SD2100 SD2000 Auto Ground Balancing Modification

[Mechanic]

G'day Mario,

They have not dropped one of the channels on the later models. They have just removed the channel selector switch. What you could do is make a small board, or incorporate into your board another set of filters for the GB channel, just like what is already there for ch1 or 2 without the adder cct. As Ian said, better to keep ch1, it is good to have both handy.

Cheers Mick

[mario]

Thank you Ian,

I guess the timings on those machines must be handled different for minelab to eliminate one of the channels.

I have reassembled my detector so many times, I, a long time ago, forgot which channel is which when reassembling.

This poll is not necessary and I ask a moderator to end it if at all possible.

[IBGold]

Hi Mario,

Firstly Channel 1 is the long pulse for deeper bigger targets and Channel 2 are the multiple short pulses for smaller targets to get optimum performance on the SD2000 BOTH MUST be ground balanced correctly I definitely would opt for both.

Regards, Ian.

[mario]

Hi guys,

I have replaced one of the ground balancing pots in my unit with an X9118 chip. My controller runs the ground balancing smooth with the use of an encoder and separate push button (conveniently located on the handle). Here's a photo (pre install) and short video clip with a X9117 prototype.

Having said that, I would like to get your input on this issue.

Minelab does not implement AUTO ground balancing on channel 2 with their recent models. As far as I know, the 4500 and earlier (also later?) models don't provide this feature. As users know, channel 2 is "the other" channel, the one that finds the bigger stuff, deeper. For most people, channel 1 is the channel that will find ALL the stuff.

I could use another X9118 to drive channel 2; but, it seems like channel 2 will use up more resources than it's worth. Implementing two X9118s to manual ground balance is not that complicated. However, when implementing code to AUTOMATICALLY drive channel 1 AND channel 2, things will have to get much more sophisticated for very little return.

Having said that, is channel 2 worth sacrificing for AUTO ground balancing?