Newbie from Down Under

[GroundScope]

G'day

Just found this Forum yesterday while doing a search for marker flags !! What a great resource.
I guess I'm new to locating, its not a well know industry in Australia ( are there any other Aussies here ) Ya know I guess there would only be about a hundred or so Locators in all of Australia, and there is only one In all of Northern Territory (& thats about twice as big as Texas).

I was a Lineman with our biggest Telco for 29 years & saw the Locating business from the other side, had at least one job a week fixing up a damage cause by a digger or fencer. I did get a few locate jobs & believe it or not I was using a Metrotech 480 Split Box locator, I never heard or RD's or any machine that could give a depth reading !!, No training , nothing, Just go & do this locate job with a machine from the 1960's .

Anyway I had to put in a new fence a few months ago so bought myself a Leica Digicat 550i & a Digitex 8/33 to do my own locate before starting the post hole Auger , I sure wish I had one of those Locators when I was with the Telco. ( Anyone in the cablevine use the Digicat ?? I cant find any referance in the search)

I spoke to a few fencers & they never get any of their jobs located so I decided there is an opening so I joined the local Nulca chapter and started my own locate business, Did the Nulca training & found that my Digicat has severe limitations as there is no NULL indicator so got a used RD4000 , You guys might think the RD4000 is old school now but after the Metrotech its like a Rolls Royce !!

Anyway - Im way off what I was looking for - Marker Flags, I just cant find them for sale anywhere in this country so I made a bunch using Bicycle spokes with Duct tape wrapped around the top & stuck to itself.

Great Forum, will be a regular visitor Im sure !!

[UULC]

Welcome GroundScope,

I have in my arsenal a RD 400, RD 4000, Metrotech 810, Pipehorn 850 and Shonstead. They all have their uses. I am also a member of NULCA. Glad you were able to find the vine. The bicycle spokes are a great idea. I am sure some on here might be able to head you in the right direction. In the Down Under you do not have a one call system? It is good to see other countries on her. Welcome.

[TheCableVine]

Welcome aboard. Glad you found us.

There is another locator here from Australia. He has the name 'Gas Man'. He's been around for a while.

Sounds like the market for utility locating is wide open down there. Start a one call business in addition to a locate business and you might be in the big money. Especially if it is mandated by law someday.

[FailedSafetyAudit]

Nice job starting your own business!! Best of luck!!!!

[FailedSafetyAudit]

Oh and don't forget the user Aussie Joe who is from Southern Australia.

[yahoo]

welcome post often.

[ifinditunderground]

Welcome to the show.

[james]

Gday Groundscope,

The flags you are chasing can be sourced from Seton in oz as i was also looking.
Cheers

[GroundScope]

Thanks Mate
Just looked them up - they must be gold plated @ $55.00 per hundred , but beats making them from bike spokes.

cheers

[paintitnow]

I would be going back to the jobsite when work is done and collect up and reuse those flags @ $55 lol

[mixkwikis1st]

Groundscope, you are on the cutting edge down there and filling a need will pay dividends no doubt. I'm the inventor, maker and distributor of a tool that uses a sawsall to mix spray paint. This could make a big difference to your business if you are supplying your own paint. My tool will eliminate the waste. Besides that, you won't be standing around shaking those cans by hand. That sucks and doesn't blend the pigment well anyway. Here in the Sates, the paint is supplied by the mother company, so waste isn't that important to the guys in the field. I've been on these job sites for 30 yrs and seen half full cans in the dumpster many times. Clogged up and discarded. If the pigment isn't blended , they clog. My tool blends the pigment in old cans and cold cans too in about 10 to 20 seconds ! I won't use this awesome forum as an ad op otherwise I'd post a quick link, but would like to help educate and make the world a better place through better tools and ideas. If you want more info on this cool tool, feel free to call me on my toll free line. 1-888-594-5649

[brehaut]

I am also in oz Victoria ballarat I found flags but in can't remember where I think it was for gold finding industry like metal detecting search for that stuff on the net if you have no luck ring me on 0402411843 and I will track it down.

[spencer newson]

Hi dude,
i had the leica rep come around my way some time ago with the old digi cat, i had it on trial for a week and i can quite honestly say that it was the biggest pile of horse shit that i have ever had my misfortune to use,
and i told the rep that too!! unfortunatly the designer was with him when he came to collect it haaaa
poor bastard didnt know where to look

[GroundScope]

Yo Brehaut, I did my Telecom apprentichip in Ballarat, still cant find the Flags for the right price, they cost 10x more here than the good old US of A,

Hey Spencer, Nice to get an honest opinion, Yeah, I concur the Leica is pretty limited because you cant check the null but I actually found a water supply line that the RD4000 missed, I do like the Waterproof Pelican case the TX lives in, I'll keep it in the truck as a backup but it will probably go on fleabay soon as my Pipehorn arrives

[brehaut]

Try these http://www.prospectors.com.au/c-37-stake-flags.aspx
if you find better i would love to know these seem cheap to me