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Originally Posted by ALEX.356
 Dear J Player and Mike,
thank you for your replies.
Mike, I notice that you have put quite an effort and time to learn your Magnacast 5000. May I ask: have you ever tried it on a big target at a serious distance away ??? say 300m. 500 m. ?
Have you felt the difference between a buried target and a visible metalic object on the ground [ say a car...] Does it respond to the unburied target as well...???
Your answer will be a great help, dear friend.
Kind regards,
Alex |
I have never used a Magnacast 5000.
I have no idea what a Magnacast 5000 does in the field.
My basis for determining what to expect from a Magnacast 5000 is seated in the reports I have read that describe the internal components. ie: An op amp without a power amplifier broadcasting an unknown frequency alleged to be in the UHF range, and a coil receiver used to survey a plot of land where a variety of specific metals might be buried.
From what I have learned, more broadcast power would be necessary, and a method of discriminating metals would also be necessary, which does not seem to be present in the electronics of the Magnacast 5000.
Based on pure interpretation of the advertising propaganda for the Magnacast 5000, I would speculate that at best, there exists a scanner chip in the circuitry that jumps to different frequencies, like to a broadcast scanner that will lock onto any strong signal as it scans, and hold that frequency until it becomes weak. Then it would jump to the next frequency until it finds another signal above the threshold. But I could be wrong about this. It is only speculation that they upgraded the 555 timer/oscillator to operate in a frequency scanning mode after the scanner chips became available for a cheap price.
The idea to actually test a Magnacast 5000 in the field seems to me like a waste of time for two reasons:
1. The people who manufacture the Magnacast 5000 (Vernell Electronics) has a long history of producing products that do not show substantial results for the people who use these products.* This means that people who use metal detectors are known to show recovered treasures in amounts that total thousands of times more than what users of Vernell Electronics products show.
2. The electronic circuits that have been shown from disected Vernell products appear to be extremely ameteurish in their design and in their construction. After seeing photos of the inside of a VR-800, I would not pay more than $20 US for any Vernell Electronics product. The only reason it may be worth $20 to me is for museum display value -- not to find treasure.
The simple answer to your question is no. I have not used the Magnacast 5000.
The more pertinent answer is:
If I believed that I could detect the location of hidden metals by broadcasting RF and surveying a field with a loop antenna, then I would build a viable RF transmitter that had a wide beam angle, and I would build a sensitive receiver with a suitable size receiver coil to survey the area where I thought the metal is hidden. Remember, the Vernell transmitters I have seen so far use a single op amp oscillator with the output pin connected to either a metal rod stuck in the ground, or a small antenna set on the ground.
If you thought this theory worked, wouldn't you prefer to use a real transmitter?
Best wishes,
J_P