Resources for Experimenters

Over the years, I have personally built more then 25 metal detectors from my own designs. Some were great, some were moderately good and others did not work at all. Such is life. During that same time, I have seen frustration by others who wish to work in the field of metal detector design from all walks of life. To them, I dedicate this topic and I will begin by adding a few links to my favorite resources for people wishing to design or modify their detectors.

Picaxe Electronic Bread Board Layout Emulator

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http://www.rev-ed.co.uk/picaxe/pebble/

The above link is for a design package that will allow you to create an experimental circuit using a bread board. Follow the link for an on-line package which is not limited to PicAxe, as the title suggests. You can also follow this link for a downloadable version which you can put on your own server or use from your hard disk in your browser.

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http://www.minisumo.org.uk/pebblev2_4a.zip

For those who use PIC devices and want a high level language that does not cost an arm and a leg, here is a great resource.

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http://www.voti.nl/jal/index_1.html

The above link takes you to a page where Just Another Language (JAL) is described and hosted for download. Using this unique language you can create a full design using a PIC device and the cost is free. At this link, you will find a definitive listing of the language and functions along with several more links with helpful design stuff.

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http://www.casadeyork.com/jalv2/

PIC Shell is found here.

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http://picshell.ovh.org/ps/

The above link is an IDE, or Integrated Device Environment which can be used with JAL to compile code and then program your PIC device. Using Flash PIC devices with the serial interface makes creating new programs a snap.

This site is a huge resource of schematics both tried and untested. Remember that last bit - UNTESTED - as there are many designs here which appear to be quite elaborate but have never been successfully built. For a beginner, that can be a problem so be sure you are downloading and using a working schematic unless you really know what you are doing.

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http://www.geotech1.com/cgi-bin/pages/common/index.pl?page=main&file=main.dat

An invaluable resource is the Make DIY magazine here:

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http://www.instructables.com/

In the above link you will find thousands of things to make yourself and many of them can be adapted to treasure hunting. Look around. This site is a time waster, believe me, but I love it.

Here is another great resource from an author (Don Lancaster) who writes regularly for Nuts and Volts magazine.

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http://tinaja.com/

My last tip and helpful link is the US and World Patent offices search engine located here:

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http://www.freepatentsonline.com/

For the above link, you WILL have to join - FREE - but the resources available in every area of both electronic and mechanical technologies are simply overwhelming. You will probably hate me for the amount of time you spend there wandering about aimlessly distracted by each new thing you discover.

Please feel free to add your own resources to this list in this topic.

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