Noobie questions about Surf Pi 1.2

[kt315]

you constantly write both COPPER COPPER. chinese EASELY change the copper on steel. EASELY.
they use strange metal that is looking like cooper on color. but it is not copper.
yes, you are living in the world of false and lie.

[6666]

I think I understand what you are saying, and it means the PCB is correct. And that's what I had tried. I will try one more time.
And sorry if I'm being dumb, but you are telling me where the RG6 wires connect to the pcb. But at the opposite end, does it matter which end of the coil connects to which on the RG6? And does it matter if it's just a thin diameter coil made from enameled wire, versus the spiral coil made with parallel stereo wire?

There is something wrong if you cannot get this to work, hence I asked for pictures.
At the coil end one wire connects to shield the other connects to inner conductor, for a bundle wound coil made with enamel copper wire it does not matter which wire you connect.
At the pcb end you will have two connections, these connections are where the two enamel wires you have already soldered to the pcb are, and apparently work.
One connection will be ground if you have a surf then this connection should be battery negative because you have a PFET
Solder the shield to ground
solder the inner conductor to where you had the other copper wire, it should work, do you have a multi meter check the cable connected to the coil for continuity
Is the shield made from aluminium foil , not tinned copper.

[6666]

Oh yeah, one other thing...you had previously told me that I shouldn't use the RG6 that I have because it only has a single, thick copper wire in the center. Are you saying that there is another type of RG6 that has multi strand wire in the middle (don't think so), or are you saying I just shouldn't be using RG6 period? What type of wire should I be using to connect the coil to the board? Thanks in advance.

The thing about the coax is, if it only has a single wire for the centre conductor you can use it but you must keep the cable rigid , because over time excessive flexing will fracture and break the wire, a cable like rg58 is multi strand, can take heaps of flexing, and is much lighter and thinner than rg6, there are single conductor rg58 low loss cables as well but use the multi strand.

[lmrubin]

I think I understand what you are saying, and it means the PCB is correct. And that's what I had tried. I will try one more time.
And sorry if I'm being dumb, but you are telling me where the RG6 wires connect to the pcb. But at the opposite end, does it matter which end of the coil connects to which on the RG6? And does it matter if it's just a thin diameter coil made from enameled wire, versus the spiral coil made with parallel stereo wire?

Oh yeah, one other thing...you had previously told me that I shouldn't use the RG6 that I have because it only has a single, thick copper wire in the center. Are you saying that there is another type of RG6 that has multi strand wire in the middle (don't think so), or are you saying I just shouldn't be using RG6 period? What type of wire should I be using to connect the coil to the board? Thanks in advance.

[lmrubin]

ok. i tell you what is COLD END and HOT END.

COLD END it is there is not pulse signal. DC. in PI detector it is power line, one of two. plus or minus.

HOT END is active signal. TX signal. in PI system this is the DRAIN pin of MOSFET transistor.

so that all is in RELATION to coil be cause we say about COLD and HOT wire of the coil, in PI system.
then, you MUST solder the shield of cable to COLD, inside wire to HOT.
that must sure be clear for you now. on my DP board terminal connector pins
marked as H and C, because people MUST SEE and understand what-to-where.

I think I understand what you are saying, and it means the PCB is correct. And that's what I had tried. I will try one more time.
And sorry if I'm being dumb, but you are telling me where the RG6 wires connect to the pcb. But at the opposite end, does it matter which end of the coil connects to which on the RG6? And does it matter if it's just a thin diameter coil made from enameled wire, versus the spiral coil made with parallel stereo wire?

[lmrubin]

Did you get it to work ?

I can only get it to work with the regular, plain single strand wire that I had lying around in my house. I still can't get it to work with the RG6, but at this point I'm still pretty confused, partly because I have no idea if it even matters...

[lmrubin]

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.

Thanks for info. As far as the last sentence you wrote - when I tried that, the LEFT pin made the buzzer go off, not the right. But I checked in with Andy where I bought the board and he says that the RIGHT pin is the ground, as the board says. So I'm still a little confused on this point...Although it sounds like for this coil it doesn't matter much...?

[kt315]

HOT and COLD

Haha! Please thank your grandson for me! Maybe I misunderstood, but I thought that the guy who sells the kit told me it didn't matter how it was connected since it was just a simple mono coil. ???

ok. i tell you what is COLD END and HOT END.

COLD END it is there is not pulse signal. DC. in PI detector it is power line, one of two. plus or minus.

HOT END is active signal. TX signal. in PI system this is the DRAIN pin of MOSFET transistor.

so that all is in RELATION to coil be cause we say about COLD and HOT wire of the coil, in PI system.
then, you MUST solder the shield of cable to COLD, inside wire to HOT.
that must sure be clear for you now. on my DP board terminal connector pins
marked as H and C, because people MUST SEE and understand what-to-where.

[6666]

Haha! Please thank your grandson for me! Maybe I misunderstood, but I thought that the guy who sells the kit told me it didn't matter how it was connected since it was just a simple mono coil. ???

Did you get it to work ?

[kt315]

this was at the adrianandgenese
--
forget. there are much freaks.

[lmrubin]

RG6 is over kill for this project but use what you have , check the cable and coil for continuity, make sure its not open circuit or short circuit
here our grand son made you a picture.

Haha! Please thank your grandson for me! Maybe I misunderstood, but I thought that the guy who sells the kit told me it didn't matter how it was connected since it was just a simple mono coil. ???

[lmrubin]

sorry not. we do not use single wire cable. just multistrand. this is first your mistake.
seek another cable.

ok thanks! I didn't know that. The only instructions I could find when making this was at the adrianandgenese website. Near the end of his instructions he says to use an Rg6 coax cable - that's why I was trying to do that.
What should I use to connect the board to the coil. It works with just regular 24 gauge, multi strand wire...but that can't be the optimal, can it?

[kt315]

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

sorry not. we do not use single wire cable. just multistrand. this is first your mistake.
seek another cable.

[6666]

RG6 is over kill for this project but use what you have , check the cable and coil for continuity, make sure its not open circuit or short circuit
here our grand son made you a picture.

[6666]

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.

Can you at least supply the schematic and pictures of the top and bottom of pcb