US Patent 11175427 Buried utility locating systems with optimized wireless data communication

Systems for locating buried or hidden utilities including a portable locator and associated portable transmitter are disclosed. The portable locator may include a magnetic field measurement module for determining a current signal in the buried utility based on a received magnetic field, and a receiver module for receiving data from the portable transmitter. The portable transmitter may include a data transmitter module for sending information associated with a current signal provided to the buried utility to the portable receiver module.