CTX3030 - faster processor to install in the CTX?

[KA1J]

Hi,

I have searched but found no answers to the question of is it feasible to replace the processor in the CTS with another of the same family but faster speed? In computers, you can upgrade processors by replacing them with faster ones in the same family. Not as easy if the processor is soldered to the motherboard but still doable.

Since Minelab is not offering this option, I wonder if it is being done by repair shops?

 

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[Professor of Engineering]

Interesting!

 

[Carl-NC]

Hi,

I have searched but found no answers to the question of is it feasible to replace the processor in the CTS with another of the same family but faster speed? In computers, you can upgrade processors by replacing them with faster ones in the same family. Not as easy if the processor is soldered to the motherboard but still doable.

Since Minelab is not offering this option, I wonder if it is being done by repair shops?

Uh... no. You can't just replace a microcontroller with a faster one and expect everything to work. Unlike computer microprocessors, microcontrollers have a lot of on-board peripherals that rely on particular clock speeds to work. Ferinstance, the timers that control transmitter & demodulation waveforms. Change the clock speed, and you have to change a lot of source code.

In a very simple case, I once overclocked the micro in a Tesoro SandShark to reduce the sample delay from 23us to 15us. It worked quite well, with a 2" depth increase on a man's gold ring, but had the side effect that the audio tone also increased by 50%. I called it the "SandPig."

 

[KA1J]

Uh... no. You can't just replace a microcontroller with a faster one and expect everything to work. Unlike computer microprocessors, microcontrollers have a lot of on-board peripherals that rely on particular clock speeds to work. Ferinstance, the timers that control transmitter & demodulation waveforms. Change the clock speed, and you have to change a lot of source code.

In a very simple case, I once overclocked the micro in a Tesoro SandShark to reduce the sample delay from 23us to 15us. It worked quite well, with a 2" depth increase on a man's gold ring, but had the side effect that the audio tone also increased by 50%. I called it the "SandPig."

Hi Carl, If it (CTX3030) doesn't use a stand alone micropressor, what you said would of course be what would happen. I have no personal knowledge of the inner electronics of the CTX but would love to get it to play faster with today's speedier computing options. Seeing as Minelab isn't apparently updating the CTX, or if they are, they're not talking about it & if I could make it happen myself, I'd be willing to give it a go (I do have the equipment to work with SMD), but if everything is time based and not able to be adjusted, your description of "Sandpig" is brilliant.

Thanks