Noobie questions about Surf Pi 1.2

[lmrubin]

I looked at that article before I started building the surf pi. I'm printing it out now to read again. I also read Rogowski's article about building a fast coil. I got some tidbits out of there, although it gets a little too technical for me in a few places. But I'm rereading and taking notes!

[lmrubin]

Thanks - I'll add it to the list...it's a little pricey for me as I'm out of work but I'll try to find a copy somewhere...thanks for the tip!

[lmrubin]

The one I have has a thick, single copper wire in the middle. Then the plastic-y stuff (dielectric?). Then the outer mesh.

[lmrubin]

Thanks for the info! I've read the adrianandgenese more times than I will ever admit to. It covers a lot regarding building the surf pi, but he doesn't answer a lot of questions that I've had (and still have). I originally tried to make the coil with stereo wire like he did. I think I did a decent job (after a couple tries), but I couldn't get it work, however when I used plain enamel coated copper wire it works fine. And when I try to use a RG6 cable like he did, I don't get a response from either coil I've made. Stuff like this confuses the hell out of me and makes me wish I studied engineering instead of useless business! But seriously, thanks for the tips.

[kt315]

Hi Larry,
Have you checked out this page?
.

some people can do nothing with the pages given, with the freaks' videos given.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlN9rDqzN4Q

first of all, people. if you do not want to waste your money on books. then read Hammerhead article.
begin from the reading, from The Start, not from 'I assembled a surf pi 1.2 from Surf Dog'.
understand PRINCIPLES, BASE of PI, WHAT YOU DO, WHAT YOU WANT TO GET.

[surfdetector]

Hi Larry,
Have you checked out this page?

http://www.adrianandgenese.com/blogger/2012/07/13/how-to-build-a-surf-pi-1-2-pulse-induction-metal-detector-from-a-diy-kit/

The detector is setup for a single speaker, if all you have is a stereo jack then you can jumper tip and ringer together

Discriminate is not something that you are going to get with one of these PI machines. The Surf PI is meant for the beach and it is a dig everything detector.

If you take your multimeter in continuity mode and put one probe on your ground connection on the PCB and then test both coil connection points the one that gives you a tone will be the one that your cable shield should connect to.

[kt315]

rg6 is a cable with multistrand wire inside?

[Qiaozhi]

I've struggled to find good 'noobie' info.

Have you read this? -> Inside the METAL DETECTOR - Second Edition - Published 2015

[lmrubin]

Sorry to bore folks with dumb questions. I'm trying to learn about electronics, but unfortunately I don't know much (yet!). Answers to any of the questions below are very much appreciated.

I assembled a surf pi 1.2 from Surf Dog. It works (3rd try), at least at a high level...took it to backyard and actually found some stuff.

1) I want to 'finish' it nicely. I tried to connect an RG6 cable instead of using regular single strand wire. I haven't been able to get it to work and here's where my lack of electronics knowledge comes in...to the right of the 'coil' pins on the pcb, it says "GND". I assumed this meant that the right pin was ground and so I was connecting the RG6 outer mesh there and it wasn't working. When I look up 3296's on the internet, it looks like pin #3 is ground, which I think means that my assumption about which "coil" pin was ground would be wrong. Which pin is ground, and how can I tell - I tried to follow traces but still wasn't sure? Is that why the RG6 didn't work for me?

2) I wanted to swap the buzzer for earphones. I only had a stereo headphone jack available. I connect the #2 and #3 pins together and left #1 as is, and then connected those to the buzzer pads on the pcb. It seems like it works, but I'm not sure if I did it right. I'm confused because it seems I should use a 'mono' jack, and also some people talk about adding resistors when doing this but I'm not sure why I need to since there's a volume control?

3) I've struggled to find good 'noobie' info. I've joined several forums, but haven't found a lot of well-written, useful, beginner info. Seems like it's either stuff that's way over my head, or nothing at all and you have to go to lots of detecting websites just to get any clues. Are there really not any good sources of basic info so I don't have to ask stupid questions on sites like this?

4) When I brought it to backyard, it's constantly beeping, finding every piece of junk. Finding the exact spot digging seems to take a long time and I'd never get very far. Is there a way to discriminate at all with this type of detector and is there a faster way to find the stuff you're digging? I know it's not supposed to be simple, but it took me a long time to find a few pieces of junk...I'm happy it's working, but I know my expectations are only going to increase...

Thanks to anyone who answers! Larry in Boston