From centech, to... this:

Valhad

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South Bend, Indiana
Still working out a couple details, trying to get the process simplified for others to duplicate. However, I wanted to show off. :p

This is currently the state of my centech pinpointer. Once I've got it nailed down a full walkthrough/tutorial will be created with pictures and parts lists. Right now I'd estimate it's at about $10 in parts, with $3 being the metal on/off switch...

Enjoy!



Edit: I suppose I could have said what I was showing off!!! This is a 30 second video showing my new range-detecting feature on my centech pinpointer.

Edit: Walkthrough has been added! See page three of this thread.
 
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I'm working on duplicating now... I think my scavenged transducer is toast though.

Did the range seem improved? From your video you're getting 2-3 inches and I generally get 1 max.

Can you PM me the specs for the transducer you used?
 
Will be looking forward to a write-up. Giving some thought to silent intensity indication. May put a small meter on it, or a led voltage indicator.
 
Will be looking forward to a write-up. Giving some thought to silent intensity indication. May put a small meter on it, or a led voltage indicator.

My current design would make a meter tricky, but I'd think a true meter might be hard to read/see while you were using it anyhow. A blinking LED should be pretty trivial, though. Heck, you could use the stock one with relative ease.

badgerd, I never did order a transducer. I ended up using an inline capacitor to restrict the DC and hooking up a little beeper from a defunct keyfinder. I'll send you the details. I still think we can improve on this if we can get the resistor values right in the timing circuit.

Valhad
 
For the range feature, does it get louder, change pitch, or vibrate faster?
 
i gained a couple inches of depth outa mine by just tweeking the internal sensitivity pot
 
For the range feature, does it get louder, change pitch, or vibrate faster?

On a basic level, it delivers a series of pulses, which get faster the closer the target is. Hooked up to a little noisemaker / speaker this translates into the clicks getting faster and making a slight pitch change. I haven't tried hooking it up to a motor yet in it's current configuration. The pulses need a little work still, to get them to a more useful duration and spacing. Might be able to drive a motor off it when it's fully complete, but I'm just not sure at this point.

i gained a couple inches of depth outa mine by just tweeking the internal sensitivity pot

^^^ This. Playing with the internal sensitivity dial can increase the range on most of these up to at least 2"-3" inches, it seems like.
 
The vibrator motor from a cell phone will run off the existing speaker circuit. Frankly it uses a lot of battery. This is the display I have in mind instead of a speaker, buzzer or vibrating motor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-1zz53VBI0
But maybe what would be better would be intensity or speed of flashing of the led, rather than color based voltage.
I have ramped up the pot as well as taping a washer on the barrel so that it is on the verge of triggering. This gives max sensitivity of several inches.
 
To reduce the battery drain from the motor you could use a limiting resistor... reduce the current draw from the 100ma or so (that's the draw from the cell phone motor I have been using) to around 50 or so. When I get home I'll find the value but I remember someone mentioning it... probably in the sticky at the top of this section of the forum.

I had one set up that way and it's been 2 months of digging at least 3 days a week (except last week...) and no battery change yet.
 
i added a resistor on my micro vibrating motor, battery life on mine seems about the same as it would be normally, i just cut the speaker and tapped off of that. at first i had both the speaker & vibration but grew sick of the speaker and just did away with it.
 

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see i would get that pin pointer but one i have none of those tools and 2 i don't think i would know how to do that
 
see i would get that pin pointer but one i have none of those tools and 2 i don't think i would know how to do that

its very simple, the only real tool ya need is a soldering iron and wire cutter. just snip the speaker wires and solder in the vibrating motor with a resistor inline on the red wire, add some heat shrink tube for looks and heat that up with a ligher and your done......very easy, its also just as easy to replace the power switch when it goes bad. for 16 bucks and about 5 bucks in mods ya can't beat those cen-tecs for the price
 
I spliced the motor parallel to the speaker. Not that good of a idea. I'll be adding the resistor you wrote about and disconnecting the speaker. Might substitute the speaker with a 1/8" jack instead. RS makes a momentary or a on / off switch that fits exactly where the oem one is. It requires no case modification. Just a additional lock washer inside.
 
The "speaker" is not a speaker and you won't get audio from a 1/8 jack. It's a piezo buzzer that uses voltage to produce sound.

I added the motor with resistor to the piezo cap with no issues and had both working at the same time. The piezo was a little quieter and I had vibe too...
 
I was unaware that it was a buzzer. So, Yes, no audio in this case assuming it is self driven. I presently have both the buzzer and vibrating motor working, but it seems to have low volume and the motor runs slower. Not enough vibe if you are wearing heavy gloves
I use a 1/8" adapter for isolation ear buds on my F2. There is a 1/4" socket and a audio signal..
 
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