Advice with detectors.

[neptune769]

Hello All,
I was about to order a Surf PI board. Then I saw all the other boards Silverdog offers. That got me wondering if the Surf PI is really what I need. I don't know much about electronics. I can put a kit together and have it work. I can't design a circuit though. This is what I'm looking for. I want a detector for fresh and salt water hunting. Coins, Gold Rings, Civil War artifacts and such. Is the Surf PI a good choice or is there something better I can build? I have started on a Hammerhead1 but misplaced the board during a move. So I want to start over. I would appreciate some suggestions.

Regards,
Dennis

[Davor]

I'd go by popularity

You may add Gary's PI to your choice because of great component choice and a level of control. He sells kits.

[Qiaozhi]

Hello All,
I was about to order a Surf PI board. Then I saw all the other boards Silverdog offers. That got me wondering if the Surf PI is really what I need. I don't know much about electronics. I can put a kit together and have it work. I can't design a circuit though. This is what I'm looking for. I want a detector for fresh and salt water hunting. Coins, Gold Rings, Civil War artifacts and such. Is the Surf PI a good choice or is there something better I can build? I have started on a Hammerhead1 but misplaced the board during a move. So I want to start over. I would appreciate some suggestions.

Regards,
Dennis

The Surf PI is popular, well documented and known to be a working design with good performance. In your situation I would recommend this kit as the best choice. It is far easier to build than the Hammerhead.

[woodbob123]

Being in the same situitation re electronics I have built 2 surf kits 1 baraccuda kit all from silverdog all worked from switch on. Sure that Garys would do the same, plus all the help needed is here. Built up some test equipment as you build more complicated designs.

[neptune769]

Thank you all for the input. I think I will go with the Surf PI for now. I just have to convince the boss (wife) to let me buy the kit.

Regards,
Dennis

[SVEN1]

Yes, the Surfmaster is an easy Pi to assemble and get working, perfect for the beginner, like myself. Built 3 the one year.

Then moved on to the Tesoro TGSL-EDU, didn't work at first, had another forum member debug it and found several transistors were backwards.
Did not see the posting regarding this problem until after it was debugged. Just ordered a 2 tone PCB from Silverdog for it.

Nice thing about Geotech, you can get a lot of help here when you run into a problem.