Magenta Electronics PI Kit

[Anonymous]

Has anyone assembled the Magenta Electronics PI Kit #847? If so, does it work well enough to be your only PI, or was it mostly a kit building exercise?

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Dan,
I built the Magenta 847 kit quite some time ago. It was more of a learning experience than providing a PI for my specific use. As for sensitivity, it was ok but nothing special. The delay is set up for average coin hunting so it doesn't do too well on gold objects.
I ended up modifying mine quite a bit to make it more sensitive. I also programmed a new pic to reduce the delay and shorten the pulse time.
When I quit working on it there were still a few things I felt it needed.
Without knowing what you plan on using it for, I would have to say it is more of a learning tool than a main PI.
Reg

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the response. I was more interested in a PI (I don't have one) than a kit building exercise. Maybe I'll just have to commit the $$ for a "store bought" PI.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Dan,
I didn't mean to discourage you. This kit does a good job of helping a person get a better feel of how PI's work. If you have the right test equipment and willing to make some mods to the detector, it can be made much more sensitive.
Like I said, it doesn't do bad on coin size objects but doesn't stand out in a crowd either. Considering the price, it does quite well. Now, if you have the means to program a pic then you can improve things quite a bit.
Reg