I need help with idx pro silverdog red pcb!!

[gaby_sult]

I respectfully greet you all


I wasted my time for a year and came to this conclusion:


- the problem is due to the sensitivity of the integrated circuits buy several quality units NE5534, LF347N / NOPB, LM393N / NOPB and check with the oscilloscope each signal,
- and as a signal the return of the coil at the output NE5543 should not be higher than 100mV.


Gaby

[Tibuck19]

I am wondering if to problem is not in the detector circuits but maybe in the coil or coil connections.

3 coils, all 3 show a drop in performance just the same when i started noticing there was a depth lost, i had suspected a connector problem which is why replaced the detectors connector and checked the connectors on all 3 coils, Nice suggestion just the same, i wish it was something that simple.

[Tibuck19]

I respectfully greet you all


I wasted my time for a year and came to this conclusion:


- the problem is due to the sensitivity of the integrated circuits buy several quality units NE5534, LF347N / NOPB, LM393N / NOPB and check with the oscilloscope each signal,
- and as a signal the return of the coil at the output NE5543 should not be higher than 100mV.


Gaby

For all but the NE5534, that was exactly what i done i spent just shy of 70$ with digikey in IC's and a pot for the sens, i replaced every single ic and swapping one for another, the NE5534 i basically used the ones i already had, due to the fact a few because most of the Pi detectors projects on Geotech pretty much uses one. i will re-prob the ne5534 for mv. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Tibuck19]

12" and maybe a bit more on dry sand is normal for this detector on larger coins. If there isnt much junk in the fields and you run the detector hot

8" is an easy solid loud tone on most things




to get the best out of it you need Good headphones and run very little discrimination. You need to be where your digging some forged nails bent at 90 and horseshoes. Most of the iron giving a broken tone.


on my lawn. With in the field settings I can't hit a Vicky very thin half penny at 10". I can if I Crank it up a bit.

but with in the field setting on a Bandido I can. As does a Fisher 1265x


in the field settings = discrimination at a point where not too much iron is dug, Sensitivity is where it runs stable and threshold where you can still get the depth proportional volume

hot = threshold and sensitivity cranked up and discrimination reduced.

That's one of the problems im facing Koala, i have this little Whites made 8 inch coil that is a perfect little coin shooter, Air test, i used to get at least 14 inches easy with a nickle, now i can barely hit 8 inch, if that was in the ground i would be lucky if id get 3 or 4 inches deep, where before that same little 8 inch I have dug things up 6 inch plus with a very solid tone.

[Tibuck19]

Once again, i want thank you all, for all and any suggestions you have made or can make, i am willing to try any suggestion you guys have. I know for a fact how well the IDX works in the field, and i am willing to try just about anything to make it work as it was.

[Koala]

That's one of the problems im facing Koala, i have this little Whites made 8 inch coil that is a perfect little coin shooter, Air test, i used to get at least 14 inches easy with a nickle, now i can barely hit 8 inch, if that was in the ground i would be lucky if id get 3 or 4 inches deep, where before that same little 8 inch I have dug things up 6 inch plus with a very solid tone.

I take is a genuine Whites coil on the outside of the left lug there should be something like 6B stamped into it.


Whats there ?

[Tibuck19]

It is indeed the 8 inch is a 6b one of my 10inch is an F the other was made by dfbowers and the 15inch is another 6b however i have not hooked it up yet. The 8 inch and 10 inch coils are the coils i have been using with this IDX since day one, i never had problems with either one of them.

[Koala]

It is indeed the 8 inch is a 6b one of my 10inch is an F the other was made by dfbowers and the 15inch is another 6b however i have not hooked it up yet. The 8 inch and 10 inch coils are the coils i have been using with this IDX since day one, i never had problems with either one of them.

that's interesting

the 6b shouldn't ground balance.

they were for the lower classic range. The I,II,III,ID and IDX all used the same PCB however there were different jumpers for different models so you can adjust some resistors to make it work. I have forgotten which but if you look on the original schematics its easy to work out.


I have a couple of 6B coils. They never preformed as good as my homemade ones. Even with the circuit adjusted.


But were super stable.

[Tibuck19]

i have two years of using the 6b coil that says they work really well hahaha, I did have to remove 2k2 resistor and jumper it, which if i'm not mistaken, you were the one that had suggested it, which worked like a charm as i never had a problem ground balancing any of the coils including the 6b and the F coil, don's coil works really well however, it was always more noisy in parks where there was a lot of wifi around unlike the whites coils, that were always dead silent even at almost full sensitivity on the pot setting, like i said everything just worked and worked great till it didn't. i just finished taking all the connectors on the board of and re made all new connection hopping maybe some where there was a little fault. Silverdog was kind enough to send me a board, if it still doesn't work, i will simply repopulate a new board and give that a try. I don't know if it helps but, before nickels would not get detected about halfway on the 10K pot, now its more like 3/4 of of the way before they get discriminated out, I am thinking somewhere on the board there is probably a resistor or two that failed but pulling every single one out to test it out of circuit does not seem like a fun time.




i never ended up getting the vid finished and working lol

[Koala]

its probably over 10 years since I last looked at the IDX


fairly confident all but two resistors measure okay in circuit and they on the PSU side


I vaguely remember testing them all while chasing poor depth in pinpoint mode


I had substituted MPSA13 for something else. Cant remember what should have been better but when I changed to MPSA14 i(I think) it was all good

[Koala]

is your depth the same in pinpoint and all metal


what's the peak to peak on the TX needs to be measured on a scope.

[tomec123]

:-))) yes, thats true ;-) . 35cm is very very good for this Project.

[Tibuck19]

is your depth the same in pinpoint and all metal


whats the peak to peak on the TX neads to be measured on a scope.

I wanted to replace the MPSA but have not because Digikey had none in stock, i have desperately digging throw my pile of salvage compintents hoping i can find something to replace it with, i have already robbed the one out of the Original Cuda, As for pinpointing, it was always weaker on pinpoint ( AKA the threshold audio humming) then it was on beep mode, i would say, a little less than half the depth, if that is what you are asking? i am in the middle of putting all new wires harness together to for each part of the detector, as soon as its done i will fire up the idx and try to measure the TX with the scope and let you know what it is.

[Tibuck19]

:-))) yes, thats true ;-) . 35cm is very very good for this Project.

No its not as i was getting close to 42 to 45 cm before this malfunction started to happen loll my TGSL gets about 35CM and i missed a lot of stuff with it, after i detected over the same area with the IDX. heck there was at least two silver quarters the TGSL missed that i had found the year later with the IDX with the smaller 8 inch coil.( maybe it was experience that i had gain or maybe the idx is that much more better) hehehe i dont mean to sound so bios but the way the idx was working, i never felt the need to buy a commercial detector as they would of had a hard time being better.

[waltr]

No its not as i was getting close to 42 to 45 cm before this malfunction started to happen loll my TGSL gets about 35CM and i missed a lot of stuff with it, after i detected over the same area with the IDX. heck there was at least two silver quarters the TGSL missed that i had found the year later with the IDX with the smaller 8 inch coil.( maybe it was experience that i had gain or maybe the idx is that much more better) hehehe i dont mean to sound so bios but the way the idx was working, i never felt the need to buy a commercial detector as they would of had a hard time being better.

The TGSL is better on low conductive (short TC) targets like nickles and the IDX is better on higher conductive (long TC) targets like silver coins. This is due to the operating frequencies use in these two detectors. Lower freq better for long TC and higher freq better for short TC.
Dbowers did a comparison of these two detectors on different target in his 'test garden'.