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Post by Gary Lecomte on Jun 16, 2017 20:01:09 GMT -8
Personally I would be curious as to why Silverdog uses that BLACK COATED PCB. It is extremely difficult to follow the Copper traces on it, also making it more difficult to fix problems.
Or is it to try to prevent others from Copying it?
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dave
Junior Member
Posts: 56
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Post by dave on Jun 16, 2017 20:56:26 GMT -8
I'm not sure why they are like that either Gary, but the traces can be seen at the right angle . It's very difficult though . So I replaced the MPSA13 darlington and with a fresh battery pack I'm getting a voltage change into the negative on the 5534 pin 6 and a voltage change into the positive on pin 7 on the 358 . I think I should be hearing something .....oh well baby steps hahaha Cheers , Dave.
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dave
Junior Member
Posts: 56
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Post by dave on Jun 26, 2017 18:42:53 GMT -8
All new replacement chips arrived and duly replaced on all three boards ......result.....0 .Think I'm going to cry hahaha .Think I will completely strip one even though it will take forever and probably damage the board I don't seem to have a choice . Because I'm NOT giving up !
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Post by Gary Lecomte on Jun 27, 2017 6:20:44 GMT -8
I didn't think replacing those parts would solve your problem.
A few years ago, a person mailed me one of those detectors to repair it. I spent almost a full day on it and I did get it working, but not as good as it really should do.
Quite Disappointing!
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dave
Junior Member
Posts: 56
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Post by dave on Jun 27, 2017 16:06:25 GMT -8
Secretly , I also didn't think replacing all the chips would help but I was HOPING . I have spent literally weeks on this problem . Iv'e even considered breadboarding all the parts after I strip a board clean . That will be the next phase . Quite disappointing is an understatement . Anyway , thanks Gary . I will never give up but I may just shelve the problem for a while until I have more insight into how the circuit works .Cheers , Dave .
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Post by Gary Lecomte on Jun 28, 2017 5:08:14 GMT -8
Secretly , I also didn't think replacing all the chips would help but I was HOPING . I have spent literally weeks on this problem . Iv'e even considered breadboarding all the parts after I strip a board clean . That will be the next phase . Quite disappointing is an understatement . Anyway , thanks Gary . I will never give up but I may just shelve the problem for a while until I have more insight into how the circuit works .Cheers , Dave . I could possibly Etch and Drill a Single Sided PCB for you.
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dave
Junior Member
Posts: 56
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Post by dave on Jun 28, 2017 16:25:28 GMT -8
Hi, Gary , I have sent you an email . Cheers Dave .
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dave
Junior Member
Posts: 56
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Post by dave on Aug 25, 2017 15:32:52 GMT -8
Hello everyone , this is an update on the surf PI . Having been sent a pcb image by Gary I have printed and etched some single side boards. Some parts differ slightly but this is mostly the one I'm used to . Well after duly building a unit it actually worked . BUT .....detection range is limited (nice and loud though ) and there is some sort of bfo type reaction as in when metal is brought close to the coil there is a bfo like beeping . Anyway I'm confident that I will sort this out so a big thanks to Mr Lecomte for his patience and guidance , success ....THANKS GARY .! I'm now wondering why Silverdog stopped emailing me after I told him I replaced all the control chips and still none of the 3 kits worked . Cheers , Dave .
I edited This, as No "P" in Lecomte
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Post by Gary Lecomte on Aug 26, 2017 5:00:17 GMT -8
Glad to help.
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dave
Junior Member
Posts: 56
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Post by dave on Aug 26, 2017 14:49:31 GMT -8
Sorry for the typo Gary , I have had some very interesting results with a DD coil on this project . Just experimenting with positioning of the coils I went from minimal distance of 2-3 inches on an AU 20c coin in a standard DD configuration to almost 14 inches by forming a more or less square shape . That is by overlapping the curved sides and forming a square shape leaving the straight sides on the outer sides . Backwards DD ! . This is much more sensitive than a standard form . So ,I accidently made the detector 4 times more sensitive . I'm sure this is to do with getting the correct induction values on the coil but it just surprised me so much I actually got excited in my own low key way lol .Then I discovered that if I made two elliptical diamond shapes about 10 inches by 8 inches and overlapped them by 5 inches sensitivity increased again but only slightly ( another inch or so ) . Also by changing connections from two separate parallel coils to an in series connected coil , still overlapped stability increased . There is a slight ringing now but nothing extreme . Photos to come soon , when the day gets warmer . Can't tell you how grateful I am Gary . There is nothing worse than being obsessed with something you can't get to work , you want to give up but simply can't . Perseverance can pay off sometimes , I feel the relief of a finished project approaching . I hope the fires in Canada have declined and you are well , thanks again MR Lecomte , Cheers Dave . Dave Emailed Me: Hi Gary , I couldn't upload these to the forum as they are larger than 1meg . I have no idea why this works , especially the way I have it connected . I think some research is in order . Small foil is COMPLETELY ignored , but so is small gold . Very sensitive to silver . Cheers Gary , Dave . Really like your circuit . It looks wild with the 3300 cap sticking out of it .
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dave
Junior Member
Posts: 56
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Post by dave on Feb 12, 2018 15:09:36 GMT -8
Hello all , I hope all members are well or well enough . I have a request . I was wondering if anyone has a bmt of the barracuda legend . I know that the barracuda boards are available from silverdog but I had a lot of trouble with the surf boards from him (they didn't work). So basically , I don't trust them anymore . I'm not saying its the boards 100% but I have never built multiple circuits of the same design only to find that none of them worked . Gary sent me a solution and it worked very well first time . And I really enjoy etching my own boards . Hope someone can help with this , cheers , Dave.
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Post by Gary Lecomte on Feb 16, 2018 20:53:16 GMT -8
Sorry I don't have that Layout.
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dave
Junior Member
Posts: 56
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Post by dave on Feb 17, 2018 18:40:38 GMT -8
Thanks Gary , I have found one . It's not the one I was looking for but it will do as a start , Cheers , Dave .
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