Scout close to the ground over the peak and move in
all directions. Move the Scout away from the maxi-
mum signal strength, to make sure that the signal
drops off on all sides.
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termining the sonde's location. To en-
sure an accurate locate, you MUST take
care to maximize the signal strength
prior to marking an area for excavation.
Be sure that the frequency selected