White's 6000 / from RU with luv!

[ivconic]

I picked up schematic and pcb pattern long time ago, right now i don't remember from where exactly!?
It is modyfied design, most probably done by russian colleagues.
So recently i made it.
PCB is correct because it is working just nice from the very start.
Right now i am trying to adapt it to work with Tesoro (Vaquero, Tejon, Cibola) original coil.
I am getting decent perfromances... yet; not such to be happy with.
Anyway, PCB is correct! Checked!
Go for it!
There is original RU pcb and sch file in attachment.

[ivconic]

And here is my "rework" !

[ivconic]

...

[ivconic]

Now... i am not sure about specs of original 6000 coils!?
Are those 0.540mH and 36mH or 1.7mH and 16mH ?
There are some specs here on forum, but never really explained for what exact model they are (except that somewhere is XLT/Spectrum noted).

[ivconic]

Also analogue VDI stage is missing from this design. Pity!
Pity because 6000's analogue VDI is indeed very nice feature.
So now i am trying to put all the pieces togather and maybe make small "piggy" pcb with VDI and later hook it up on main pcb.
Will see.

[reiv]

Hi nice work!
I see that orginal coil to 6000 is blue max 950 6.59kHz soe i think this data should work properly: http://www.geotech1.com/forums/showt...9-Blue-Max-600 the same like in Classic/IDX family. You think this unit could be better than those, or what about any differences? Maybe simpler way is to put uC VDI ( PIC16F88 )?
Regards

[ivconic]

Hi nice work!
I see that orginal coil to 6000 is blue max 950 6.59kHz soe i think this data should work properly: http://www.geotech1.com/forums/showt...9-Blue-Max-600 the same like in Classic/IDX family. You think this unit could be better than those, or what about any differences? Maybe simpler way is to put uC VDI ( PIC16F88 )?
Regards

I know about that coil but am not sure if it is most suitable for 6000.
6000 should be better than Classic. More features. Maybe more immune to masking.
I didn't make it for some special reason, just for hobby and to spend some time.
I had few 6000 DI Pro's on service so far. But i never really wanted to measure those coils, than.
Original 6000 DI Pro is indeed excellent detector, that's what attracted me to try to make this one.
...
No i don't want digital VDI to put on this.
It's original analogue VDI with moving scale is something really cute and speciall.
Similar kind of analogue VDI is pressent at Fisher CZ5, for example.
Scale moves to certain position and stops on right place and holds. Very interesting and nice.
Also there is indeed interesting electronics behind such analogue VDI, quite challenging for hoobyists!

[Davor]

It's not if you have a reliable analogue divider at hand. I'm about to design one without the speciality chips, so now I know a first customer.
There are some chips that perform A*B/C of which the /C operation is useful here. In reality you don't need a real arctan function for every degree if you can map them on a dial. Besides, for small angles tan(x) ~ arctan(x) and beyond some degree your divider goes to clipping so with some compression the range of useful degrees can be somewhat extended. In any case, a divider is the heart of an analogue VDI.

BTW, I admire your energy in designing PCB-s, especially one sided that are easy to bake at home, and it is not my business to do any nagging over your products, but ... there is a structure called "Thermal Relief" which is extremely useful when using a ground plane. It is common with vias, but quite useful with single sided PCBs as well. They make soldering parts on a ground plane much easier because heating a spot is much faster and solder is not running all over the place. Just a thought.

[ivconic]

It's not if you have a reliable analogue divider at hand. I'm about to design one without the speciality chips, so now I know a first customer.
There are some chips that perform A*B/C of which the /C operation is useful here. In reality you don't need a real arctan function for every degree if you can map them on a dial. Besides, for small angles tan(x) ~ arctan(x) and beyond some degree your divider goes to clipping so with some compression the range of useful degrees can be somewhat extended. In any case, a divider is the heart of an analogue VDI.

BTW, I admire your energy in designing PCB-s, especially one sided that are easy to bake at home, and it is not my business to do any nagging over your products, but ... there is a structure called "Thermal Relief" which is extremely useful when using a ground plane. It is common with vias, but quite useful with single sided PCBs as well. They make soldering parts on a ground plane much easier because heating a spot is much faster and solder is not running all over the place. Just a thought.

Yes i agree about last you said, i know that. I made my pcb using RU file - not my "rework"!
RU file is having those "easy to solder" gp tied points.
I made "rework" only to use it later in further analyzes and possible changes that i might do... eventually. (Also is snowy winter, Deus and me are dying from annoyance!)
Don't know about other people; but i am mostly "visual" guy and it is much more easier for me to analyze, follow, trace, check and modify circuitries when everything is visible on "paper" at the same time.
First i tried easy to place components on RU file but than i faced difficulties because it's author used pretty strange method to "carve" traces from compact background!?
Quite odd for my understanding of SL!? Also not comfortable if later i decide to move things on pcb, maybe delete some areas etc...
I lost my nerves trying to place and fit components on such "background" so later gave up.
Than i decided to draw complete new pattern using my method and habits that i adopted so far. That's why "rework" appeared.
For those who intend to make this: of course that i do suggest use of RU file for transfer and etching - not my "rework".

[ivconic]

"....It's not if you have a reliable analogue divider at hand. I'm about to design one without the speciality chips, so now I know a first customer...."

Actually there are no special chips in original setup. I already have original stage, only need to add it on existing work because russian colleagues omitted it for some reason!?
Anyway; it is good to brainstorm such problems and have more solutions, so i would like to see your option too.
To know exactly what to do; would be good if you see it in action first. Is not a simple "VU scale". It is very very smart VU scale!

[Davor]

Yes, this circuit could do, only I thought of something more simple and cheaper. I don't think depth meter is of any relevance in case your rig has proportional tone. It can be done, but I don't think it must be done with the same circuitry.

With regard to extending the scale to work more arctan-like, please observe U206 C circuitry with compression. It does exactly that.

I stumbled upon a divider circuit that was patented long ago and it popped up immediately when I punched in a few key words. It is incredibly simple.

[ivconic]

Yes, this circuit could do, only I thought of something more simple and cheaper. I don't think depth meter is of any relevance in case your rig has proportional tone. It can be done, but I don't think it must be done with the same circuitry.

With regard to extending the scale to work more arctan-like, please observe U206 C circuitry with compression. It does exactly that.

I stumbled upon a divider circuit that was patented long ago and it popped up immediately when I punched in a few key words. It is incredibly simple.

Yes depth readers usually are not accurate enough.
No i am not very interested in depth reader too.
What i like at this VDI is very accurate and smooth behavior of track&hold function.
I've seen it in action many times; that's why i like it.
It is too cute to miss it and not include it in design like this one.

[Davor]

I'm very sure that it uses a fraction of supply current of a digital one. If portability is a king, then analogue VDI is a queen.

[reiv]

Any news/progress about this project Ivconic?

[ivconic]

Any news/progress about this project Ivconic?

Pcb is working just nice. Tested it with coil which i land from a friend just for couple hours. Now i don't have my own coil. In meantime i switched to other project and 6000 is waiting for coil.
Log amp & meter drive i planned on separate board as add on. No time to do all the stuff, day is short!