Magnetic Locator

> Anyone have any good ideas for a holster for a magnetic locator (non telescopic)? Ive tried a holster for a hammer and it doesnt work very well. Also I have an extra Schonstedt GA-92 XT for sale. Message me a reasonable offer if interested. It is retractable and includes the holster and hard case. Works great. I just prefer the old school ones.

I haven't found a solution either. I normally trek back and get it when I need it otherwise leave it in the truck. Sometimes haul it around with the other 10,000 things I need. I do like the older style better than the new one. But have adapted to the new one. Only thing is I always hunch down when using it because if feels too short! Hopefully someone has an answer to your question.

I have carried mine in a stake bag before. I bought a used pistol grip metal detector a few years ago just for those jobs where I had to hike in. If I am close to the truck, or use the atv or utv, I use the old style detector. If I am hiking in, I wear the pistol grip in. It is nice to have options.

smart phone with magnetometer app is even more portable.

I wouldn't get rid of my conventional locator, but if I need to pack light, I use my smart phone and leave the schonstedt in the truck.

What app are you using that is good enough to replace a real locator?

I have minimal success with those apps unless I was right on top of it.

I put my locator in my 4' lath bag along with shovel and laths.

> I put my locator in my 4' lath bag along with shovel and laths.
:good: I also keep a D handled drain spade in the truck specifically because it fits nicely in the stake bag for long walks.

Off topic - Regular shovel is a long handled one, which is typical in the NW. In Oklahoma crews rarely had anything other than the D-handled drain spade in the truck.

If you can't find a replacement then make your own. Why not just design one and send it to a 3d printer and have it made in plastic nylon.

Sketch me your ideas and I'll create the 3d model.

>D-handled drain spade

you mean a sharp-shooter?

🙂

> What app are you using that is good enough to replace a real locator?
>
> I have minimal success with those apps unless I was right on top of it.

You do have to be very close to the object for the internal magnetic potentiometer of the phone to detect the magnetic field. The app you use is irrelevant. However, it smartphone approach is pretty good at ignoring local attraction (like fences). As I said, I'm not ready to get rid of the real thing just yet, but in a pinch, the capability has kept me from walking back to the truck quite a few times.

My sense is that Schonstedt invented the GA-92xT for the same reasons you are now posting. I have both styles, and usually use the telescoping type for sheer convenience. But, I agree, for sensitivity, the non-telescoping stick is better.

Spoken like someone who has a 3d printer.

When I first started we just had a shotgun sling on the metal detector. Throw it over your shoulder and go.

Nope, I do not own a 3d printer.

I send 3d models to www.shapeways.com to be printed. The consumer grade 3d printers just don't seem to be quite ready yet to print nylon plastic.

Lee Green

For surveying that's the tool for digging about!

Sharp Shooter operation

If there is a surveyor that doesn't know how to operate a shovel, here is a video:

sharp shooter operation

My dad put me on the dumb end of shovels at about age 8 and I've never escaped!

Sharp Shooter operation

Those methods wouldn't get you through the grass in these parts. And I can dig a bigger hole with a sharpshooter than any of my non-surveyor buds could with a backhoe- in half the time.

Sharp Shooter operation

What's a sharp shooter? That's a spade where I'm from.

Steve

Sharp Shooter operation

> What's a sharp shooter? That's a spade where I'm from.
Kevin and Rajah spend the first minute and a half of this video showing you fellows what a shovel should look like.

Sharp Shooter operation

Yeah, they have chain throwing contests but who really needs that. To separate the real surveyors from the pack they should have sharpshooter matches. And not in the flower beds either, maybe a gravel road or even asphalt.

And from my past, if you break the handle you're dead. My dad was always on us boys about that, you guys don't know how strong you are. In those days you burnt the old wood handle out and put a new one in. These days you just throw the whole thing out and get a new one. I've broke a few sharpshooter handles also, but dad wasn't there to chew me out.