Arrangement for eliminating interference from acoustic signals in a ground-borne sound locating process

Abstract

An apparatus including a portable receiver with an acoustic sensor and a magnetic field sensor is adapted for locating a fault in an underground electrical line by evaluating ground-borne acoustic signals and electromagnetic signals emitted from a succession of sparking arc-overs caused at the fault location by voltage pulses fed into the electrical line. The apparatus further includes an arrangement for eliminating interference noises from the acoustic signals, wherein the acoustic received signals are delivered to and stored in a memory, and then a respective acoustic signal is processed with reference to or in combination with a previous stored acoustic signal by a processing algorithm in a processing unit so as to reduce or suppress the acoustic interference noises in the acoustic signals. Start time points of the individual acoustic signals are synchronized with reference to associated electromagnetic signals. A result of the processing algorithm is supplied to an evaluating unit.