Unbelievably Cheap Homemade Metal Detector

Eldo

Banned
Jul 7, 2014
1,890
698
Vermont
Detector(s) used
Brain, Pointing Finger, occasionally the Pinky Finger
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
1 Calculator from the dollar store
+
1 AM pocket radio
=
1 cheap metal detector that appears to be the best working model for the money.....LOL



I am going to get into designing this stuff for a ground scanner for my own troving,

I bet you could make something out of pvc, some used radio parts and some circuitry that can be adjusted to tune to whatever mineral freq you want......

I am going to make one soon and will post its results in a test.......to see how far I can get the signal to go underground
 

HenryWaltonJonesJr

Hero Member
Sep 2, 2013
981
674
Downtown Chicago
Detector(s) used
Fisher F2, AT Pro, Compadre, SeaHunter II, AT Gold
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
That's some Macguiver stuff right there! It's interesting as it uses a completely different tech to detect metal (no coil). I wonder if different types of metal make different sounds.
 

TreasureGrabber

Full Member
Jul 6, 2006
164
7
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS/
Minelab Explorer SE (with Coiltek WOT spider, Coiltek Joe, SEF 10x12 )/Bounty Hunter Land Star.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
interesting equipment :)
 

DDancer

Bronze Member
Mar 25, 2014
2,339
2,002
Traveling US to work
Detector(s) used
Current Equinox 600
Past Whites DFX Garret GTI 2500 and others
Prospecting Minelab GPZ 7000
Past SD 2100 GP 3000 (retired)
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Well there's a twist on things :) Gotta say that threshold sets my teeth on edge though.
 

Pointman

Silver Member
Feb 18, 2013
2,575
1,549
Arkansas
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
I’ve used about all modern ones but right now: CTX 3030, White’s MXT Pro, XP Deus, Vaquero, White’s TRX
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
You can take some bailing wire and twigs and make a lot of stuff with that also.
 

OP
OP
Eldo

Eldo

Banned
Jul 7, 2014
1,890
698
Vermont
Detector(s) used
Brain, Pointing Finger, occasionally the Pinky Finger
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I think I am going to try to build a huge pvc tube version to scan a square yard or two at a time, and see how deep I can get a signal

I will use four of the calculators and radios at the corners, and string coils through the pvc to make some serious vibes ....
 

DDancer

Bronze Member
Mar 25, 2014
2,339
2,002
Traveling US to work
Detector(s) used
Current Equinox 600
Past Whites DFX Garret GTI 2500 and others
Prospecting Minelab GPZ 7000
Past SD 2100 GP 3000 (retired)
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Bailing wire and duct tape are the inventors pairofdice *standard issue 2 each* ;)

You can try that pvc idea but I think you'll find that the device only works like shown~ you wont be linking 4 devices. 4 loud buzzers ;) hehh
 

HenryWaltonJonesJr

Hero Member
Sep 2, 2013
981
674
Downtown Chicago
Detector(s) used
Fisher F2, AT Pro, Compadre, SeaHunter II, AT Gold
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Sounds like something fun to try over the winter. Who knows it might work pretty well! I'll check the thrift stores for supplies. If anything it has to be better than the iPhone app.

Any idea if the type of calculator will make a difference, say a scientific.
 

HenryWaltonJonesJr

Hero Member
Sep 2, 2013
981
674
Downtown Chicago
Detector(s) used
Fisher F2, AT Pro, Compadre, SeaHunter II, AT Gold
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
FYI, this is a hoax, it doesn't detect metal, but you do get a beep when you push the AC or C button on the calculator.
 

texasred777

Bronze Member
Nov 21, 2013
1,729
1,461
Mountain Home, Idaho
Detector(s) used
BH Lone Star, BH Tracker IV, BH Tracker 2-D/707, Harbor Freight MD-3005, and 2 BH 840
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
There are some strange combinations of electronics out there! I remember as a pre-teen, in the 1950s, taking a piece of 2" X 4" X about 4", a single-edged razor blade, a safety pin, some copper wire, and headphones to make a AM radio. Worked fairly well. The more copper wire you strung, the more signal you picked up.
 

ATProAdam

Full Member
Jan 25, 2013
119
29
Salisbury NC
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro, Garrett ProPointer, Garrett Ace 250
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
That's some Macguiver stuff right there! It's interesting as it uses a completely different tech to detect metal (no coil). I wonder if different types of metal make different sounds.

Learned from studying up that the beep sound is just what the designer made so we can determine the difference between tones. Original detectors just beeped near metal. They started using different tones as they got more advanced. But different metals don't make different sounds based off the metals, it's a factory made thing, just figured I'd share since I learned it lol.
 

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