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Many transmitters are equipped with some means of indicating the resistance of the
circuit that it is trying to pump current through and can indicate a measurement of the
current actually being transmitted.
Output current can be checked in several ways as follows:
1. By measuring the resistance of the circuit with an ohmmeter
When the resistance is less than approximately 80,000 , there will typically be
enough current flowing in the cable to allow a good job of tracing.
This is no guarantee that the transmitted current is passing through the target cable.
The measured resistance may be affected by other circuits or pipes electrically
connected to the target cable acting as parallel resistances. See Figure 3 below.
Figure 3 - Using an ohmmeter to measure resistance of the circuit
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indicate the approximate circuit resistance. A rate of four blinks per second indicates a
low resistance, almost a short circuit providing a very traceable signal.
A rate of one blink every three seconds shows a high resistance and a weaker signal.
3. By observing the signal power detected by the receiver
Signal level indicator numbers are displayed digitally on most receivers and
older models may display signal power with analog meters. The L1070 has both an
analog style signal strength bargraph plus a digital numeric readout. Tracing
experience gives the operator the ability to judge whether or not the numbers are high
enough.
This is the most practical way to check signal current flow.
Remember, the more current flow through the conductor the stronger the
electromagnetic field being detected by the receiver and the further from the conductor
being traced the less field is being detected.
Resource: Fault finding solutions by MEGGER
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