Voodoo Main Discussion

[ivconic]

Marty, Thanks. Coincidentally my copy of the book arrived today.
ivconic, sorry. I will be read-only in this thread until I build a Voodoo.
Qiaohzi/George, please add me to the list of those expressing thanks for your efforts and willingness to share with respect to both the The Voodoo Project and IMTD.
Best Wishes,
aa1ww

Actually... i was not referring my remarks to your appearance here.

[aa1ww]

Marty, Thanks. Coincidentally my copy of the book arrived today.
ivconic, sorry. I will be read-only in this thread until I build a Voodoo.
Qiaohzi/George, please add me to the list of those expressing thanks for your efforts and willingness to share with respect to both the The Voodoo Project and IMTD (I meant ITMD).
Best Wishes,
aa1ww

[surfdetector]

I am glad Surfdetector made that video and showed how to make it work, it is valuable info for us non-PIC users.

It was my pleasure

[ivconic]

That's because you always remove the chip from the PCB.

Nobody with a clue upon that yet?
...
Explanation is quite simple, not all motherboards provides the same USB voltage.
USB voltage can vary from motherboard to motherboard.
Therefore the differences.
Also there is possibility of the differences in various Pickit versions and is it genuine or Chinese copy.
Simple gadget for simple truth:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32825823421.html

PIC18F4520 itself will not make any problems in supplying voltage range 2-5.5V.
High/Low programming voltage auto detection feature too.
So; PIC is not causing this problem obviously, Pickit most probably not... only answer left is motherboard voltage for USB.
I am glad Surfdetector made that video and showed how to make it work, it is valuable info for us non-PIC users.

[Qiaozhi]

In all my time of chip burning this is the only time I can recall even hearing about the pickit 5 v problem, I use both PICkit2 and PICkit3, but I always remove the chip from the pcb and never had a problem, just set to 5 v and burn.

That's because you always remove the chip from the PCB.

[ivconic]

Projects like this one should be in closed and limited forums, only one who bought a book to be able to join.
In the past Carl did something similar. At the time we didn't have particular project to focus on.
Now is perfect time to do something like that.
I am terrified to recognize amount of pure Communism present at admins and their strange ways of running a forum.
Letting idiots to take over the topic and change it's course so easy, without slightest resistance.
Carl are you alive? Are you still among us? What's got into you man?
Do something!

[ivconic]

30 from 33 pages of this topic has nothing to do with the subject.
So few of us invested money, time and energy in book and making voodoo and so much of just everybody comes here and talks the most idiotic talk.
Meantime... admins are occupied with rolling thumbs and sitting near the chimney... probably waiting Santa to do their job.
Usually a piece of coal is only reward for such behavior.
Good old times.
Hopefully this year will never repeat again.

[SilverSurfer17]

I looked up info on the microchip the highest its been ran is over 80khz with 6 volts and 9600 baud rate when you find a good run chip but according to everyone in here it does nothing of any good to overclock i was hoping to speed up the what i guess is called flyback so i could move faster with the detector like ive seen some mounted to the back of four wheelers so i guess ill have to build it and figure it all out myself i just got my box of parts from Digikey and my Bose Headphones i scored for $14 bucks just waiting on my pickit and board ����

[MartyJ1963]

@aa1ww,,,Very nicely put,,and and that's what I love about this forum - We're all here wth the same hobby/Interests and goals in mind,,,George has been kind enough (again) to gift all the Geotech members with another excellent project so we should build it as he designed and visualized it first, before any Mods/alterations etc,,I've learnt a lot already about this project just by being a part of this thread and I have a lot of respect for each person involved in building it/sharing their mistakes and successes/sharing ther experiences and knowledge. We all learn faster, and easier by being considerate and sharing. Thanks, Marty.

[aa1ww]

Microchip SNAP:
I have not fired up MPLABX to check the supported devices list but Microchip has a $26USD programming/debugging device called SNAP (which I realize wouldn't be supported for the MPLAB 8.xx holdouts with whom I sympathize). Again one would have to check the supported devices list in the release notes in MPLABX.

uController fclk:
I have been using microprocessors and microcontrollers since 1978 and I still consistently underestimate what can be accomplished at some given clock frequency. ITMD contains a discussion from which the authors derive the basic constraints involved in swinging a detector through an angle of x degrees y times per second. From this one can estimate the number of instructions that can be executed per portion of the sweep. Given this, the designer can trade off battery consumption CV^2F (C is constant and specific to each uController device and in this case V has been set for us at 5V) against desired ucontroller performance.

Experimenting with metal detectors in general:
I am a complete beginner with metal detectors and hope to experiment with them when I leave full-time employment this coming May. I would say that even a (deceptively) simple BFO metal detector takes TIME to characterize. Patience and diligence/rigor must rule the experimental process in order to redeem the time spent into meaningful knowledge. Let's help Qiaohzi, 6666, surfdetector, Mdtoday, silverdog, lamoiz, godigit1, MartyJ1963, Carl, bernte_one, and the other experienced members help us. Once we have a robust base reference platform, variants can abound as Qiaohzi suggested. For those interested in tweaking ucontrollers, the member named moodz has many projects extant in this forum to explore.

PS:
My wife got me a Garrett Ace 400 and carrot setup for Christmas so I have a commercial VLF detector on which to gain experience and use as a reference. I have The Voodoo Project on order and I have IMTD and The Complete VLF-TR Metal Detecting Handbook and a friend with an AT Pro who's getting me started/hooked. I'll probably build a BFO (I know ...), a Raptor, and a PI-5 first and see what I can learn. Some day I'll catch up to Voodoo ....

Coop

[6666]

I've had the same issue with both PICkit2 and PICkit3 on some designs. Not sure why this happens, but it may be something to do with loading from the rest of the circuit. Not had the same thing happen with PICkit4 so far.
If you Google the problem, you'll see lots of other people with similar issues. Usually you simply have to lower the voltage to get it to work.

In all my time of chip burning this is the only time I can recall even hearing about the pickit 5 v problem, I use both PICkit2 and PICkit3, but I always remove the chip from the pcb and never had a problem, just set to 5 v and burn.

[Qiaozhi]

I am using MPLAB X IPE v5.45
I think the fact that I was unable to utilize the normal 5v is actually relevant, The important nugget of information that I was trying to impart is that if you happen to encounter that error then you do have other options in changing the voltage, which I think is important to know.

I've had the same issue with both PICkit2 and PICkit3 on some designs. Not sure why this happens, but it may be something to do with loading from the rest of the circuit. Not had the same thing happen with PICkit4 so far.
If you Google the problem, you'll see lots of other people with similar issues. Usually you simply have to lower the voltage to get it to work.

[SilverSurfer17]

It is important because someone who has never flashed one may not know you can even do that same as the info you gave on the LCD adjustment that could of been them thinking they had a bad chip and even the same exact part number may not all program the same kinda getting back to what i said about them in the first place

[surfdetector]

Never had a problem pickit 3 set to 5v and MPLAB IDE V 8.76, done loads of chips

I am using MPLAB X IPE v5.45
I think the fact that I was unable to utilize the normal 5v is actually relevant, The important nugget of information that I was trying to impart is that if you happen to encounter that error then you do have other options in changing the voltage, which I think is important to know.

[6666]

Not according to Surfdetectors video it didnt

Never had a problem pickit 3 set to 5v and MPLAB IDE V 8.76, done loads of chips