HH3 premises

[Tinkerer]

For a worst case scenario extreme mineralized soil here would be ironstone .. you could run a magnet across the ground and pick up ironstone pebbles.

How does it affect the metal detector? Is it like sweeping a crown cork across the coil? Or like a 1 Inch steel nut?

At what distance from the coil?

Tinkerer

[gef12]

It would have a wideband type affect since it is not a single target so to speak.
The ground could be simulated I guess using a piece of ferrite rod .. Have used about an inch length of ferrite on my vlf machine to see if I can null it out and at the same time detect a small gold nugget. If you can detect a non-ferrous target over your piece of ferrite you maybe in business. This would indicate an extreme case of mineralisation. The ground adjust has to be manually variable or auto adjust thou as there are differing grades of mineralised ground in any one particular area. If you can get hold of some magnetite or hematite ... that would be good also as another heavy ground type to null out. It would be good to have a test bed if you could with the magnetite / hematite blended with other gravels, that way you could bury your test target .. balance the machine and see if you could see it.

[der_fisherman]

Motherboards

This seems to me to be an excellent starting point, Carl-NC.

Perhaps a graphical display will be more versatile for a User Menu and graphical representation of target response etc. (Graphical displays are available fairly economically now).

I suppose that the use of rotary encoders for menu navigation etc. will make the project unnecessarily complex?

Perhaps several versions with the above as possible alternatives (on satellite boards?) to a more basic model?

Usually, but maybe not here, the mainboard is more often called a "Motherboard" and the smaller boards are then called "Daughter-boards"......in the computer industry at least......

Just my 2 cents worth......

Regards

Andy

[javahitman]

Usually, but maybe not here, the mainboard is more often called a "Motherboard" and the smaller boards are then called "Daughter-boards"......in the computer industry at least......

Just my 2 cents worth......

Regards

Andy

also some common and widely available Adapters/Sockets between boards would be nice.
for example something like 40 pins IDE HDD Ribbon cable adapter
and IDE HDD 4 pin power socket can provide multiple voltage or can even go with 15-pin SATA power connector which carry 3 voltages, 3.3 V, in addition to the traditional 5 V and 12 V.


the advantage will be:
parts are more common and available everywhere and more standard power
and standard voltage

[der_fisherman]

also some common and widely available Adapters/Sockets between boards would be nice.
for example something like 40 pins IDE HDD Ribbon cable adapter
and IDE HDD 4 pin power socket can provide multiple voltage or can even go with 15-pin SATA power connector which carry 3 voltages, 3.3 V, in addition to the traditional 5 V and 12 V.


the advantage will be:
parts are more common and available everywhere and more standard power
and standard voltage

Its easy to buy chip sockets in strip form and use them to connect PCBs together. They are usually 0.1" apart (2.54mm). Many use them as they are strong cheap and goldplated if you wish. Use at least 10 of them in a row, even if you don't need that many contacts as it adds stability and strength.
Pins that fit are also easily bought in strips and very cheap.
If you need more infos, please just ask and I will search for some pictures for you.
Best of luck
Andy

[golfnut]

If you were to pull togeter what is really needed for a medium high quality learning tool/kit/project. You would ask,



What should the performance be like - benchmarked against a commercial respected unit

Costs - not going over an agreed limit per kit - steers some of the major component choices

Difficulty for the average forum builder - blowing chips/programmers, open source or otherwise

Timescale - will it be availble for use in this season.

S

[scrungy_doolittle]

I'm new to PIC's (I'm an old school 8051 guy). But what's wrong with the PICKit2 as a programmer? I haven't programmed any 24f series with it yet but it says they are supported. And I understand that it is a hobby device and not intended for large scale development. I'm just trying to get a feel for what everyone else is using. Coming from the old 8031 world where you had to have an external EPROM, the PIC series of microcontrollers and the cheap PICKit2 is a dream come true.

Old thread. But I'm an oldschool 8051 guy too. Been looking at a PIC24FJ128GC006 10 msamples per second adc! Sheesh. 12 bits too.

[der_fisherman]

Advertising "Rev-Ed" PICAXES !!!!

Old thread. But I'm an oldschool 8051 guy too. Been looking at a PIC24FJ128GC006 10 msamples per second adc! Sheesh. 12 bits too.

There are a couple of other versions of the Microchip PICs called "PICAXES" that a company called Revolution Education UK, who put their own proprietary BASIC Interpreter into such Microchips products.

That are then immensely easy to program, as no actual programmer needed, just a cheap (must be the right one as not all versions from other companies actually work!) serial/USB cable and an old Windows or Linux PC and in tests against Arduinos show a comparatively tiny memory usage (often only 20 or 30 bytes against several K Bytes for the Arduino!), no libraries to find and load and overall good speed, as well as being "easier" to Program, interface and "use" according to many.

That includes me, I have Arduino and various "PICAXES". I prefer the PICAXE, except where there is a "finished" Arduino and shield plus software that I can simply purchase (basically I am lazy!!).

They were originally intended for schools, are therefore really cheap, can be bought in many countries or direct from Rev-Ed in the UK. Often the postage costs more than the articles ordered.....I always buy more than I need as this saves me money in the long term as well as no waiting!

The faster versions (from my head) can run at up to 64MHz and are usually more than fast enough for most jobs, especially with careful programming.

As they are SOOOO cheap, rather than try and do everything with one chip (as you tend to do with Arduino and its copies and derivatives), it is often better to use separate chips for each main job, thus keeping the programming tighter, smaller and easier to control in each chip used....

All the software needed is free to download and use as are the HUGE manuals in PDF form.....which appear to be kept well up to date as improvements and changes are made to the products.

Its a dream come true for the amateurs amongst us (me too!).

Do please check the units out and the various Forums where super help and programming examples are available for the price of the electricity to log on and download.....

See here:-

http://www.rev-ed.co.uk/

www.picaxeforum.co.uk/

I am not myself an "expert", but have used them in various small and interesting ways.....as I said before, the biggest failure made (to my mind) with PICAXEs is for anyone to try and do everything using only one chip.....with prices starting at less than $2 for a smaller chip, that is a no brainer mistake that many make......

If I can help just ask, but as I said before I am not an expert, but the forum people often are and they react very quickly for any requests for help....though there is already a massive amount of programs, schematics and other help already there....

Hoping that is helps you (and anyone else) further.

Regards

Andy

[godigit1]

Thanks Andy,
Awesome Info
I was looking for options for my HH2 Im building, I was going to use arduino but this sounds like a good alternative.
Thanks Again

[der_fisherman]

More PICAXE Points.....

Thanks Andy,
Awesome Info
I was looking for options for my HH2 Im building, I was going to use arduino but this sounds like a good alternative.
Thanks Again

What I forgot to mention are the PICAXES generally use minimal power, depending on the version and of course with a correct minimalist hardware design, using for example, only the voltage regulators that supply the voltage required to just beyond your current needed of course etc etc etc..

Using the "DOZE", "HIBERNATE", "SLEEP", etc. functions where possible, easily small physical size and even less weight, a concern for any portable equipment.

Also, do not clock the chips faster than you need either if battery power is used....as they are with most MDs.

I usually end up with a small piece of stripboard and a serial socket for the PICAXE, to allow easy removal/replacement/reprogramming.

Sometimes I put the SERIAL Interface onboard and sometimes I don't. Its there for testing, but once (I think!!) I am sure its all OK, I take it off (just before I look for the last software bug !!), if it is going to go to someone else, as I don't want them attaching a pair of phones or simply looking at my code, not that its really safe from being stolen, sadly....but its not easy to read out and make sense of I am told.....

Regards

Andy

[Matt_Rowe]

how did baum7154 get an lcd on his chance pi, i looked at the thread and didnt see how it was done, i would be interested in the HH3 with GB and lcd, even though im just starting,

[waltr]

how did baum7154 get an lcd on his chance pi, i looked at the thread and didnt see how it was done, i would be interested in the HH3 with GB and lcd, even though im just starting,

Without looking for the Chance PI schematic, LCD's are typically connected with the 8-bit parallel interface. Tons of info about these on the web with many code examples.

The HH III does not exist- There has been some battering of ideas but that's it.
Since the Idea for the HH 3 is doing most of the work in a processor, Coding mirco's is required.

I have done some work at home with this HH3 concept but nothing completed. I have posted some of the code in the "Programming" section so if you are interested go there.

[Matt_Rowe]

ok, thanks waltr, i read a lot of your responses especially GB, and such, and your micro threads, ill go look at the programming, i saved baums pics of inside and front but dont want to post them because i dont have permission, i could just post a link to the page though