Led output for Surf PI

[ApBerg]

Bending PVC

Hello Ant,

Bending from PVC tube can be done by filling the tube with fine dry sand.
The sand needs to be very solid in the tube, the ends can be closed by some tape . If you now take a electric paint stripper and carefully heat the tube you will see that when hot enough you can bend the tube very easy around a round form. Use some gloves !!
The copper wire can be pulled through the tube with the use off a thick nylon wire. I use a coax cable, stripped from outside isolation and screen wire .
I can make some photo's if you like.. (in the weekend)

Best regards.

Ap

[ApBerg]

Made some photo's ...

The first and the last turn go also in the tube before shifting the T junction in place. You have to mark this turns so you can see witch wire you have pull out the tube when the T junction is in place....

Succes...

Ap

[ApBerg]

Work flo

Schematic how it can be done.....
The pvc pipe is in gray and filled with dry sand, heating for bending: do this with a electric paint stripper, not a torch... this burns the pvc..
Blue is solid wood circle...
Start with the small circles, this way you can, when bending the large circle, allign the endings in line....
Succes

Ap

[ApBerg]

UW use coil

If the coil is ready and working ....you can fill it with epoxy or polyester.
The pvc tube that is going to the upper rod you can also fill with epoxy or polyester fiber this make's a strong sears rod for UW use, the cable is inside the rod so also less resistend in the water.

Susses

Ap

[ant]

That was an excellent set of instructions, thanks very much. I wouldn't have thought to pack the sand in there. I have some 'sand blasting' sand that is very fine, I'll give that a go.

I'll give it a try over the weekend and post some photos (successful or not) after then.

Once again, thanks.

Ant.

[TH Jim]

Shielding question

Hi ApBerg,

That is a very nice detector you have made - congratulations! Can I say thanks to you for putting the long print PCB on this forum, it has helped me a lot. I made it about 1 year ago and have used it to find many gold rings at the beach. I was already thinking of making a coil in the way you have when I read this thread, but I am wondering how do you shield the coil?

Regards, Jim.

[ant]

Took a bit longer than expected (not enough free time). Thanks again for the instructions and inspiration

Here are the results:

[ApBerg]

Hi ApBerg,

That is a very nice detector you have made - congratulations! Can I say thanks to you for putting the long print PCB on this forum, it has helped me a lot. I made it about 1 year ago and have used it to find many gold rings at the beach. I was already thinking of making a coil in the way you have when I read this thread, but I am wondering how do you shield the coil?

Regards, Jim.

Hello Jim,

Fist I love to hear that you have made some good finds !!

As for screening.... yes that is a little hard to make, but for searsing at the beach I think that your delay adjustment is that far away that screening is not really necessary?
I am not an expert in beach hunting.... so if anyone has an opinion ?

Hope you make many more good finds !

Ap

[ApBerg]

Hello Ant,

Congratulations! my first experiments were not that good !
Now I use for closing the tube some nylon plugs that I hit with a hammer in the tube ends, that way the sand is even more solid in the tube.

Success with your creation !

Ap

[monkeybaby]

I really like your design and think I'll try something very similar. A bit confused by the sheilding and technical stuff though. Ordering the kit soon.

Rob

[b92]

Surf Master & Cannonball

I am currently at the stage of making an underwater detector, for the moment everything is working ok, the calibration done by trial and error and detect a coin at 22cm - 24cm.
During the dive we find not only the coin, sometimes you may find, for example, a cannonball.
I feel that my surf master is not doing well in this matter, althoug he can detect cannonball at about 40cm, but after zoom the ball to the coil signal disappeared completely.
Do you have similar symptoms?

Best Wishes from Poland

[silverdog]

If you mean after detecting the canonball you moved the coil closer and the signal disappeared - that is normal
Surf Pi like most detectors require motion to detect, you must keep the coil moving

There is a pinpointing mod somewhere which allows for less movement but it made mine very noisy and unstable - maybe others have succeeded with it ?

[Lord Dracon]

Great Design, just what i'm looking for to put a Surf 1.2 kit into.

Just wondering if you could please give details of the pipe sizes used (Diameter), what you used to plug the handle ends and what diameter your search coil is?

Also I read that you fill the search ring and the stem with Epoxy or Polyester fibre. Did you put anything in the handle part (with the Components , batteries etc?) to help stop unit being crushed under water pressure (or water ingress into the unit .... Salt water not good for electronics )?

I also see you have the tuner knob on the back of the unit. Is that a switched Waterproof Pot ... if so please can you supply details of make and model. or how did you make the pot watertight?


Thanks

LD

[ApBerg]

Hello Dracon,

The handle part is made fom pressure pipe from ca. 4 cm diameter , can have 10 bar inside ! ( i think ) so from the outside this wil be more ... so no worry about the water pressure for the fist 100 meters.... The most easy way to make things waterproof is the use from a reed switch, so only a end cap that can be opend for on /of and batt 's.
If you have a lathe you can tray to make end caps as on the png's , size's are hard to give, look what material you can get...

Best regards.

Ap

Great Design, just what i'm looking for to put a Surf 1.2 kit into.

Just wondering if you could please give details of the pipe sizes used (Diameter), what you used to plug the handle ends and what diameter your search coil is?

Also I read that you fill the search ring and the stem with Epoxy or Polyester fibre. Did you put anything in the handle part (with the Components , batteries etc?) to help stop unit being crushed under water pressure (or water ingress into the unit .... Salt water not good for electronics )?

I also see you have the tuner knob on the back of the unit. Is that a switched Waterproof Pot ... if so please can you supply details of make and model. or how did you make the pot watertight?


Thanks

LD

[Lord Dracon]

Thanks for the info and the schematics, i'll just have to invest in a lathe (but that will have to wait until I have more funds available.. cannot use my brothers as he will suspect something hehe ..)

... ah, just got an idea... could modify a couple of end caps by casting the bits to be removed with good old fashioned wax or putty (takes a little craftmanship) then filling the cap with epoxy, remove the castings, then tap any threads needed. Then the only bit would be the 'O'ring seatings ... i'm sure i'll think of something..

The other end I might just epoxy a couple of w/proof glands to an end plug.. i think that should work. or just make the end completely sealed, so the electronics can only be accessed from one end .... thinks hard...

oh well, we'll just have to see what i come up with.