The clone of SUPERSCAN MK II

[Geo]

Is the Superscan no longer made by Mittas in Thessaloniki? I sold the design to them many years ago.

Mittas still makes it but people prefer more modern detectors with GB.
Superscan is a very deep detector but a little grouchy.

[Geo]

Yes, the Superscan was primarily for large objects, deeply buried. It used a coil configuration copied from that used in geophysical mineral prospection where you laid a large TX coil on the ground and searched within it with a smaller RX coil. With the Superscan we mainly used 10m x 10m TX on the ground and a 280mm diameter roving RX coil. This arrangement decouples the surface ground response anyway, so active GB is not necessary in most cases. Provision was made so that a normal mono coil could be used and then you could get a strong ground signal.
Lead acid gel batteries made the unit heavy but in many cases the Superscan sat on the ground with an operator taking readings while the portable RX coil on a long cable was moved by a separate person. Within the 10m square ground TX we often laid a nylon string grid which divided the area into 1m squares. Readings were taken every metre or half metre. That is the way archaeological surveys were done both with this instrument and a proton magnetometer.

Eric, how much deeper is this method compared with a mono coil 1x1 m??

[sirbedevir]

I plan use for two things Superscan.
1. To search wrecks is a 4-6meters deep lake from boat.
2 To search helmet size or bigger targets in 50×50meter areas 3-4meters deep.
Is it reasonable?
(Noww I have Pulse Star 2 pro, but it has no enough deep)

[STAVROSNU]

Hi Eric,

good to see you back.
Yes Mittas is still in business.
Take a look at his url: www.mittas.gr



Greetings from Thessaloniki

Stavros

[sirbedevir]

Hello!
And the Superscan works with standard 400 microH and 2 Ohm coils? For example the 10×10 meter coil's number of turns is 3?
And the cable from the machine to the coils is standard cable like Rg58?
Thanks!

[multieagle]

Personally, the best hobbyist machine is Treasurelinx's Mirage. http://www.treasurelinx.com/mirage_pi.html Excellent depth, excels at small gold recovery, etc. Just my opinion.

[Geo]

Hello!
And the Superscan works with standard 400 microH and 2 Ohm coils? For example the 10×10 meter coil's number of turns is 3?
And the cable from the machine to the coils is standard cable like Rg58?
Thanks!

I think that the coil 10x10m is one turn.
Somewhere I have a Superscan but without original coil so no reason to measure it.
Now about the cable... yes RG58 is ok.

[sirbedevir]

One turn has too small inductance in calculator...

[Ferric Toes]

I plan use for two things Superscan.
1. To search wrecks is a 4-6meters deep lake from boat.
2 To search helmet size or bigger targets in 50×50meter areas 3-4meters deep.
Is it reasonable?

The best way is to make a non metallic sled and mount a mono coil about 1 - 1.5m square on the sled and tow across the bottom. Use a nylon rope for towing. You probably need about 25m of coax to the coil and RG58 will have too much resistance. There is a heavier cable (RG213?) nearly 10mm diameter that is good for this type of thing. Coils are not critical and inductance can be up to 500uH and resistance of coil 1 - 2 ohms. Take the output of the Superscan to a chart recorder and record GPS co-ordinates when you get and anomaly. Bear in mind though that the sled will be some way behind and likely at an angle to the boat if there is a current.
I remember a friend in Florida mounting such a coil on a large sheet of 0.5in thick rubber and towing that along the bottom. That had the advantage of riding over obstacles on the sea bed, where a rigid sled might jamb and act like an anchor.

[Ferric Toes]

Hello!
And the Superscan works with standard 400 microH and 2 Ohm coils? For example the 10×10 meter coil's number of turns is 3?
And the cable from the machine to the coils is standard cable like Rg58?
Thanks!

400 - 500uH is OK. The original Superscan used 16/0.2/ 12 core cable linking up sufficient conductors to make a coil of the inductance required. This is easy to do and being cable it has an outer sheath. The unused conductors have no effect. Where the coax joins the ends of the cable conductors needs to be potted, ideally in a small plastic potting box, to make it waterproof. Any water, particularly sea water, that gets into the coil windings will render the coil unuseable. On larger coils e.g. 10m square, conductors can be paralleled to keep the resistance down.

[sirbedevir]

Thanks
Because the lake is shallow, I plan to tow on the water surface the coil, fixed to a rubberboat.

[sirbedevir]

For my PulseStar has compensation coil inline to the preamp, and it work fine. The compensation coil is above the real coil, like a cube, it has 2 wheel like chariot, and i pull it. The real coil is 60cm above the ground, and the compensation coil is above plus 60 cm above the real coil.
The Superscan can workable with a compensation coil? Can I make a new electrical outlet in the Superscan to use a compensation coil? (because power line interference)

[Ferric Toes]

Thanks
Because the lake is shallow, I plan to tow on the water surface the coil, fixed to a rubberboat.

You said the lake is 4 - 6m deep. If you tow the coil on the surface you will not find a helmet size object at that range, even if it is just sitting on the bottom. If it is buried then that makes it worse. In my opinion, the only chance you stand is to tow the coil on the bottom. It will likely detect it buried at 2.5m but beyond that, it is hard to say. If it is steel it helps, but then I would consider using a magnetometer.

[sirbedevir]

In the 4-6meters deep lake i plan search big worldwar2 wrecks.
My helmet size targets are in land, max 3 meters deepth

And where is the damping resistor in Superscan? In the search coil, like other PI-s? And what is the value? 300 Ohm? 150 Ohm?

[samii]

Damping resistor 150 ohm 1 W on the PCB

I think superscan same with miniscan only difference 24 volt power.