Vito
Elite Member
I made this to help a friend and I think it will help some others, too.
And now, here we go...
Parts you need are a bright white LED, a resistor of 82 Ohms (1/4 Watt) and a switch. (Please note: If you will do this for a different detector, the resistor has to match the Voltage where it is connected to.)
You'll also need some wire, hot glue, acrylic curtain rods, acrylic glue, a sticker impervious to light, a 2-pin connector, philips screw driver, drilling machine and drills for the holes, tools to cut and solder wires and... yes...an MXT.
To guard against electronic hazard please remove the battery pack. Now you have to loosen the 4 screws at the display housings back.
Now disconnect the circuit boards. As you can see in the next picture, the switch is always built in (sorry, no pictures about drilling) and one part of a new 2-pin connector was soldered to it.
Now we'll build the "lamp". For this I used the acrylic curtain draw rod. You can use any acrylic rod which will hold the LED. Using a LED with a 5mm diameter, I decided for a 8mm diameter acrylic rod.
Saw off a piece of 110mm from the acrylic rod. (If you like to use this for other detectors, use the length you need.)
Then a hole is drilled into the acrylic, so that the LED will fit nicely.
The acrylic rod has to be sanded. For this I used a sandpaper of 800. For better bonding due to the acrylic glue the LED is sanded, too.
Now you can solder the resistor to the LED. I put it to the anode (+) which is the longer conductor. And before the "lightrod" is glued into the displays housing with hot glue, cover the small slot with a sticker impervious to light (see arrow), otherwise the slot will glow in the dark and light up a little the index-scale on the displays front.
For better service I put a 2-pin connector in the wires for the switch. How to solder the wires to the circuit board to the +5V and GND is shown in the next picture. The wire with the grey is the GND.
Reconnect the circuit boards and assemble all parts the right way. Seize the screws just hand tight. Be careful to the plastic parts. If everything is done correctly, batteries are inserted and the detector and the light is switched ON, ...
If the switch is ON and the detector is switched OFF, the light will be OFF, too. The switch is used to save some drain during daylight hunting.
And with that I wish some fun in the night with your MXT...
All the Best, Good Luck and God Bless.
-Vito
First of all there is a warning: All things you do, you're doing at your own risk.
Warranty - I think you'll lose warranty if you're doing this modification.
Yes, there is a chance to fry the detector if soldering is not done correctly.
If you're not the techie in electronics and/or soldering jobs you better ask a friend who is.
I'm not liable to anything coming about this modification.
Warranty - I think you'll lose warranty if you're doing this modification.
Yes, there is a chance to fry the detector if soldering is not done correctly.
If you're not the techie in electronics and/or soldering jobs you better ask a friend who is.
I'm not liable to anything coming about this modification.
And now, here we go...
Parts you need are a bright white LED, a resistor of 82 Ohms (1/4 Watt) and a switch. (Please note: If you will do this for a different detector, the resistor has to match the Voltage where it is connected to.)
You'll also need some wire, hot glue, acrylic curtain rods, acrylic glue, a sticker impervious to light, a 2-pin connector, philips screw driver, drilling machine and drills for the holes, tools to cut and solder wires and... yes...an MXT.
To guard against electronic hazard please remove the battery pack. Now you have to loosen the 4 screws at the display housings back.
Now disconnect the circuit boards. As you can see in the next picture, the switch is always built in (sorry, no pictures about drilling) and one part of a new 2-pin connector was soldered to it.
Now we'll build the "lamp". For this I used the acrylic curtain draw rod. You can use any acrylic rod which will hold the LED. Using a LED with a 5mm diameter, I decided for a 8mm diameter acrylic rod.
Saw off a piece of 110mm from the acrylic rod. (If you like to use this for other detectors, use the length you need.)
Then a hole is drilled into the acrylic, so that the LED will fit nicely.
The acrylic rod has to be sanded. For this I used a sandpaper of 800. For better bonding due to the acrylic glue the LED is sanded, too.
Now you can solder the resistor to the LED. I put it to the anode (+) which is the longer conductor. And before the "lightrod" is glued into the displays housing with hot glue, cover the small slot with a sticker impervious to light (see arrow), otherwise the slot will glow in the dark and light up a little the index-scale on the displays front.
For better service I put a 2-pin connector in the wires for the switch. How to solder the wires to the circuit board to the +5V and GND is shown in the next picture. The wire with the grey is the GND.
Reconnect the circuit boards and assemble all parts the right way. Seize the screws just hand tight. Be careful to the plastic parts. If everything is done correctly, batteries are inserted and the detector and the light is switched ON, ...
If the switch is ON and the detector is switched OFF, the light will be OFF, too. The switch is used to save some drain during daylight hunting.
And with that I wish some fun in the night with your MXT...
All the Best, Good Luck and God Bless.
-Vito
