Which Detector to build !

[David_1]

So I am vey happy to build electronics pcb Surface mount wind coils..
But stupid in the needs of which detector to build, I guess a few fields and the beach or underwater are my needs
Yes I am very new as far as detectors come, Love gold Rush so where is all the Gold

If anyone cares to point me in the right direction that would be cool, I have most test kit ?

So where would you suggest I start ?

Thanks
David
UK

[Carl-NC]

1. What is your level of electronics knowledge?

2. Do you have an oscilloscope?

[David_1]

several scopes and a spectrum analyser ,no clue how many soldering irons I keep buying up old Weller ones


drawing this at present which makes a change from the life support equipment I normally design. its a nmea controlled bow thruster for a little boat

So yes I am ok with electronics and pcb design !

[Carl-NC]

If your knowledge of metal detector operation is thin then I suggest starting modest. There are several PI detectors that are good for the beach & salt water, probably the Minipulse is the most heavily discussed. Surfmaster & Hammerhead are similar. For VLF the best learning circuit is one of the Tesoro designs like TGSL.

[David_1]

without any shadow of a doubt "Thin" is a very polite way to describe my knowledge of detectors When we move towards Phase shift er.. yes I struggle, So are you steering me towards the Mini pulse ? I am happy to take advice but you mat still have to put up with a few basic questions
Thankyou.

[surfdetector]

Mini Pulse Plus and Barracuda are both good designs with build guides to get you started. I have done build videos on my YouTube channel for several of the Geotech projects.
Cheers

[David_1]

will "surfdetector" find you youtube account
Thanks

[surfdetector]

will "surfdetector" find you youtube account
Thanks

It will. I have several play lists for various metal detector projects.

[surfdetector]

Here is a great website run by one of the Geotech members (Silverdog) where you can purchase kits etc.

https://diydetector.co.uk/store/index.php

[David_1]

There must be others like me with loads of questions, but can not find a suitable part of the forum for.. Er simple questions
question one .. I love micro's but most designs seem to be just logic, I open up a new manufactured detector I would expect to find a micro, but is that just driving the display or have micro's now got a place in metal detecting ??
question two Vacuum forming coil heads ? who does this DIY ?

Thanks all
David

[Carl-NC]

Most newer designs do most of the processing in the micro. In fact, a lot of the designs are dispensing with the demodulators and using direct sampling. The micro does almost everything.
Coil shells can be bought from a handful of people. Don Bowers (dfbowers) is one Geotech denizen who makes them.

[David_1]

Most newer designs do most of the processing in the micro

so is there a diy design like this ?

[surfdetector]

so is there a diy design like this ?

This is a good project:

https://www.geotech1.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?77-Arduino-Nano-PI

[waltr]

On this forum the Nano PI and the VooDoo are micro-processor based designs.

Most others here use 555 timer's (or other hardware timing chips) to do all timing. Check my thread on the HH2. I replaced all the 555 timers with a PIC processor.

https://www.geotech1.com/forums/showthread.php?24251-My-take-on-the-HH2

I and some other have experimented with direct sampling and all detection in a processor. This gets to be difficult. One reason is the very small signal for the target.
I never got far enough to write up and post results.

If you are already good with programming micro-processors but never did a metal detector, try starting with a simple PI circuit and replace the hardware timing with the processor.