Mastech MS6818 Portable Instruments Wire Cable Tracker Metal Pipe Locator Detector Tester Meter AC/DC 12~400V

This product is as far as I can tell identical to Martindale CD1000. It has the same plastics, the same display, the same accessories and the same manual. There are not many times it has come into its own, and it can be tricky to set up and use. (The manual is poor).When it's an appropriate tool, it's excellent. My last use was to locate to the nearest centimetre, a transformer concealed above a featureless plasterboard ceiling. It meant that when I drilled a 80mm holesaw through to get to it, I didn't need to repeat it or to randomly pockmark the ceiling with random openings. I literally hit the thing square centre-on.Problems can come with too much sensitivity (meaning the whole room can set it off). The connection method for the transmitter also needs experimentation. Live-cpc can "activate" a whole house whereas live-N can provide the detail needed. The manual is rubbish and points none of this out, so some experimentation will be necessary to avoid concluding the instrument is useless- it's actually excellent in the right conditions.

The manual does not have any of the Transmission Codes listed with a short descriptor, these are referred to on page 15 with no further information. These codes are listed as: F,E,H,D,L,C,O,A, what are the technical ranges and purpose of these? Who knows, but you will only find one of them in the manual, nothing on the manufacturers website.This is so typical of modern/ Chinese manuals today, they contain everything except what anyone with a brain needs to know instantly to get the functional overview, I suppose RTFM cannot apply here as you would be none the wiser for reading it relative to setting up the machine for use. I have used Radiodetection, AVO's, Meggers and Chavain Arnoux systems, they all have the quick access description and the fully detailed manual as one would expect and even with that experience I'm blind to this machine. Is not the very purpose of such devices to give us eyes where once we could not see? Unbelievable!