| Constructional Project _ PROBE POCKET | ANDY FLIND TREASURE FINDER An invaluable tool for the serious metal detecting enthusiast. sis most useful accessory for con tal detecting enthusiasts. As any “detectors will conte, object located wth metal deters ae sffen hard to 302, eventhough tice pre- Sence has been clearly indiated. Smal ] Posse of iron, if the detector not di { [minting aga these, wl ually have ' rusted tostollcolourand much ime canbe ‘fasted spotng them in the ope that the | Signal mght "be something of seater Interest Haley” coimeare so aconsider able mucance on many sites although no longer in circulation there are stil vast tumbers of them im the ground, usually ‘oroded toa derp earth brown “Some detector Jo n0t “papi well ether and, taken with he above fee f tors, ti ofen leads to time-consuming | ‘Sevation of unnecessary large holes. Sich activity docant improve the find rate on expedite, and may aggravate the ppostion to metal detecting found in Soe quatre "The “Probe isthe answer to these prob | lems, Pocketsized, th a.compact tect. | tng con designed to find smal objects a | fe ranges't wil pinpoint hardtosee finds immediately, saving mich time and fffor, Operation s simple and afar a | fouible suomate for fas onetanded | {Ser (The other hand wil be holding the “main” detector ora digging tool). Pinpoints the “find” in seconds. ‘The “Probe” has just one control, a ‘pushbutton. This tums it on and automsti- Eally adjsis i to. threshold sensitivity. ‘Should. a false signal appear, due. (0 “ground effect”, another touch ofthe but ‘ton wil instantly reset the threshold. After ‘se, the Unit simply replaced inthe poe- Ket where it willawtchituelofT after about thirty seconds CIRCUIT "The dicuit uses a slighty unusual prnci> ple for detecting the presence of metal. It Generates an aerating. magnetic field ‘rth coil inthe usual manner, but makes Use of the fact that a metal object entering this field absorbs a'minute amount of power from it. This causes a fallin the col oltage, and itis this voltage drop that is Sensed. The principal is simple, works uly well for Book ferous and on fer ‘us objects and requires only a simple ‘ith no idl alignment procedures. nthe full ecult,Fig 1. the oscillators built from two of the four gates in ICL, a CMOS 4011B quad “NAND" gate chip. ‘The frequency, about B0kH, is deter- mined by the resonant frequency of coll fand tuning capacitor C3, the coil being factually driven through resistor R2, The ‘ofthis resistor limits dhe dive the coil, so that voltage drops due erected. Detection of the coil voltage is per formed by the transistor stage, TRI, TR2 ‘and TRS. I the voltage onthe base of TRI exceeds that on the Base of TR2, TRI will ‘conduct and i's collector current will tum ‘on TRS, collector current from which will raise the voltage at TR2 base to match that ‘of TRI. This voltage willbe stored on C4, Secayng relatively slowly through RS, so the volage across this éapacitor corres: ponds acurately tothe peak postive valve (of the ac. signal applied to the base of ‘TR “The “differential pair” arrangement of ‘TRI and TR2 compensates for thei temp- cerature-dependant base-emitter voltages. Ideally these shouldbe matched transistors inthe same case. Alough such transistors fare avaiable they are’ dificult to find among hobby supplies, and tend to be faxpemsive. In practice, two. standard BCIBAL's stuck fopether have proved an ctfetive substitute AMPLIFICATION “The signal has now been converted 1 8 <4. voltage which falls sightly when the oil approaches meal object. The effect ‘ssery small though, nd requires ampli cation. This i provided by 1C2, SSraghtforearinterungampier with ‘ne exception is “charge coupled” the {ua guindctermining.resstore being Tepltced with cpactor CS and 6, sng ‘oitage gain of C315 or about 30 “Te adantge of wingcpacto that standing de ipot voltages are esl can- ‘caled by closing ade feedback loop and Sllowing charge to form across he iaput ‘Spacer which the de. leop is opened and onl subsequent input changes ste ampliied. ‘The areut works well povided an ample with, very high Inputimpedance, suchas the 313, used. “Opeamps in feedback creus normally t1ytobalancetheiriapt voltages. The v0 tage atthe noninverting int of FC2 is el a 25 wolu by divider RY, B80 {hes tomatch thi the oer tput the Clearoni itch 1a losed, the output SF TCD wl swing sulcenty negative to ounter the current fom VR and RO snd Schicve 2:5 volts a the iverting input It {he switch then opened, small ops {he input voltage wil appear ampifid and iverted (postive going) at ICFs output ‘This ouput voltage is then converted by ‘TRE and RI2 to curren dive for Led Dh AUDIO ‘Audio output isa useful addition to the Everyday Electronics, September 1989f Fig. 1. Complete circuit diagram of the Probe Pocket Treasure Finder. inden, i bined y copying the voltage developed across RL2 at sudo fecquency with wo sitches from IC, ven by an oselator built from the two Femaining gtes of I “The resulting aio signal voltage, prop ‘ortional tothe Outpt from 1C2, feta peno transducer. These are not very loud, Er the noe made very penetrating and has boon found quite sufctent im prac. Everyday Electronics, September 1989 POWER Power forthe circuit, from a 9 volt PPS battery, is controlled by TRS. When the button (SI) is. pressed. CiO charges through D2 and the remaining switch in ICS, ICad, is turned on. Tas biases TRS which then powers the rest ofthe cut, “The button also urns on (allowing the circuit 10 adjust toa threshold which has been pret by VRI UE Resistors FLATS IM (ot) RQ 5k 3,9, FIO, Ris 100K(4ot) Retore, Ria, Rig ‘104 (80M) RZ 220 Ri 180k Rie 20k «Seepage S78 ‘ILO wat 154 metal fin type. Potentiometer VAI 7kvericaleub-min preset Gt 1Oqaxial elect 25 2 100pceramie 3 2200ppolystyrane C&——_‘ToOnministurepolyestr layer 5 Juminiature polyester rt ce Sndminiature potyet layer © Imeeramie CB Inpolystyrene (68,c10 100jaxial let. 10v Semiconductors Dt Mminiature3mm, rd Le. D2 TNeTaBstican loge Dg INOD7sticondiode TRL TRO, TRA! “actesL npn silicon transistor Goff ‘TR3,TRS BC214L pp siicon wansistor 20M) ict doTTBCMOSquad NAND gate cz CASIa0EMosFET inputop amp. ica nATBLOSposive Fegulator 5 vol 10mA cs S0TOBCMOS quad ‘lecronie switch Miscellaneous WO1-ceramicpiezobuzer slemant 1st, momentary presstomeke. P.CB. available from the EE PCB Se Vice, order code EE853; Bin dL ferriterod for col seatext;0.25mm (G2swg] enamelled copper wire for coll case, ABS. plastic box T20xeSXaOmm; ABS pipe, et for cal probe (se text) echoes al BA When the button is related, 1Cta opens. RIG then siowly discharges C10 ti 14d stars to fom off Ar soon ae the iy ftom TRS stato drop, the voltage S202 G0 i paled own trough, Ensuring a lean, rapid itch-of tthe Stton &presed gan acany ne thi ing scion i restarted andthe threshold readjusted For stability, crcl parts ofthe cect 569,Fig. 2. P.C.B. layout and wiring for the Probe. This board is available from the EE PCB Service. are supplied by the five volt regulator IC3. Diode D3 lowers the battery voltage very slighty, the reason for this being that, with really fcesh battery, the “high” outputs from ICle and ICid may not exceed hal the battery voltage, x0 1Cab and IC wi ‘ot switch, causing loss of sound output ‘The inclusion of D3 reduces the batery ‘voltage just enough to prevent this possib Ity. Ako, i's a usefull precaution against ‘eversed supply polarity, asthe uniteannot be switched off during battery replace HIGH IMPEDANCE Tt should be noted that parts ofthis ct cuit especially around IC2, operate atvery high impedance and any leakage across the eb, may cause drift during. operation Por thie reason the p.c.b. should be hand: Jed with eare to avoid contamination with shin oils ct. A wipe with a good solvent before commencing construction and again ‘on final assembly, ts advisable. ASSEMBLY "Assembly of the pb i straight fr ward though care i reqired Because ofits Compactness. The component layout is Shown in Fig. 2. Ths two wansisors TRL, "TRE have thee “flats hued topeter with a'spot of “Araldite” resin, the “Rapid” Setion ‘of hn ing moe, convenient “They should be presod together with & lathes peg orsmlar unl he adhesive has cured “Two holes tthe bottom of the board are enlarged to about 5mm diameter so that Ted witch and battery leads can pass tivough them, D.LL. sockets are recom tnended for C1, 1C2, and ICH: Leads for S70 connection tthe .e switch and sounder should be added a this stage. “The coil consists of 18 turns of 025mm (about 32sw-g) enamelled copper wire, wound in two layers over about hmm of & ‘mm length of Sm diameter fern rd, ‘This gives am inductance of about 1 mall and, Sith 2n2 capacitor C3, resonates at About AOkHz. None of these dimensions fare especialy rtcal, however. TESTING ‘When the coil has been wound, the pac, can be tested. The author has built (gue anumber of these units, testing being Tinted to simply poweringup the complete pecb's and dealing with faults as they rose. Solder “bridges” around the pins of JCI occasionally gave woube sis worth Inspecting, this area with magnifying gas. ‘Component failures consisted almost exclusively of faulty 3130 op-amps, the {aul sometimes appearing abe he draw ing of put current. CMOS handling pre- ‘cuttone should be observed whilst fit this chip and i should be the prime suspect ine probe that refuses to tune oF its badly ‘Ute board does not work, the supply catrent should be checked. It should not fxceed about SmA quiescent and 30mA ‘with sound and Le-d fll on, The battery ‘voltage, less about 0.6 vol, should appe atthe positive end of C9 after the bution is pressed and the five volt repulated supply Should then be present seross C1. Pins 3 tnd 4 of ICl should be somewhere around 25 volts average, indicating that the coll ‘sellatr is running, as should pins 10 and Il for the audio oxilator. TRS collector should have a potential of about two volts, this being most easly measured from the top of CASE CONSTRUCTION "The cassis made from an ABS box and some i inch ABS pipe, glued together ith ABS cement obtained from plumbers merchants. Finding & soure of supply for the pape may be 3 small problem, a6 38 inch’ is narrower than usual. Swinming poolinstallersoften seit, nd may even be Eble to ait with a shor length, posibly “an unwanted off-cut, A piece about 20mm Tong s required "The end of the tube should be sealed, preferably witha proper endeapifone can Be abtained, and a hole drilled halfway long its length for coll lead entry. Glasstitne tesin, af sold for ear Body Tepais, i= poured ito the tube to give a ‘Septh of 1Smim or soa the bottom, the coil pputhed down into it, and jst sufficient {esi added to ensue the coiliscompletely potted atthe Bottom ofthe tube. The wit Ere hooked out through the hole forthe tube, andthe assembly st the resin to cure “The ferrite should not come into direct contact sith the round as this causes ‘trong fale signals soif the end ofthe tube {snotitted with acap, arangementshould bbe made to ensure a couple of millers ‘of esi between ferrite and soil ‘The tubes cemented into the case as shown in Fig. 3, sing the ABS cement. A “collar” of ABS matenl atthe entry tthe case tidied and. strengthened the pro Fig. 3. Construction and layout ofthe Probe case. Everyday Electronics, September 1989‘until the audio and visual signals are just apparent. "The unit wil then return to this sting each time the buttons pressed IN USE “The unit is reasonably weatherproof, ‘hough not wtally so sit be aed in posta nor vey muy enone (metal detecting enfin ae hardy Jo) it would be a good idea vo operate i Inside s plastic bag Altermstvey St could be replaced with waterproof ype, fone canbe found, and the ont around te exe Sealed in some way By fr the most com fon poem eine has ech mtering the pusnutton, against winch precaution shouldbe taken “the Probe wil be found extreme use- totypes; hi coud be made with ringcut the Bor with “Evortk™ The Le, f sec. fulinthe ik saving a lot of tedious di | romacomestor,oreventbeend capt ated ia drop of ABS come A‘small_ hg nd fing, An nexpected Dons fevemthe eb. thatitkeeps the wershndemuch lean CONNECTING UP ‘Peer wil hold the Since the sual method of ecating am | ‘Connections fo the pcb. ate shown in battery Grmlyn place. ible object by feeling fori! Ths wal gin The peso sounder te soldred —"'Agjustmet of URI consists of kcping When the aforesaid hands have to operate ‘inccly tothe leadsand glued tothesiée of the butt preted and carefully timing, te controls ofthe "main detector tena = complex and expense pss of eu Fake signals during probing, sich ax round elect, can be elimina with other fouch onthe button wth he spn the vicinity ‘of the ground, which will Fig. 4. Interwiring of the Probe. + eso ro aareny the presence HEB eaosed (ofa signal, which is sometimes useful for larger objec. am: 100 PAGE COMPONENT 1 98 CATALOGUE SEND OFF FOR YOUR COPY TODAY... (@ WE STOCK AN UNRIVALLED RANGE (@ ALL OUR COMPONENTS ARE FIRST CLASS BRANDED ITEMS; (© WE OFFER A SAME DAY SERVICE ON ALL STOCK ITEMS (@ NOMINIMUM ORDER—IF YOU NEED ONE COMPONENT WE ‘CAN SUPPLY ONE COMPONENT. SEND OFF FOR YOUR FREE CATALOGUE TODAY (@ WE HAVE ADOPTED ANEW LOWER PRICING POLICY +QUANTITY DISCOUNTS WOULD Like To RECEIVE. CoPr(CoPIES) OF THE ako uw tickLzwoob ELECTRONICS (COMPONENT CATALOGUE, JUST FILL IN THE COUPON OPPOSITE AND POST IT TO THE ‘ADDRESS BELOW FOR OUR SUPERB 100 PAGE CATALOGUE CRICKLEWOOD ELECTRONICS LTD., 40 CRICKLEWOOD BROADWAY, LONDONNW23ET TEL: 01-450 0995/452 0161 | FAX: 01-208 1441 TELEX: 914977 Everyday Electronics, September 1989