[jasondclinton]

I've been waiting for someone to finally make a consumer stud finder that works and this just might finally happen after this deregulation of the spectrum.

The construction industry would hand over wheelbarrows full of money for a BLE phone-paired puck that located studs and pipes behind drywall. Someone could even sell a "pro" version that combined the data from multiple pucks to render a 3D point cloud of the inside of the wall on the user's phone.

[acmegeek]

Would the Walabot fit the bill for you? I bought one when it first came out and seemed pretty good. I haven't messed with it in a couple years though.

https://walabot.com/see-through-walls

This seems like a pretty good review:

https://www.bobvila.com/articles/walabot-stud-finder/

[jpm_sd]

I tried one and it's pretty disappointing. Plenty of room for improvement.

[hedora]

Most studs have things (like drywall) nailed to them, and the nails are usually made of iron. So, all you need is a high-power rare earth magnet. I use a particularly strong refrigerator magnet.

If you want to splurge (or are willing to couple trips to the coffee shop), you could buy one (or two) of these:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/C-H-Hanson-Magnetic-Stud-Finder-...

I was tipped off to these by the someone in the construction industry. He buys a few whenever they're in stock, so that he can have them in every toolbox, lose them, etc.

Note that, once you find a nail head, you can just leave the magnet hanging in place. If you have two, you can hang both, then use a straightedge or chalk-line to mark the point between the two where you want to make a hole. The fancy radar puck thing can't do that. (Maybe, someday, fancy AR goggles will solve that problem, but we're a long way off from that.)

[jasondclinton]

This doesn't work for conduit and plumbing. mmWave radar does.

[mycall]

Would this be it?

https://blog.vayyar.com/walabot-diy-2-launch

[neurodyne]

They also seem to have development hardware available https://walabot.com/makers

[hornej]

This stud finder uses UWB radar (lower frequency) https://www.amazon.com/Bosch-D-Tect-Floor-Scanner-Technology...

[mNovak]

As a radar guy I'd love to hear more about this. Stunned that's not a solved problem.

To be clear you probably wouldn't get a 3D view of the whole room, just a narrow window like a conventional stud finder.

[jpm_sd]

Yes, this would be incredible.