Camera Locating

You're looking at a broken pipe or a root obstruction. But, if you don't know where it is, you don't know where to dig. Now comes the tough part - locating.

Some camera systems have footage counters so you know approximately how much push rod you've got in the line. And if the line is straight as an arrow, that might help a little. But if the pipe drops down 10 feet, makes a 90 to the right, goes 20 feet, and then makes another 90 to the left before it heads toward the septic tank, you could end up digging up some unhappy customer's rose garden when you should have dug near the willow tree.

That's where the locator comes in. Most pipe inspection systems on the market offer a locator as an accessory. By all means, buy it. Without it, your camera system has only limited use. Several manufacturers now offer digital locators - digital is more expensive, but easier to use, more accurate, and has push button depth finding capability. (More on that later.)

The camera is located by sending out a radio frequency that acts as a homing beacon. The locator looks for that signal and will indicate the signal strength on the locator's display panel. A nondigital locator has a gauge much like a voltmeter. A digital locator will give you a numeric readout as well as a bar graph. Both locators give you an audible tone that will change in pitch as the signal strength changes.