| 摘要 |
A method of electronically isolating a conductor by sensing a current signal in the conductor, adjusting the current signal to yield an adjusted signal, and applying the adjusted signal to the conductor to oppose the current signal. Amplifying the signal, as well as phase-shifting the signal may adjust the current signal. The current signal may be sensed using magnetic induction, and the adjusted signal applied to the conductor using magnetic induction as well. The method is carried out using a clamping device that can further evaluate an environment of the conductor, by randomly changing a magnitude and phase of a test signal applied to the conductor, and examining a received signal in response to the changes. A tracking error in the adjusted signal can be handled by predicting a next required phase shift. Prediction coefficients can be calculated utilizing a least means square algorithm. The invention is particularly applicable to the location of obscured (e.g., buried) conductors, and can be incorporated into a cable locator system that applies a trace signal to the target cable to be located. When this trace signal bleeds onto adjacent cables, the clamping devices of the present invention can be used to electronically isolate those cables, i.e., reduce or eliminate unwanted currents arising from coupling with the trace signal. A conventional receiver can then be used to trace the path of the target cable without interference from the nearby cables.
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