Newbie post #2 out of 15

I have designed my own version of a PI detector. The design has attempted several improvements over what I've seen so far in other designs.

1: Modern electronics. If it ever turns into a kit you'll have to solder surface mount components.

2: Designed for the fastest possible collapse of the magnetic field. The BEMF spike is allowed to soar to 1KV. Low parasitic capacitance. Non-inductive load resistor.

3:Very high band width, high gain amplifier.  Necessary for undistorted received signal.

4:Multiple programmable sample points(windows).

5:Low parts count.

6:No pots. No 555's. I hate the 555. I've never used one in 25 yrs of designing hi-tech electronics.

7:Micro controller based. Simplifies the design. Total flexibility. Puts the complexity in the controller not the circuitry.

The idea is to get to the receiving mode as quickly as is possible and to extract as much information as possible from the received signal.

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Yes, I am. Also retired and bored.

Linkback: http://thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,6225.msg37738.html#msg37738

Have you been detecting long?

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I just started out last Nov. got frustrated really fast with the high mineralization around here.  I have a Whites MXT, then I heard about the Minelab not reacting to the soil, so I bought that one.  I haven't really used either of them enough to understand them completely... yet.

Where are you located?  I'm in S. CA. in the high desert.  Great place to be, except for the heat.  Lots of abandoned mines around here, and gold was discovered here, before sutter's mill, up north. 

Linkback: http://thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,6225.msg37762.html#msg37762

My son got married in Clearwater, in June 3 years ago, I thought I was going to die in that humidity.  My hat is off to you!
He now lives in Springhill.  I imagine that you have to watch out for snakes.  I thought rattlers were bad here, but you have a whole assortment of venemous snakes to be aware of.  I just bought some snake/waterproof boots. I don't go out without them.  We have the mojave green rattler here, and from what I've researched, they can be quite aggressive, as in chasing you.  I used to use snake chaps, until a large black ant climbed up my pant leg (while in the Mojave desert) and stung me 3 times.  It was really painful, it felt like a burn, and for an hour It felt like a lit cigarette was burning me, on each sting.  So, that's why I bought the boots, no more worries about anything climbing up my pants.

We do have many choices here, as far as detecting goes.  The tricky part if finding places to detect that aren't privatey owned, claimed, State, or Federal land.   

Linkback: http://thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,6225.msg37773.html#msg37773