Find's Treasure Forums - Technology Forum

Critterhunter (no replies)

Frank-S — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 09:28:54 -0500

You were looking for a small Minelab DD coil made by minelab.If you have a
Minelab Explorer.Its posted in the classified Forum.

DeepScan Pulse Power.... (no replies)

Joe(TX) — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 13:14:09 -0500

...type H....I believe that this is an early Eric Foster designed detector??....I would appreciate any comments from anyone that has used this detector in the past......Thanks Joe

DETECTOR PROTECTOR (3 replies)

digger247 — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 05:15:41 -0500

The DETECTOR PROTECTOR - EMI / RFI Interference FILTER
Has anyone used or is anyone using it? If so Doe's it work or help in any way?

This is what they say about it.

Shield your Metal Detector
from the effects of EMI / RFI

Stop digging dry holes. Immunize your Metal Detector from the effects of stray environmental EMI / RFI.
Erratic and false readings can be caused by electrical noise and surges picked up by the search coil and cable acting like an antenna.

EMI and RFI (ElectroMagnetic & Radio Frequency Interference) can reduce your detector's sensitivity and cause reading errors. Suppression of external electrical and electronic noise allows you to crank up your Metal Detector's sensitivity control for higher gain and deeper scanning. Get more reliable and accurate readings.

verylazybeachbum (2 replies)

mieczyslaw58 — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 02:05:52 -0500

Hello
You have not given me a link to the auction, and my friend lives in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and he bought the instrument from you through ebay for me.
Mieczyslaw

Goldscan 5c (2 replies)

mieczyslaw58 — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 11:11:50 -0500

Welcome Verylazybeachbum
If you wanted to sell Goldscan 5c I would have bought it, maybe you know who is for sale Whites 6000 XL Pro, Pro XL.Please for info on the post office.
> miniuu16@o2.pl <
Regards
Mieczyslaw

surf pi pro (1 reply)

worthy — Tue, 28 May 2013 06:57:02 -0500

hi there i have a surf pi pro pulse diver , it doesnt seem too sensitive to gold.i seem to have read somewhere about tuning a pot on the circuit board,can anyone shed any light on this? thanks Steve

Question for anyone that might know. (3 replies)

Frank-S — Wed, 22 May 2013 09:32:07 -0500

Is there a easy way to remove the insulation from small copper wire
without scraping it with a blade.Thanks

Coil question for Reg (6 replies)

Frank-S — Sat, 11 May 2013 10:01:30 -0500

Reg,
I have been tinkering with coils for my VLF Technetic G-2. made a fue test
coils DD, and coplanar coils.the coils with best dept make a lot of noise,some
will detect my hand, also when I touch the controal box it detects my hand.
Is there a way to get ride of the excess noise maybe put a cap between coil
and controal box.
When I take a fue turns of wire off coils there is less noise but less dept.
Frank.

Headphones (no replies)

ken ward — Sun, 05 May 2013 20:10:45 -0500

Does anyone know if the foam on the inside of my headphones can be replaced ? I have been using them for about 30 years now. The foam is all gone. Can I fix them? They are old fisher headphones.... KEN

Rej (1 reply)

mieczyslaw58 — Tue, 07 May 2013 15:50:20 -0500

Hello Reg
I have a request of the detector Whites 6000 Di Pro SL is a very good detector if I could recommend a detector which will be deeper ranged from whites but that was available and so I could buy it.
Regards
Mieczyslaw

Reg (no replies)

mieczyslaw58 — Sun, 05 May 2013 12:28:39 -0500

Hello Reg
Sorry about that, I mean Goldscan Geo radar on it writes TAKANEBE
It is in Poland on the auction, the equivalent of eBay.
Regards
Mieczyslaw
Poste>miniuu16@o2.pl<

Goldscan 5c (4 replies)

mieczyslaw58 — Thu, 30 May 2013 17:18:29 -0500

Welcome
Please for information about Goldscan 5c if it works as it says.
Regards
Mieczyslaw

Shape of mono coil field ?? (3 replies)

Tony — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:53:30 -0500

I keep hearing/reading that the shape of the transmit field is "cone shaped" but I am finding it is more like a "U" shape with the bottom of the U flattened somewhat......the "U" as you are seeing it right here as a letter is my idea of the transmit pattern.

My buried test target at 16" can be detected when edging with the side of the coil and is only marginally stronger at the center of the coil.

It is almost like the DD search pattern with deep detection across the width of the coil and not just the center.

I was surprised at the depth of detection when edging the target area with the side of the coil and therefore concluded that the cone shaped pattern doesn't fit?

Tony.

Coil extension cable??? Reg if possible (4 replies)

Tony — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 01:38:49 -0500

Reg,

I am wanting to extend the rather short cable on my mono coil with a 1m extension.

The extension cable is a third party one, typical from prospecting shops.

Are there any potential problems or performance issues to consider in doing this?

Thanks,
Tony.

Earphones for summer hunting?????? (4 replies)

Jim Robertson — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:53:53 -0500

Not sure to post this question but as summer grows near and it will be time to return to the beach. I will have to wear a hat this summer due to little or no hair. So my question is what earphones are good to where? I have been looking at ear buds the JVC xtreme xplosives also JVC HA-FX3X they run around $50. Just hope someone could help out with earphones!!!!!!!!!!!

Deepstar problem (6 replies)

gwarrow — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:01:16 -0500

Hi All,

I have tried to contact Eric Foster via this site to no avail, maybe the experienced amongst you all could help with my technical problem... here goes.... When the machine is switched on and being used the threshold signal remains on all the time (as opposed to at least on my machine with a threshold that slightly fluctuates when machine is in motion) and even if you place the machine close to a metal spade for instance it has to be really close before it registers a signal. This occurs when the Deepstar is fully charged and only rights itself when the battery indicator has moved to half on the scale. I have noticed this symptom has progressively got worse ie on more than several outings........... after being used for a period of time the machine threshold reverts back to normal and then machine operates as expected ie. it goes very deep as Eric supplied me with a fifteen inch search coil.

Could this be the battery? I have eliminated the search coil because it works ok with my mates deepstar pack? which is the same model ie the mk 1 or first model out ......I have noticed that the signal of my mates machine seems very lively to mine (his machine has hardly been used where mine has had some hammer) any thoughts?

Thanks in advance for any advice!!

Deepstar (1 reply)

gwarrow — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:03:26 -0500

Hello Im trying to contact Eric Foster re my Deepstar which is one of the early ones bought from Mold. I found a hoard of hammered coins and I think it was the 1st time the deepstar had been on the front cover ofv the Metal detecting magazine but now its not working as it should if any one can put me in touch with Eric it would be great.... thanks for your help in advance Graham

Question for Reg, about induction meter. (19 replies)

Frank-S — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 10:03:12 -0500

Reg, over the winter I made a lot of coils. some worked good, some not so good.
I used a hom meter.might need to try a induction meter to get better results.
Question how does a induction meter work.
Is it used like a hom meter or do you hold it next to a coil like a transformer with out
a core to get induction.Does the detector have to be turned on.
Thanks

Critterhunter (5 replies)

Frank-S — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:53:36 -0500

I made a picture of a small OO type working coil for my G2 with small wire.
Its the easy-est VLF coil to null and adjust that I have made so-far.Also a
picture of Soverign Pre-amp. I use public libary, dont know how to post it on
Forum. Will try,if not I might need your E-mail address

HH PI vs. high power PI's like TDI or Goldscan 5c (10 replies)

Phlipper — Wed, 29 May 2013 02:47:07 -0500

I have been rolling with a HH PI for wet sand and wading applications over the last couple of years. I really like them, and, as a matter of fact, have just picked up a second one for use as a back-up.

I know this question is impossible to answer conclusively because there are so many variable factors involved, but I was wondering if anyone could give me a rough idea of what the performance gain might be by going to a White's TDI or a Goldscan 5c or maybe some other high power PI over the Headhunter? I generally hunt a huge beach area with very fine sand an a large tidal range---8 foot +++, so I really need all the depth I can muster. I think my Headhunter fitted with the 11 inch coil tops out at about 14-15 inches on an average gold ring . At that depth, the signal is also quite small and easy to miss.

I am looking for real answers here, not baloney or fish stories. If I can only eek an inch or two of greater depth, my inclination is to stick with the Headhunter. If I can get substantially greater depth, I might take the plunge and go to one of the high power units. Thanks in advance for your input and experience.

Bob-L Coil message (3 replies)

Frank-S — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 13:52:30 -0500

Bob, You made a 5"x9" O-style coil for a Soverign. You did a very good job.
I am impressed with how well it worked and its dept.
Will you post wire size.TX and RX, resistance of TX and RX coils
and number of turns in TX and RX coils.
If you are unable to post, use my E-mail fjs5015@yahoo.com
Thanks

Fixing CZ6a. Can You ID This Diode? (9 replies)

Critterhunter — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 11:48:00 -0500

A friend had his brother solder in a new pin point switch to replace a broken one on his CZ6a. The pin point switch now works and so does the machine as normal, but the meter no longer moves to ID targets or to show depth in PP mode. I suspected his brother might have bumped loose a wire to the meter, so I opened her up and inspected things. Can't find any bad solder joints or loose wires, but then I noticed that the PP switch and meter share a common ground lead, and right near where he soldered the new PP switch onto this lead is a diode that isolates them both from the ground trace.

His brother is a goldsmith by trade, so I suspected right away he used a very hot soldering iron meant for doing jewelry soldering work to solder in the new PP switch and he cooked the diode. So I used the conductivity mode on my meter that will sound a tone if the circuit is complete. Flipping the leads of the meter to alternative sides of the diode back and fourth with the diode in between them (of course), I get no tone to indicate an intact pathway. Obviously diodes are meant to only allow current to flow in one direction, so I should be getting tone here from it with the leads the proper way polarity wise to allow the current of the meter to flow between them.

This diode is grey in color and fairly small, with the black band at one end to indicate the direction of allowed current flow. The diode says "Motorola K", and then below that it says "624", and then below that it says I believe 5B (reading this # backwards with a small mirror as it's under the thing, but I believe I got it right flipping things in my head here).

I've googled the part # and can find nothing to indicate what type of diode it is. My knowledge of diodes is a bit weak (been a while since I played with them in the past), but if I remember right once you know the type of diode it is the specs don't really matter, so long as it's rated to handle at least up to the voltage and current it's going to see in the circuit.

So what I'm trying to figure out is what kind of diode this is. For one, I suspect it's either a signal diode or zener type, and so long as I get one of those (whichever type it is) that can handle say up to 9V and say a current draw of 100 or 200ma I should be fine here? All detectors I ever checked the amp draw on were very low, such as in the case of my current Sovereign GT of around 50 to 70ma depending on if it's sounding off to a target or not.

Still, been a long while since I played with diodes, so I need a refresher here and any input as to type and suitable replacement I might find off the shelf at the local Radio Shack. Thanks.

PS- Before removing the old one, I plan to just jumper a new one across the circuit to bypass it and see if the meter comes back to life before committing to soldering a new one in. I also checked the meter with a slight bumping of it to make sure the needle wasn't froze and it moves easily. Thanks in advance for any help here....

My old Tinytec probe gets a new life. (5 replies)

knarfj — Sun, 19 May 2013 22:00:57 -0500

I bought this Tinytec probe years ago and it has served me well. Its like an old friend and I would hate to give it up. But time has taken its toll on my hearing and while wearing my head phones I was really struggling to hear the buzzer sound off when it was on target. In it's favor it also has a LID that lights when the target is located but as often as not the diode would be on the far side and out of site. No big deal I suppose, but was still a pain in the butt. But, no mo!

For the most part Ill let the pictures tell the rest of the story. Yeah right!:rolleyes:

At first I had the installed (see large arrow) mobile phone vibe-button wired in parallel with the original 6-V buzzer but a little voice and some weird sounds lead me to believe that eventually the extra combined load of both would be too much for the Tinytecs circuit. So I clipped the neg. lead to the original Tinytec buzzer.

How sweet it is!!:clapping: The newly installed vibe-button, when firmly attached to the Tinytec housing with its provided adhesive patch, resonates just perfectly. I not only can hear it better now, I can feel it vibrate in my hand even with my rubber gloves on.

Hey its not a Garrett probe:cry: but until that day comes Im better equipped and back in the game. Plus it was a fun project.

HH

Hammerhead detector - how does it compare? (1 reply)

glabelle — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:40:43 -0500

I'm interested in building Carl's Hammerhead detector. Thought I may try some optimization on it later, like increasing power to the coil and working on the preamp circuit. Haven't dug into its design really.
I searched for Hammerhead on the forum and found (surprisingly) nothing. Wondering if anyone has built it, and how does it compare to the well liked PI detectors?

Thanks, George

Coil question for Reg. (5 replies)

Frank-S — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:57:57 -0500

Reg, You been around a long time,have knowledge on old and new detectors.
I purshed a old garrett ADS at a flee market for $15.it workes.I know how to make
DD coils now.Do you know if the coil has electronics in it,the coil is 7" a
5.5 connector has 5 pin holes 4 around 1 in center.
Thanks Frank.

Came down here to ask a question?Metal Detectors (2 replies)

ohio fred — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 08:36:04 -0600

First question?When you turn on metal detector only a electric signal gos, out at certain Millie watts and Hz and nothing else?On the return signal is everything and you are really adjusting the software in the box ,so all machine are the same it is just who has better software?You are just adjusting signal to reduce background noise and separate everything?So if you had a ubs port and a flash drive you could copy the signals all day bring it home and if you had the app or software you could plug flash drive in your computer and do same thing as the metal detector .if you had all the major company,s software you could put it through each one.?Not sure if i stated this right, thanks for trying to answer.

goldquest ss v2 info help (1 reply)

mikey rsv — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 18:11:05 -0600

Hi all, just getting back into detecting after being away from it for many years ,tried posting questions on the beach forum without any luck, ive got a goldquest v2 which i love and was wondering the best way to go about waterproofing the housing or if anyone has done it themselves, also has anyone got any idea what these machines are worth these days? many thanks for any info , mike.

4" Long X 2" Wide Sniper Coil In Style Of SEFs For Sovereign (Or Any Other Machine For That Matter...General Questions Too.) (27 replies)

Critterhunter — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 10:37:17 -0500

I've toyed with the idea of building my own coils for my Sovereign GT in the past. Did a ton of reading and research on it. Then the SEFs came along and I figured I'd have to make several coils to make up for the cost of just buying a 12x10, because a coil of that general shape was what I was looking to build to improve both depth and left/right separation at the same time. This coil works so great that I don't even dare trying to better it with something similar in size.

But I'm still interested in the idea for a *extreme situation* sniper coil. Have a background in electronics so I can do the project, with enough reading to fill in a few blanks that I have.

I heard somebody mention it in another forum a while back and I think it would be a great idea- How about a 2" wide by 4" long sniper coil in the general style of an SEF in some respects? With a 2" or so wide width, the DD line could potentially be as sharp as a razor. I'm still shocked at how sharp the DD line is on the 12x10 due to it's shape which seems to compress the DD line width. And then, being about 4" (or say a tad less maybe even) in length, it's length wise separation would be outstanding as well.

A coil like this would be potentially awesome for working along fences or up against poles or other large metal objects, and of course would be stellar for working super heavy trash, such as sites that seem to be one big giant iron signal.

On the other hand, I don't know what limitations there might be in a DD's physical size in terms of length and width? I would suspect, that if Sun Ray can make a probe coil that ties into a BBS unit as tiny as that thing is, then you could get pretty small with a DD, although I doubt the Sun Ray's coil windings is anything related to a DD configuration. I would prefer a DD design due to it's awesome coverage and left/right separation abilites, not to mention they seem to be far less picky about alignment of the two coils compared to a concentric, and also the ability to suck up less ground mineralization, where a DD really seems to shine and punch deeper in my mineralized soils.

If anybody has any info on the specifics of BBS coil making, I still need to fill in a few blanks on that. I already have a schematic for the pre-amp in the coil, and being it's an off the shelf IC I can get that no problem, and easily pick up the few resistors or capacitors also involved.

Mainly I'm still fuzzy on the diameter of the wire and wire length to get the variables right for mating to the Sovereign, and how to go about fine tuning that. From the BBS coils I've read with a multimeter, despite shape or size, they all have the same readings on things like wire resistance, so I know you have to change length/diameter/turns to get certain variables within a window the detector wants to see. I've done a few custome winds on brushless motors for RC planes to get their amp draw, torque, or prop speed where I wanted it, which in a sense is very similar in the things involved- wire gauge, number of turns, etc. Just have to get the last few bits of things pinned down before building a coil or two.

Also, the shielding and such. One thing I hate is to shop via mail order. I'd much rather use parts at hand from local stores if I can swing it, even if the price is a bit higher on materials. Any useful items to shield the coil? I think I remember hearing that certain large capacitors have the proper shielding material in them that you can salvage for that.

As far as a coil casing goes, being such a small coil I don't think I'd opt for a commercial made product, unless of course the thing just looks killer. Instead, I'd probably just encase the windings in a solid pool of epoxy, poured into a custom mold of say 4x2 in size (4" long, 2" wide), and then make it look nice with a healthy dose of spray on bed liner like I like to use on the bottom of my coils to ditch the coil cover for less weight and no hassle of cleaning under them.

So if anybody has any bits or pieces to add material or technical wise on building a BBS coil, please give me any tid bits you may have at hand in advice...

Need your help PI In Hawaii (10 replies)

woodchiphustler — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 02:06:16 -0600

I just sold a forum member a headhunter Pulse Pi. He lives in Hawaii. While testing some samples on his lawn he failed to detect a small gold ring and quarter. Can someone who has been to Hawaii tell me the type of soil that's there? The HH PI has no ground balance on it and this may be the problem. The detector worked perfect here on the east coast. Thanks

Coil question (no replies)

Frank-S — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 10:23:59 -0600

I have 2 questions.
1-A detector coil has 2 coils inside,if you mesure restance what coil has the most
restance the TX coil or the RX coil.
2) I am haveing a hard time fine tuneing a coil.I can nul it, it works.How cain I fine tune the 2 coils in
it to get max dept.