Answer:
We won’t run through the whole technical side of things, with wave patterns and so forth. If you’re after that level of description just jump on Google and you will find pages and pages on it.
But in layman’s terms, we basically use a transmitter and receiver. With the transmitter we send a specific signal out along the cable or pipe we want to locate, and then with the receiver we walk along from the other end and pick up that same signal: then we mark on the ground where the signal is.
And that’s it. Those marks where we locate the signal actually show the place where that cable or pipe is.
It’s pretty basic, really, when you look at it from a layman’s point of view.
If you want to see it in action, then here is a video we did out at Simonds Stadium in Geelong, in which we are using your standard cable locator with a transmitter and receiver.