PSA: That $250 ground-penetrating radar rental was a total scam for my backyard dig

I rented a GPR unit from a local shop in Austin to scan for old foundations before my garden project, and the thing kept showing false positives for what I thought was a buried wall. Turns out the calibration was off by a mile, and I wasted a whole weekend digging up old pipes and tree roots instead of anything historical. Has anyone else had a bad experience with hobby-grade radar gear, or did I just get a lemon?

2 comments

2 Comments

gavin_kim11d agoTop Commenter

Read a geology blog saying those cheap units are notoriously janky.

green.noah10d ago

Honestly I grabbed one of those cheap units off Amazon a while back and it lasted maybe three months before the readings started getting weird. Switching to a basic LaMotte kit for like 30 bucks made a huge difference, way more consistent results. The extra cost is totally worth it if you actually care about getting reliable data.