Triplett Fox & Hound HotWire – PN: 3388 - Manual (Page 11)

Page 10
The HotWire Hound senses RF current flowing in a conductor or the Electromagnetic waves in free space.
In our application, we are interested in sensing the RF current in a conductor. In order for current to flow,
there must be a complete ‘circuit’. When it comes to RF, the ‘circuit’ is not obvious, as it is with regular
60Hz AC household power. With AC, its easy to see how the power source, a light switch, and a light
bulb are connected together to form a circuit. There are wires that connect these items to each other. In
contrast, because RF can ‘propagate’ through the air, it can form a circuit without any connecting wires.
Simply placing items next to each other will allow RF to form a circuit between them. To use the HotWire
effectively, we must understand how to manipulate these invisible circuits to our advantage, making the
current flow in the circuit we want to trace. Simply connecting a wire from the HotWire Fox to the wire we
want to trace doesn’t necessarily produce a ‘circuit’ that the HotWire Hound will locate and trace.