Big Bud Pro SE

[Merc]

Here are some pics of the board from my Teknetics Big Bud Pro SE. Please note that my board has some damage where someone used too long of mounting screw and it went straight through the board. I bought it in non-working condition because of that, but it works fine now. I thought I would post as it might be helpful to someone. No, I don't have a schematic. It's on my "to do" list. Too many projects, not enough time.

Merc

[Merc]

Just adding more info on this model that may help someone.

[Merc]

Big Bud Pro SE Power Supply

Here is a quick sketch of the power supply of my Big Bud Pro SE.

[Reg]

Bud Pro schematic

[Merc]

Thank you very much Reg. Now I can put my Big Bud Pro back together.

Merc

[Melbeta]

Thanks Reg...

Thanks Reg,
Been looking for information on the Big Bud Pro for a long time now. Up to now, all I had was the Russian version, which had a different blanking circuit. The Russian schematic had a fixed blanking circuit. The 1989 version of the SE had an adjustable blanking circuit, which adjusted from 1" to 4" of the top surface area of the ground, set in 1" increments.

The schematic version you posted is from 1987, the actual Big Bud Pro SE model version came out in 1989 as I remember.

Here is the price sheet I received in May 1989, of the newer Big Bud Pro version, called the Big Bud Pro SE. The SE stands for Special Edition. This cut of the full 8.5" x 10.5" price sheet, shows a retail price of $500.00, which is not correct, as when I received the models the color brochure stated a retail price of $599.95. The whole sale prices shown are correct. I have misplaced the color brochure, and so far, it has eluded me, and is still stored somewhere in my house. But I did not throw it away, so it is safe for the moment.

You can read the features of the new SE model, and see it is an enhanced version of the Big Bud Pro. I received two of the new SE models, and not too long after that, Teknetics went out of business, and as I still had both units, I decided to keep both of them, as I figured there would be no more SE models coming in the future. And I was right.

The SE MODEL was not an rumor as some people believe, it really did exist, but not too many were actually manufactured I think... This cut from the price sheet in the Teknetics catalog I received in May 1989 proves the SE actually existed. It even lists its actual model number here... They had not only shown it as a PLUS model, but tacked on the SPECIAL EDITION to the model name.
Melbeta

[Merc]

It does appear to be a different model. From what I can tell, the Bid Bud Pro and Big Bud Pro SE are VERY similar, but not identical. The power supply is the same approach, but a lower voltage on the SE.

Merc

[Melbeta]

Yes, definitely differences...

It does appear to be a different model. From what I can tell, the Bid Bud Pro and Big Bud Pro SE are VERY similar, but not identical. The power supply is the same approach, but a lower voltage on the SE.

Merc

I have not had the opportunity to test the Big Bud Pro SE unit with its older brothers, but I did have the opportunity to test it with First Texas Big Bud Pro 220 detector. While the 220 was very stable, and did have a meter depth readout (the only feature the Big Bud Pro Plus is lacking in my opinion), it was a weak cousin in comparison to the SE unit.

I also tested the SE unit against the Compass XP Pro Plus Scanner unit, and while the XP was extremely stable, it could not hear the same deep vintage wheat pennys that I dug up in a Nebraska park! I am not denegrating the XP or the 220, just stating a fact that under test on long buried deep wheat pennys, it did not stand a chance.

I have found that the "coin alert" does not hurt the attaching and using of an "after market" audio amplifier and enhancer unit, must bypass the coin alert feature, as I could hear a wheat penny buried at 8" like it was in the top 1" of the ground.

It would be interesting to draw out the SE unit, and view its changes circuit by circuit, right agains the Big Bud schematic that Reg provided. Then compare it with the Russian Narod schematic. Of course the Russian Narod schematic was not really Russian, but was a schematic of the Big Bud drawn out by William Lahr, formerly of Whites Electronics in the past, in the year 1985. I am going to post it right here, so that others will have it for its information. Lahr was known for having very accurate schematics...

The earlier Big Bud detector had a fixed 3" deep blanker circuit. I am going to clarify that a bit, as you can see in the Lahr schematic, at U15 where it mentions "norm" for "normal", it is not in blanking mode. When you switch it to "deep", which is away from "+Volts", it is in a fixed 3" deep blanking mode.

I am attaching a copy of the description of the blanking circuit in the George Payne patent, for anyone's interest.
Melbeta

[Merc]

The Bid Bud Pro SE that I have I found listed for sale on a forum in non-working condition. I patched a #6 screw sized hole in the PCB and replaced one busted diode and it sprang to life. I got an extra complete rod and a 10 inch coil with it so I asked the guy where the other detector was. It had quit working and he had thrown it away. So sad.

Merc

[turtlebowl]

More Pix

Thanks Merc for sharing and Reg ,,,god bless. I too only had Bill's drawing. The factory circuit is a Gem.
It's always fun to share board pix for comparison. Note that my BBPro SE PCB is a bit different. U6 on my board is masked and also has a ?temp? device attached. Least thats what I assumed it was. Can someone please tell me what that is? Mine also has an external Sensitivity pot wired to the back of the board. Maybe they all did and yours was just removed for some reason. I dunno. Probably other differences too.
Anyways too cool guys. Thanks again for sharing.
Phil M

[turtlebowl]

Missed your wirements attachment on first read-through Merc. I see now that they all had the external Sens control.
Still like to know what that weird thing is attached to U6 on mine is though. Anyone know?

[Merc]

I think it may have been a crude attempt at shielding that IC from outside interference.

Merc

[Merc]

Turtlebowl, I notice in your pics there is no solder on the PCB edge connectors. Does your BBPro SE have connectors to slide onto the PCB? Mine just has wires soldered directly to those contacts.

Merc

[turtlebowl]

Wires??
Mine is remote control!

I wish. No Merc, I wish I could say it did have edge connectors. I must have wire braided the pads prior to reassembly.
Another thing that always interests me when comparing boards is the date codes on the chips. Its amazing the span of years,,,,, Your board has chips that span from 1980 to 1990.
Your explanation on my U6 makes good sense. Thanks Merc.
Phil M

[Merc]

I'm working on cleaning-up the schematic posted by Reg. Blue prints do not scan well. Here is the progress so far.

Merc