Whites TM800 Hoard Hunter. Thinking Of Selling

[keith777]

i have a Whites TM800 Hoard Hunter that i am thinking of selling to buy a PI machine. how much could i get for it.
thanks in advance guys.

[keith777]

PS witch PI machine would you recommend to do the same job.

[Tim]

I realise this is an old post. Nice machine Keith. I've seen them on Feepay from new price down to $300US.
I have a brand new old stock Garret Bloodhound attachment for my ADS. It works OK, but I wanna have a crack at Sascho's 2 box down the track.
As a PI replacement I'd recommend the Delta Pulse/XR71 (same schematic, different layout). Sinko on Fleabay does completed XR71 board for about $100US. Even with limited skills a coil, box and stem ain't too hard. Lots of adjustments to play with. They handle a wide range of larger size coils and inductances, usually 450uH, but anything from 300-1200 will work- I found this out when I hooked up a boomerang shape 24x3"@1168uH off my BFO. I have a rectangular 24x14" with 3 rounds of Cat5, 8 strands, so 24 rounds end-joined, but tapped at no.22. The last 2 rounds act as a shield. It will see an Oz 5c at 8 inches, a coke can at over 3 feet, and my 4wd at over 3 metres.
Search fleabay, "metal detector kit" after selecting worldwide.
A Delta Pulse complete is anything fro $5-800, if you can find one (Fleapay again).

[eclipse]

It works OK, but I wanna have a crack at Sascho's 2 box down the track.

This is exactly what I'm thinking too

[Tim]

I haven't attempted any Sascho designs yet, but he is a true genius. To my mind his schematics are works of art. Obviously he is a lateral thinker.
I packed up the sparks and smoke a while back to concentrate on finishing my Cert II Horticulture.
Soon I will attack the boards again. I have ITMD to read, and a (new) oscope to learn. Have a HEAP of projects to do- Newhobby Magnum, Silverdog IDX, Chance, Minipulse. IGSL Musky. Got 10 Hammerhead RevD boards on the way too! And a list of home-etches longer than my arm.
While working through these I have another list of schematics to design boards for, including some Saschos. Currently I do them on PCB Express. I have Sprint viewer, but need the full version. I have Eagle, but need to learn how to use it, I have LTspice, but need to learn how to use that too- not that I would ever trust a simulation anyways.
I think most pcb manufacturers need Gerber or Eagle files, so Gerber or a file converter is on my wishlist too. Perhaps a PCB Express to Gerber converter would be the best for me currently, if there is one.
The HHd1 boards I got made worked out to AU$3.88 each ! That includes freight too. At that price, getting 10 made is a better option than etching one at home. The 3 quotes I got were, per piece-$13.28(anke pcb), $6.44(pcbway), and $3.88(allpcb)(freight factored in). I have my fingers crossed there will be no defects or mistakes with them.
I tend to do one board/project at a time to completed and tuned detector before starting the next. It would be so easy to end up with a bench full of populated boards and coil winds, but no useable detectors.....

[eclipse]

There is a board design for Sasho TR by Hammid (the guy who developed Felezjoo PI) you can use that one, guess it works.
I didn't use it because I don't do home made boards and I had few ideas which I needed to apply on the board, so I made mine.

[Tim]

I have a schem by Hammid GIF, a neat board in GIF, and an Arabic MSword partslist and corrections I think all match, plus a a pdf etch, and a PCBExpress etch as well, all from here I think.
Do you have a layout/etch done eclipse? If so do you care to share it, or supply a link??
What changes are you planning/doing?
I see a common denominator with these machines is a high/ultra high gain amp...I have many high gains to choose from. I need to find a use for some MAA501 cans at some stage, and CA3035 ultra-high is on my watchlist.
Cheers.

[eclipse]

It is best to use the layout supplied there, by Hammid. It's proven working when you go through the forum you see lots of people have done it.
My board is similar to his, smaller in size because it's cheaper to produce this way.
Some elements didn't have enough space on the original board.
Also have added DC/DC step up converter as in the document suggests supplying 20V to the TX transistor pair, I've posted it somewhere in the last few pages on felezjoo forum, nothing to great really.

More interesting is what is in the document, unfortunately using Google Translate to translate Persian to English is not enough, I've managed to translate few important things here and there (like suggestion to use 0.7mm wire instead of 0.3mm, and number of turns to get the right inductance), also suggestion on better TX transistor pair, etc.
If I manage to turn this thing on I may end up paying for a partial proffesional translation on that document.

[keith777]

now sold