How to build Silverdogs Surf Pi 1.2 detector

on: February 26, 2014, 02:56 PM

PI machines are for beach wet sand and in the water if it is not waterproof where you going to use it

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on: February 26, 2014, 02:58 PM

did you know that detectors actually work on smoke?
reason being when the smoke comes out, they dont work any more.

I see on your pcb photo that you are tendering for the smoke to come out.

you have 4 bridges inserted......there must only be 2

you have the picture right there before you showing the two bridges

I cant see clearly on the photo, the 2 diodes next to ne5534. make sure their orientation is correct.
they have opposing orientation

on: February 26, 2014, 03:20 PM

Quote from: luuk on February 26, 2014, 02:58 PM

did you know that detectors actually work on smoke?
reason being when the smoke comes out, they dont work any more.

I see on your pcb photo that you are tendering for the smoke to come out.
you have 4 bridges inserted......there must only be 2
you have the picture right there before you showing the two bridges

I cant see clearly on the photo, the 2 diodes next to ne5534. make sure their orientation is correct.
they have opposing orientation

Thanks Louis!! I didn't even notice the orientation of the diodes

. I had better check that when I get home. I made sure of the first one I put in near the power supply, but not those. I don't know why/how I missed the bridge thing. I think I was too eager to build that I just bridged all the holes. LOL. My solder sucker will come to the rescue.

EDIT: Wait!!! I have been following the pictures below. They show those bridges. What should I do now? Luuk, could you check yours for me please?

on: February 26, 2014, 05:36 PM

OK. I just got an email back from Andy (silverdog) and he says that the 2 bridges on the right are the only ones needed, as the other 2 are already connected on the PCB. He says it won't hurt anything if I leave my bridges where they are. Whew!

on: February 27, 2014, 08:29 AM

I was able to solder the rest of the components onto the board last night. I had to take it slow and keep my head about me, but it wasn’t too hard. The only problem is that there should be 5 100nF and 4 1nF resistors. Mine was the other way around. This means that I had an extra 1nF and I am now missing a 100nF. Hopefully I will be able to get another one from Radio World today and solder it in. It will be the last component I have to put in.

Just to note that you get sent IC’s and IC holders. It is recommended that you solder the IC holders into the board first, and then clip the IC’s into them. To solder them directly to the board could damage them due to heat (if you are not too good at soldering), and you will not be able to remove them easily for testing and changing at a later stage.

Luuk had made the observation that 2 of my diodes that I had already soldered in have directionality. When I got home I checked them and sure enough I had soldered one of them in the incorrect way round. I had to use my solder sucker to get it out and turn it around.

Once I get the last resistor in, I will be able to do some testing and tuning. Luuk sent me some documents that give me some indication of how to do this. I hope you don’t mind me posting them luuk. If you do, please let me know

So that is where I am at the moment. What ideas does everybody have for a container for the board? Something relatively waterproof would be good

on: February 27, 2014, 08:35 AM

Here is the document regarding the "checks" that need to be done after soldering the board

on: February 27, 2014, 09:53 AM

I really hope everything checks out ok on the board and your get it working first time off.
any one of the electronics shops (Communica, RS components etc) carry a large selection of housings.
all will depend on whether you want it waterproof or just splash proof.
if its waterproof you want you will have to hard wire your coil and headphones which will mean that you cannot readily interchange coils without taking the detector apart. all the pots will have to be waterproof
anything 'waterproof' relates to 'big bucks'
go to the grocery store and get one of the tupper ware air tight containers that have clips on all 4 sides.
get 2 waterproof glands for the coax and headphones and fit them to the side of the box.
find a chunk of foamalite that will fill the box then sculpture a section for the pcb to fit snugly in, cut a section open for the batteries to fit snugly in. take a long narrow piece of hard plastic, enough just to fit the pots in side by side. cut out a section of the foamalite to house all the pots.when all is fitted and wired you must be able to close the lid without it being distorted.
when you are going to detect simply open up, switch on and close the lid and away you go. as waterproof as any except for diving of course

on: February 27, 2014, 10:01 AM

next, i'll explain how to make your own waterproof headphones. easy peasy and dirt cheap

on: February 27, 2014, 01:59 PM

Ughhh!! I just realised/found out that I have been thinking that the 1nf capacitors were the 100nf capacitors! I emailed Silverdog and he put me straight. I don’t know how I messed up so bad, but at least I didn’t put power to it before I found out. My solder sucker is getting a workout

on: February 28, 2014, 08:58 AM

I pulled all the capacitors out last night (what a job) and put them all back in the right places. I am officially finished soldering the components to the board, now all I have to do is start some testing. I will do that this weekend and post my progress along the way. Here is a pic of my finished (I hope) board. The capacitors arent sitting as straight as I would like now, but hey, if they work........

I cleaned the back of the board with meths to get the flux off, and it has left it a bit sticky. I am not too sure if it "melted" a bit of the black covering on the board

on: February 28, 2014, 09:11 AM

I am following your progress it looks good

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on: February 28, 2014, 12:56 PM

They selling the board complete assemble for R2000

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on: February 28, 2014, 01:40 PM

R2000 is ridiculous.
the board alone costs R108 from Silverdog.
if you took the component list and bought the components locally they would not cost you more than R200
the whole object of these projects is to get to know how a detector works by assembling it yourself and building your own coil.
it can be quite challenging and when successfully completed, the sense of achievement is well worth the while

my entire completed working detector, headphones and all has cost me way less than R1000 and that includes about 6 different coils as well as 4 different housings.

on: February 28, 2014, 02:03 PM

You can get the kit for 32 pounds posted. I spent just over R600 (darned exchange rate) to get the board and components. Soldering it yourself is not too hard either

on: February 28, 2014, 03:22 PM

How good is it going to be compare to original PI machine .there is so many kinds of PI and all have different depth .some are expensive high tech and they don't stand up to others with the same size coil so how doest work ?

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Metal Detecting Forums · « **Reply #29 on:** February 28, 2014, 03:22 PM »