Homemade Ground Penetrating Radar for Privy hunting

[tigue710]

do I see police radar detectors? Very cool. My digging partner and I worked with a magnetometer, but found it very unreliable. The unit I had access to could have been damaged also so we couldn't figure out if it was us, a bad machine or just didnt work in the first place. We practiced in graveyards with it first and the readings were 50/50 and did not read as they were supposed to. I know some people have had luck with them and the machine we used found a very good privy in Sacramento before we had it. Always wanted to try actual GPS. You need a license to operate them in some states though. I suspect the hard part with home made will be designing the software...

 

[Rufus]

The software is really user friendly (full color) and has standard GPR file format. Magnetometers are very poor for city work as any EMF prevents operation. This is a complete unit with cart and usb interface to PC. Will post more info soon. Karl

 

[Rufus]

GPR will never replace probing. It is great to cover large areas were probing is hard "Arizona soil". Then mark the spots and come back and probe to confirm. I actually use a T&T Tool slam probe and then dig a test hole. Software took hundreds of hours, actually lost track. FCC approval of system will cost between 15 and 20K at a certified lab. It will be legal in all 50 states. My goal was actually to make it for myself but it looks like I could sell it for the price of a high end Mine Lab and still make a little. Will post screen shots and finished unit soon. It will be housed in a Water tight Pelican Case. You can pull the unit or use a cart; cart will hold the PC. Also working on an Android app........for a tablet...... All the best and Happy New Year , Karl

 

[sunrunner]

well mate ,were just looking for bottles,right!your going to have to find,a hole full of indian qweens to cover you investment.

 

[Rufus]

Sunrunner,There are a lot of uses for GPR, utility surveys are the most common. But they are used for many things; archaeology, grave finding, landfill delineation, etc. These are the areas that have the market. Privy digging is just my hobby and I am benefiting from my work. I have dug hundreds of privies by using Sanborns and just by probing. But this unit opens up a whole new area. Scanned a ghost town recently with the second unit and found 8-10 privies in a nice row. It would have taken a week to probe and found them in 2-3 hours. Will attached some plots later. Also with GPR you can see right through asphalt and cement with no rebar. Karl

 

[Rufus]

Here is a plot from my second antenna; privy was under 3 inches of asphalt. Was given permission as asphalt was in very bad shape. Privy was 10 feet deep and plot shows information down to about 10 feet!

 

[Rufus]

I will give all bottle diggers a discount if I do sell any. My intent is just to use it myself as I have found more privies with it in a couple days of use than I could probe out in months. Will post the finished unit soon so everyone can get an idea of the size of the complete set up. Good digging to all and Happy New Year. Karl

 

[LC]

Is it just me or is anybody else experiencing pop up advertising that comes up when clicking on links from time to time . I think I may have a malware problem but want to ask to make sure . Replies appreciated ,Lou

 

[Rufus]

LC,
It sounds like your computer may have an issue as this site is clean of pop-ups.Karl

 

[slakoper]

How affordable would a unit like this be