PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-594
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 594
MAY 2002
PS 594
MAY 02
23
PM
Helps
Detector
Detect
Mines
One of the
worst
things that can happen
to a soldier is to step
on a land mine.
But
you’ve
got
-detect ‘em,
AN/PSS-12 Mine Detector…
Use fresh batteries. A new set of four D-cells lasts at least 12 hours of operating
the detector, but when you’re dealing with real mines you want real strong batter-
ies. Put fresh batteries in before you start sweeping a field and keep another fresh
Adjust It
Adjust the pole so it’s com-
fortable for you. Stand straight
up and hold the detector with
your arm straight and the head
parallel to the ground. If the
head is about 2 inches from the
ground, that’s a good length.
Sweeping
The most important thing is to keep the head no more than 2 inches off the
ground. If the head’s any higher, you could miss a mine. Don’t worry about bang-
ing the head against rocks. It’s sturdy and can take it.
Keep the head parallel to the ground as you sweep slowly with your arm fully
extended. Unless you keep your arm extended, you won’t fully cover the 2-meter
wide path your sweeps should make.
When you think you’ve found something, do a slow X-pattern over the spot. If
you’ve found a mine, you should get beeps in all parts of the X.
Squad leaders, keep tabs on
how long your people are
sweeping. The longest anyone
should sweep without a break
is 20 to 30 minutes. After that,
their concentration weakens.
Keep head
no more
than 2 inches
off ground
Slow X
pattern
identifies
mine
Extend arm
fully…
…and sweep
slowly with
head parallel
to ground
Adjust pole
for comfort
To
prevent
that
Storage
When you collapse the
pole for storage, don’t
brace the head on the
ground. That damages
the head. Instead, col-
lapse the pole by pushing
its sections together with
both hands.
Push sections together
with both hands
When you’re done, take the batteries
out. If they’re left in, they cause corro-
sion, which causes poor detecting.
Use new batteries and
keep spares in case
Remove batteries when finished
594. 22-23 (C)
4/2/02
10:51 AM
Page 1
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