prospal

Hi Reg, Sometimes, when the time is ripe, certain ideas crop up in the minds of several people at the same time. Wen I designed my first metal detector I was actually working on a magnetic flowmeter. The scheme I used to demodulate the signal was perfectly adapted for use in a metal detector. As a matter of fact, George Payne thought so too, since he referenced my design in one of his metal detector patents. http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?...p;RS=Westersten Owing to the problems I encountered with the sine-wave flowmeter I abandoned the idea of using it and moved on to the PI design. Now, strangely, I've come full cirlcle. I should clarify: the detector I hope to be able to demonstrate at Rich Hil does not use all of the technology in the latest patent. The GoldSweeper is a straight PI detector with Fe/Non-Fe descrimination. I'm still struggling with the software for the detector and the situation is touch and go... Allan

Hi Bob, The idea with the battery pack in a tube was to balance the detector around the handle--there is no coil at that end. I've been told that this design might be awkward to use in brush, so I'm putting the battery pack in a pod at the end of the rod. The detector is still balanced at the gripping point and the battery pack and the switching regulators (that generate noise) are kept as far as possible from the coils. Allan

Hi Reg, You are pretty savvy about these things--the preamplifier and the coil driver are in those little "pods". This stratagem eliminates the cable capacitance and the motion artifacts. The lower the capacitance across the coils, the higher the self-resonant frequencies of the coils. The sooner the oscilliations can be eliminated, the sooner one can sample for "invisible nuggets" an other small gold. The picture on the web page shows a balanced design with NiCad cells in a tube. I have recently tried LI Ion cells that are much lighter, and this changes the "balancing act". The tube with batteries no longer hangs down--instead, there is an enclosure at the far end, with the battery and switching regulators, which are best kept as far as possible from the receiver coil. I'm working feverishly to get a unit ready for a demo... Thanks for the publicity, Allan

These detectors may up on EBay--that's the place to look for them... If the seller refuses to furnish a serial number, that's a tip-off of a hot item. ("Hot" meaning stolen, in this context--not like a hot seller...) Prospector Al

How new is "new"? I'm just trying to find out how new I am? Prospector Al

Howdy, I could use a Manual for a GP-3000. Please tell me how I can pay for it. My address: Allan Westersten P.O. box 50 Georgetown, CA 95634-0050

Howdy, I bought a GP-3000 on Ebay, thinking I could download a User's Manual from Minelab's web site. To my surprise, they don't even list that detector any more. At one time this was touted as being the greates gold detector available and now, they are ashamed of admitting they made it. The name is still on the box. This is very poor custmer support--no more Minelab detectors for me! Prospector Al

Pardon my ignorance--I have a GP-3000. How do I get Finder's Superfix? Does it come in a kit or must the detector be sent somewhere? P. Al

Hi John, This isn't really a response to the previous message, but I'd like to take this opportunity to send you a message. There are rumors in cyberspace that you are an expert on "invisible nuggets". I'd like to buy one. I need it to test a new type of coil I'm building, and I believe it can detect these nuggets but I need proof that can only be provided by testing it with the real thing... If you are willing to depart with one of the nuggets you have, please let me know... Prospector Al