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First time power up on Surf PI 1.2 Can use help.

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  • First time power up on Surf PI 1.2 Can use help.

    Hello Everyone,

    I finally got my Silverdog Surf PI finished. I only have a coil that I made for the Hammerhead. 10" 26 turns of 26 AWG enameled wire. I hooked it up. Powered the powered the board. Fiddled with the Tune and Delay pot. The Offset pot was set at its mid-point. I didn't get any response. All I have for testing is a multimeter. What should I check and what voltage should it be. I am using a regulated power supply with 12.22vdc out. What I have checked so far is the 78L05 I'm getting 4.99v out. With MM red wire on TP1, black wire on Gnd I'm getting -4.34v. On TP2 I'm getting 4.40v. I don't know what else to check. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Regards,
    Dennis L.

  • #2
    I found this on here some place.


    After you have connected the coil to the detector, there are a few adjustments which need to be made so you can get the best performance from the kit. You will need a multimeter and a small flat-head screwdriver (like eyeglass repair size). to tune the Offset and Delay trimmers.

    1. Turn unit on (volume knob, or just plug battery pack in) and see that everything is working (you should get response from adjusting the volume and threshold potentiometers. Set the threshold potentiometer till you have a steady tone which is just above silence.

    2. Next lets tune the offset. The offset needs to be set to 0v DC. Connect the multimeter positive lead to pin 6 of the NE5534P and the negative lead to ground. It helps to have someone turn the screwdriver for you for the next step.

    3. Use the flat-head screwdriver to turn the Offset trimmer (circled in red below) till you get 0v reading on the multimeter.

    Setting the offset on the Surf PI 1.2

    Next you will have to adjust the delay till you can detect some gold/coins/metal.
    Get a gold ring and wave it over the coil.
    Use a flat-head screwdriver to turn the Delay trimmer till you are able to detect a gold ring at its greatest distance. I had the greatest sensitivity to gold and coins when I turned the dial all the way clockwise (I heard clicking from the trimmer signifying its maximum).

    Setting the delay on the Surf PI 1.2

    Surf PI Detection Depth: For reference, I am getting about 11-12? detection on a US Nickel, faint signal at 10? on a US quarter, and the same distance for a medium sized white gold ring. For a very thin white gold eternity ring (with miniature diamonds all around it), I get about 5-7? detection (interestingly enough, when compared side by side with my Tesoro Sand Shark, the Sand Shark only gets about 6? of depth maximum for any of the above items…so relatively speaking, this kit is wonderful!).

    This seems to correlate with the others on the Geotech forum who have built this machine using the stock components. However, this detector has the capability to be tuned to be more sensitive by swapping some components. To learn more about how to do so, check out post #31, #33, and #35 by Tepco on this thread.

    You should now have a fully working pulse induction metal detector capable of finding tons of stuff at the beach. One just needs to figure out how to house the coil, board, and appropriate controls.

    For more information and ideas on how to do so, check out the Surf PI thread on Geotech.

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    • #3
      Thank you Homefire,

      I adjusted the voltage of pin 6 on the NE5534P to 0v. I have sound. Now just for a bit of fine tuning. I appreciate the help.

      Regards,
      Dennis

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      • #4
        The whole post is here in the Pile some place. I can't remember what one? LOL

        Search Surf PI and with about 12 cups of coffee or a few beers you may find it.

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        • #5
          Sounds like fun. But right now I need to find the post regarding R34 and what value to use to get more volume. Maybe I can find both with something harder then beer & coffee.

          Dennis

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          • #6
            Hello homefire, buy the kit and I put it together neatly and carefully, then check the welds.
            I turned it on and had a high pitch, I followed the calibration steps: Connect the positive lead of the multimeter to pin 6 of NE5534P and the negative lead to ground and went to 0Volt.
            Before following currencies tried moving but nothing happened, I returned to calibrate and climbed to 1.37 Volt and there if metal detecting ..
            The second problem is that in 0Volt or 1.37 Volt not calibrate the trimmer as Delay, I said it with an oscilloscope, but would help to know what to do.
            I also want to know which are the points TP1 and TP2.
            I built 4 coils of different sizes and all they detected up to 2 inches is a roll of copper wire of 400 grams, and an inch is the most that I could detect my gold ring ...
            6 days ago I keep testing and do not know how to follow.
            Request help and suggestions to finish assembly.
            Is there a technical manual?
            Thank you very much!
            Omar

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