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Compadre circuit question

T

tvr

Well-known member
Anyone know which potentiometer does what on the Compadre?
I circled the potentiometers on the picture, numbers can be read when viewed full size.
1 - ?
2 - ?
3 - I suspect this adjusts either the range or center of the discriminator since the front panel pot wires are so close to # 3. Is that right?

Thanks for any help!
tvr
 
hi avr, can you send me more PCB photos on mdforall@gmail.com?
I have a schematic. thanks in advance
 
Well, you can mark their position and better yet, take a resistance reading of each one with a digital multimeter. Now fiddle with them and see what transpires! Getting them back to where they were is pretty easy if you use the resistance method.

-Ed
 
I thought about using a meter to measure where they are and then play with them one at a time ... I may do that at some point.

I am going to see if I can get better pictures of the circuit card.
thanks all.
tvr
 
VR 1 = Disc control on panel
VR 2 = Ground Balance (100k)
VR 3 = Discrimate Setting Trimmer
VR 4 = Sensitivity Trimmer (10k)
 
then leave it there. mine runs great at edge of chatter its easy to tell the chatter sound from a target.. dang detector gets pretty deep it will air test a nickle like this at 11 inches..not bad for a 150.00 buck machine . and its super nice in dense iron.just wish I could change the audio up to like a older Tesoro sidewinder I belive they were 700 hz or so . that would be a sweet unit.

Does any one know if the old amigos were in the high tone range that might be my next toy to find an older amigo.

thanks

Keith Southern
 
Does that translate into meaning that # 3 in tvr's pic is your # 4, and is the Sens. pot? IF I was to tinker with anything it will only be the Sens. and I want to get it right.Thanks
 
I looked at the circuit board again and do not see any component references on the circuit card (unless they are underneath the soldered in components) ... and I am still not getting better pictures to post ... I can't seem to get the lighting right or can't hold still.

Where I marked #2 is a 100k pot (notice the blurry 104 on the pot body) ... must be ground balance.
Where I marked #1 and #3 are both 10k's (103 on the body).

The front panel discriminate control wires go to the area surrounding my #3. The coil wires solder to the board from the back near the middle, either side of the rectangular white colored capacitor that is right below where I marked a pot #1 at the top of the board.

So, I think I am pretty sure that the sensitivity pot is what I marked #1 right next to the circuit card label that says Compadre rev 4.1. It makes sense that the ground balance and discriminate pots are close together around the same part of the circuit and makes sense that the coil enters the circuit near where sensitivity would adjust. Does that mean I am 100% sure? No ... but pretty sure.
tvr
 
I took it apart again and this time I adjusted it.

The pot I have marked as #1 in the picture must be VR4 ... it does adjust sensitivity. I couldn't set it inside the house because I was getting interference from some where. Looks like counter clockwise increases sensitivity, clockwise turns sensitivity down.

I set the sensitivity up until it gets a bit chatty over the ground and then air tested. On this Compadre that is almost all the way counter clockwise on the pot.

I have a umax 9 x 8 coil on this Compadre.

Before adjusting I was getting an air test of 10 inches on a quarter with the discriminator set on foil and 8 inches on a nickle. After adjusting I was getting 11 on the quarter and about 9 inches on the nickle. If I turn the discriminator down to all metal it chatters more and did not seem to make any difference in air test on the quarter and a very slight difference ... maybe 1/4 inch if any on the nickle.
tvr
 
On mine it was vr-4 and the board looked alot different more like an sidewinder board.that one is completely different.

Its either number 1 or number 2. I would think its 1 but I wouldnt swear to it. you can sometimes trace around and find what does what .One of them is sensitivity and one is ground balance.the ground balance is usually tied in to where the coil wires come into the board ..the vr-3 is a disc control no need to mess with it.

just mark 1 and 2 and turn the 1 first and see if it chatters.if not put it back and try 2 next.you cant mess anything up too bad heck you might even fine tune your ground balance for you're area if you like.

o'yeah the number 3 is sort of a setting the factory has for just coins when you turn disc all the way to the right it is a internal setting just to pick up copper pennies on up . sort of neat in a way . if you just want to coinshoot turn you disc wide open and eliminate zinc's.

but you can mess with it internally to knock out all everything but quarters on up.


Keith Southern
 
the newer boards for some reason are not as hot as the old boards .why? I don't know.I had one of the newer compadres about a year ago and it wouldnt hardly chatter even when turning the sensitivity wide open.the ones that had the 7 inch coils where all the older boards.I had one when they forst started putting the excellent 5.75 coil on it but with the board that mated to the 7 inch and man that thing was super hot on low conductors and as deep as my sidewinder original non umax.

To find an old board would be hard if you went by the coil because they both used the same board for a while. I know the 7 inch has the hot boards but not all 5.75 do .buy a 7 compadre and then put the 5.75 on and you know for sure.


Keith Southern
 
Compadre that I wanted because it came with the 5.75, and will probably not tinker with it, since it is not likely to make that much difference.
 
Having turn the sensitivity up and running a 9 x 8 coil on a Compadre - must be quite a hot little simplified machine - lol
 
Straight out of the box my Compadre with 8 inch concentric air tests an US 1994 quarter at 8 inches (disc at All Met)
1 cent at 7.5 inches and rectangular P/T at 8.5 inches.

These figures seem to be quite a bit shorter than what you blokes are getting?
 
Lots of things can affect air tests. There is variation detector to detector and coil to coil of the same model. Environmental noise; either interference to the detector or noise that keeps you from hearing the detector as well. Sweeping the target directly across the center (deepest point of detection) of the coil is important. If you are off center a little, you can loose distance.

The sensitivity setting on the Compadre can make a couple inch difference on the air test results. When the sensitivity is set high, it can also make it unstable in some hunting conditions.

When I do the air tests, most of my detectors do not do as well inside my house. I need to go outside and get away from the house and the power lines. I also use headsets that cut out a lot of outside sound. The Compadre chatters loudly when it is turned on inside my house, even with the sensitivity set fairly low. Sensitivity on the Compadre is an internal adjustment.

Over 7 inches is decent depth for a Compadre. It may be possible to adjust it with the internal potentiometer for a little more depth in air tests. You have to understand what the internal adjustments are that you are setting or you can make performance worse rather than better.

It is interesting that the pull tab gets the best reading in your tests. The Compadre I have does a little better on depth with the higher conductive range targets. My Cibola and Tejon get better depth on mid-conductive range targets than on the high conductive range. The pull tabs are normally in the mid-conductive range. You just might have a little gold magnet with your Compadre.
tvr
 
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