Patent ID: 7876090

Claim:
A calibration method for a hand-held locating device for locating lines which generate magnetic fields, the locating device comprising at least a first and second aerial, which aerials are arranged a fixed distance apart, with a calibration apparatus comprising at least a first coil configuration with a first pair of coils and a second coil configuration with a second pair of coils, which coil configurations are arranged a distance apart corresponding to the aerials, the calibration method comprising: generating a first alternating magnetic field of the first coil configuration and of a second alternating magnetic field of the second coil configuration in a specifiable ratio with respect to the strengths of the magnetic fields, the magnetic fields each being homogeneous within measuring ranges defined between the coils of each pair of coils, and the specifiable ratio being correlated to a distance parameter representing a distance from a line to the locating device; detecting the magnetic fields by means of the aerials positioned in the measuring ranges and deriving an actual ratio with respect to the strengths of the detected magnetic fields; and calibrating the locating device by using a calibration setting.