Warning: Don't sink $300 into that DIY ground-penetrating radar kit

I got excited about finding old foundations on my property out in rural Ohio, so I bought one of those off-brand GPR kits online for about $300. Figured I could save money over hiring a pro. After three weekends of fiddling with the settings, the only things I found were a rusty pipe and my neighbor's buried cable. The thing is super finicky with wet soil, and the battery died after an hour each time. I wasted 20 hours digging test holes based on false readings. My back still hurts from that. Has anyone here had any luck with these cheaper units, or is it always a bust?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_richard17d ago

stock antenna for a longer one" - did you find that swap made it any less moody with wet ground or did it just help with depth? I'm curious cause I nearly grabbed one of those kits last spring.

craig.john17d ago

Yeah that sounds about right. For 300 bucks you basically bought a shovel with extra steps and a lot of frustration.

craig.john17d ago

Built a similar one from a kit a couple years back. The trick for me was swapping out the stock antenna for a longer one made for lower frequencies, and I had to pack the battery compartment with a separate 12V SLA battery to get more than 45 minutes. Still only ever reliably found metal pipes and big rocks, nothing subtle like old foundations. Ended up selling it on Craigslist for 150 bucks and just rented a real GPR for a weekend instead.