prospectinginoz
New member
Hi members,here are some of Dave's posts from my forum:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProspectinginOz/
They may not be in chronological order.But i hope that provide you with some of the technical info and background to the Pulse Devil. Any more technical questions should be directed to Dave on my forum. Permission is granted to cross post to other forums.
There is also further info on the Pulse devil in the archives of my forum. Dave is a member of my forum and as a forum member you may ask him directly about technical or other info on the Pulse Devil. There are also test results for forum members on the Gpx 4000 from the Dunolly test site in files section of the forum.
Doug
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProspectinginOz
A happy Christmas to you all
Pulse Devil
Due to the number of posts asking about the Pulse Devil I thought it
high time to provide an update.
As most of you already know, I am the sole owner of the technology as
I have no partners and no investors (outside of my most understanding
wife).
This is great in one way as I get to call all the shots and make all
the decisions. On the negative side, I have to take time away from the
project from time to time to help earn a crust to live on.
The time lost to my taking in work is however only one reason for the
Pulse Devil being more than a little late to market.
Too many times engineers release their design before it is dead right
on the money. Impatient partners and investors are usually to blame
for this.
Many an engineer has been humbled by their brainchild falling short of
the high expectations everyone had for it.
I don't wish to make any such mistakes. I will move with a little more
caution. After all, what good would it be to release a detector which
was not all that it could be?
OK, As of today the Pulse Devil is doing an excellent job. The
discrimination promises to exceed the performance of any VLF's iron
reject capability.
The discrimination rejects iron while accepting small nuggets and
small jewelry as well as medium, large, and extremely large nuggets,
coins and jewelry. There are no blind spots for certain size / shape
targets.
The iron rejection uses several different discrimination circuits
which together provide a first rate iron identification - rejection
method.
The discrimination depth seems to be the same as the maximum all metal
depth capability of the detector even in hot ground.
The maximum depth also seems to be better than most Minelab detectors.
The Pulse Devil is insensitive to almost all interference. You can
easily run a Pulse Devil indoors with the TV set running in the same
room. Outdoor high voltage power lines are not picked up at all.
The Pulse Devil is also lighter and very easy to carry. The battery
pack consists of two 7.4V Volt Lithium Ion packs which provides a
total of 14.8V. Two packs are used so as to allow charging from 12 -
24VDC from a vehicles cigarette lighter plug.
A charger is also also provided which works from 100 - 240VAC 50/60Hz.
this allows mains charging of the batteries in any country in the world.
The batteries will provide about 16 hours of operation. They are
easily field replaced for those who want to detect for 24 hours a day!!!
Unlike some Lithium Ion battery packs, the Pulse Devils packs are
quite inexpensive. The packs have built in protection circuitry so you
know that they are safe and that they will take a lot of punishment.
I still have a few things on my "to do" list before I ship the first
detectors. Initial testing will be done by Doug in Victoria and a
second tester out near Perth. I will follow the detectors to Oz as
soon as your weather cools down a bit in your autumn / my spring.
At least with Doug doing the testing you will know that he is telling
the truth. Doug will soon point out anything that he does no like!!!
Doug is not the kind of bloke to gloss over any inadequacies. That's
what I like about him, he tells the truth as he sees it without any bias.
Most of the work on my "to do" list is mechanical. The mechanical side
of a detector is also a pain in the backside but it's not as bad as
doing the electronics. Still, I am sure that you all want it to look
pretty!!!
One last thing. I have designed a series of coils with each one
optimized for a specific job. The coils are not compatible with
Minelab's or any other detector. The Pulse Devil coils will however be
a lot cheaper to buy. They will also be of a much higher quality than
what you are used to.
I am looking forward to a couple of crates of beer and a good "You use
it demo" at the Dunolly test site where you can take a Pulse Devil for
a spin.
I promise you that I am giving the Pulse Devil my very best shot but
just in case of problems at least there will be some beer and
sandwiches on hand.
I will leave it to a later date to go over all the Pulse Devil's
controls.
Thanks to everyone for their interest. Dave. * * *
The coil amplifiers gain is automatically set by a special automatic gain control circuit. The overall gain of the detector is also set automatically.
It is highly doubtful if anyone could manually adjust the gain of the detector so as to better the automatic gain circuits settings.
The rest of the detector is user programmable. This includes the Mode of operation which switches between Inland Coin Hunting, Beach Hunting, Prospecting, and Relic Hunting modes. The discrimination settings are also fully adjustible. The audio tone is tunable and the volume is adjustable.
The display features a vertical bar graph and a number showing the degree of mineralization. A target ID number is displayed. This helps to identify the target. There are a few other display modes and features which I will not go into at this time.
All of the variables are set by using a few simple push button controls while reading the settings on the display.
There are also security settings as per my previous post on the subject.
Add to this the battery charging condition and you can see that there is a lot of work going into the display.
Before anyone gets worried that they will need an electronics degree to use the PD, there are several different ranges of settings. These include:
NORMAL. This is a very simple to use menu which features a list of factory preset settings.
NORMAL ADJUST allows the preset settings to be adjusted.
ADVANCED allows the advanced user full access to all the settings.
My goal is not to go head to head with Minelab or any other large company. The
way I see it there is a niche market for a professional detector instead of a
detector which is aimed at any and all potential users.
The Pulse Devil or PD is definitely not designed for the casual user. If it
where I would not risk running amplifiers with the kind of gain that the PD
can be set to. Everything about the PD is EXTREME.
A newbie detectorist would likely get into a right bugger up trying to find
tiny targets at arm straining depths!!!
As to using the PD in water, the PD was not designed as a diving detector.
It is only submersible to 30 meters. That's quite enough however for buggering
about in the surf when the temperature hits 40C and of course it allows you
to go detecting when it's raining cats and dogs.
The battery pack is a Lithium Ion type which comes complete with both a world
wide mains charger for 100VAC to 240VAC and a vehicle charger.
The replacement batteries are both easy to find and the type used were chosen
as they are both cheap and highly reliable. One charge will run the detector
for an average of about 16 hours.
The pulse frequency, sample delay, retune speed, audio frequency, audio
volume, discrimination, etc. etc. etc. are all fully variable as is the
target response speed which I believe is similar to the ML smooth mode.
The coil amplifier gain is controlled by a dedicated automatic gain control.
This circuit automatically sets the receivers gain to the absolute maximum
usable gain for the prevailing ground conditions.
The ground balance is selectable between manual and fully automatic. All types
of ground conditions are accommodated from variable laterite to the salt
flats. Salt water beaches are also no problem for the Pulse Devil.
The PD utilizes a full graphic display. The display is a transflective type
which allows it to be viewed in the very brightest sunlight. There is also a
built in back light for detecting in low light conditions or at night.
The control settings are all made using push button switches.
The PD stores up to 256 different site variables. This means that you can
store the settings (for later recall) including the GPS locations that you
can key in from your GPS unit for storage of up to 256 different sites. The
control settings even include the type of coil used.
There are also a number of factory recommended site settings for different
ground and operating conditions.
Once the settings are recalled you can reload them into the detector.
The stored GPS location settings will allow you to find exactly where you were
detecting on the sites you have stored.
All of the PD's controls are set using push button switches in conjunction
with the graphic display. There are no knobs or dials to worry about.
The discrimination has several modes. The prospecting mode simply
differentiates between ferrous and non ferrous.
The coin mode features a fully variable discrimination (just like a VLF). In
this mode it is possible to reject aluminium foil or even pull-tabs. Do not
use this mode for prospecting as you WILL lose nuggets.
The PD is also an excellent relic detector. The extreme depth capabilities of
the PD coupled with a full range discrimination ability allow it to be set
for a wide variety of different search conditions.
As to the price. I cannot give an exact price just yet. My best guess is that
we are looking at the A$ 2500 - A$ 2900 range. This may change but for now it
looks reasonable.
NOTE that the price reflects the current vastly undervalued US Dollar.
First a big thank you to all the people who have sent me both their
best wishes and / or their wish lists as to the features that they
would like to see in a new detector.
I cannot put into words just how important your input is to me.
Less than 24 hours ago I received input from someone that you all know
on this forum. His idea was a real wake up call. (This person will
remain anonymous for now).
Not only was his idea brilliant but it was easy to implement into the
Pulse Devil design.
Needless to say that this person will receive a free Pulse Devil
detector as soon as production begins. Yes my friends, the idea was
that good. Your ideas and wish lists are extremely important to me.
OK, the final pre production version is now being built. I am
extremely confident with the final design.
Several Pulse Devils will soon be on their way to different parts of
Oz to my selected testers. Doug is the test manager for Victoria.
Thank you all for your patience. As I have often stated, I am self
funded with no partners or investors. This has meant having to take in
work every now and again to pay the bills which in turn has caused
delays in my work on the Pulse Devil.
I hope to meet every last one of you when I come down to visit. All
the very best, Dave. * * *
They may not be in chronological order.But i hope that provide you with some of the technical info and background to the Pulse Devil. Any more technical questions should be directed to Dave on my forum. Permission is granted to cross post to other forums.
There is also further info on the Pulse devil in the archives of my forum. Dave is a member of my forum and as a forum member you may ask him directly about technical or other info on the Pulse Devil. There are also test results for forum members on the Gpx 4000 from the Dunolly test site in files section of the forum.
Doug
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProspectinginOz
A happy Christmas to you all
Pulse Devil
Due to the number of posts asking about the Pulse Devil I thought it
high time to provide an update.
As most of you already know, I am the sole owner of the technology as
I have no partners and no investors (outside of my most understanding
wife).
This is great in one way as I get to call all the shots and make all
the decisions. On the negative side, I have to take time away from the
project from time to time to help earn a crust to live on.
The time lost to my taking in work is however only one reason for the
Pulse Devil being more than a little late to market.
Too many times engineers release their design before it is dead right
on the money. Impatient partners and investors are usually to blame
for this.
Many an engineer has been humbled by their brainchild falling short of
the high expectations everyone had for it.
I don't wish to make any such mistakes. I will move with a little more
caution. After all, what good would it be to release a detector which
was not all that it could be?
OK, As of today the Pulse Devil is doing an excellent job. The
discrimination promises to exceed the performance of any VLF's iron
reject capability.
The discrimination rejects iron while accepting small nuggets and
small jewelry as well as medium, large, and extremely large nuggets,
coins and jewelry. There are no blind spots for certain size / shape
targets.
The iron rejection uses several different discrimination circuits
which together provide a first rate iron identification - rejection
method.
The discrimination depth seems to be the same as the maximum all metal
depth capability of the detector even in hot ground.
The maximum depth also seems to be better than most Minelab detectors.
The Pulse Devil is insensitive to almost all interference. You can
easily run a Pulse Devil indoors with the TV set running in the same
room. Outdoor high voltage power lines are not picked up at all.
The Pulse Devil is also lighter and very easy to carry. The battery
pack consists of two 7.4V Volt Lithium Ion packs which provides a
total of 14.8V. Two packs are used so as to allow charging from 12 -
24VDC from a vehicles cigarette lighter plug.
A charger is also also provided which works from 100 - 240VAC 50/60Hz.
this allows mains charging of the batteries in any country in the world.
The batteries will provide about 16 hours of operation. They are
easily field replaced for those who want to detect for 24 hours a day!!!
Unlike some Lithium Ion battery packs, the Pulse Devils packs are
quite inexpensive. The packs have built in protection circuitry so you
know that they are safe and that they will take a lot of punishment.
I still have a few things on my "to do" list before I ship the first
detectors. Initial testing will be done by Doug in Victoria and a
second tester out near Perth. I will follow the detectors to Oz as
soon as your weather cools down a bit in your autumn / my spring.
At least with Doug doing the testing you will know that he is telling
the truth. Doug will soon point out anything that he does no like!!!
Doug is not the kind of bloke to gloss over any inadequacies. That's
what I like about him, he tells the truth as he sees it without any bias.
Most of the work on my "to do" list is mechanical. The mechanical side
of a detector is also a pain in the backside but it's not as bad as
doing the electronics. Still, I am sure that you all want it to look
pretty!!!
One last thing. I have designed a series of coils with each one
optimized for a specific job. The coils are not compatible with
Minelab's or any other detector. The Pulse Devil coils will however be
a lot cheaper to buy. They will also be of a much higher quality than
what you are used to.
I am looking forward to a couple of crates of beer and a good "You use
it demo" at the Dunolly test site where you can take a Pulse Devil for
a spin.
I promise you that I am giving the Pulse Devil my very best shot but
just in case of problems at least there will be some beer and
sandwiches on hand.
I will leave it to a later date to go over all the Pulse Devil's
controls.
Thanks to everyone for their interest. Dave. * * *
The coil amplifiers gain is automatically set by a special automatic gain control circuit. The overall gain of the detector is also set automatically.
It is highly doubtful if anyone could manually adjust the gain of the detector so as to better the automatic gain circuits settings.
The rest of the detector is user programmable. This includes the Mode of operation which switches between Inland Coin Hunting, Beach Hunting, Prospecting, and Relic Hunting modes. The discrimination settings are also fully adjustible. The audio tone is tunable and the volume is adjustable.
The display features a vertical bar graph and a number showing the degree of mineralization. A target ID number is displayed. This helps to identify the target. There are a few other display modes and features which I will not go into at this time.
All of the variables are set by using a few simple push button controls while reading the settings on the display.
There are also security settings as per my previous post on the subject.
Add to this the battery charging condition and you can see that there is a lot of work going into the display.
Before anyone gets worried that they will need an electronics degree to use the PD, there are several different ranges of settings. These include:
NORMAL. This is a very simple to use menu which features a list of factory preset settings.
NORMAL ADJUST allows the preset settings to be adjusted.
ADVANCED allows the advanced user full access to all the settings.
My goal is not to go head to head with Minelab or any other large company. The
way I see it there is a niche market for a professional detector instead of a
detector which is aimed at any and all potential users.
The Pulse Devil or PD is definitely not designed for the casual user. If it
where I would not risk running amplifiers with the kind of gain that the PD
can be set to. Everything about the PD is EXTREME.
A newbie detectorist would likely get into a right bugger up trying to find
tiny targets at arm straining depths!!!
As to using the PD in water, the PD was not designed as a diving detector.
It is only submersible to 30 meters. That's quite enough however for buggering
about in the surf when the temperature hits 40C and of course it allows you
to go detecting when it's raining cats and dogs.
The battery pack is a Lithium Ion type which comes complete with both a world
wide mains charger for 100VAC to 240VAC and a vehicle charger.
The replacement batteries are both easy to find and the type used were chosen
as they are both cheap and highly reliable. One charge will run the detector
for an average of about 16 hours.
The pulse frequency, sample delay, retune speed, audio frequency, audio
volume, discrimination, etc. etc. etc. are all fully variable as is the
target response speed which I believe is similar to the ML smooth mode.
The coil amplifier gain is controlled by a dedicated automatic gain control.
This circuit automatically sets the receivers gain to the absolute maximum
usable gain for the prevailing ground conditions.
The ground balance is selectable between manual and fully automatic. All types
of ground conditions are accommodated from variable laterite to the salt
flats. Salt water beaches are also no problem for the Pulse Devil.
The PD utilizes a full graphic display. The display is a transflective type
which allows it to be viewed in the very brightest sunlight. There is also a
built in back light for detecting in low light conditions or at night.
The control settings are all made using push button switches.
The PD stores up to 256 different site variables. This means that you can
store the settings (for later recall) including the GPS locations that you
can key in from your GPS unit for storage of up to 256 different sites. The
control settings even include the type of coil used.
There are also a number of factory recommended site settings for different
ground and operating conditions.
Once the settings are recalled you can reload them into the detector.
The stored GPS location settings will allow you to find exactly where you were
detecting on the sites you have stored.
All of the PD's controls are set using push button switches in conjunction
with the graphic display. There are no knobs or dials to worry about.
The discrimination has several modes. The prospecting mode simply
differentiates between ferrous and non ferrous.
The coin mode features a fully variable discrimination (just like a VLF). In
this mode it is possible to reject aluminium foil or even pull-tabs. Do not
use this mode for prospecting as you WILL lose nuggets.
The PD is also an excellent relic detector. The extreme depth capabilities of
the PD coupled with a full range discrimination ability allow it to be set
for a wide variety of different search conditions.
As to the price. I cannot give an exact price just yet. My best guess is that
we are looking at the A$ 2500 - A$ 2900 range. This may change but for now it
looks reasonable.
NOTE that the price reflects the current vastly undervalued US Dollar.
First a big thank you to all the people who have sent me both their
best wishes and / or their wish lists as to the features that they
would like to see in a new detector.
I cannot put into words just how important your input is to me.
Less than 24 hours ago I received input from someone that you all know
on this forum. His idea was a real wake up call. (This person will
remain anonymous for now).
Not only was his idea brilliant but it was easy to implement into the
Pulse Devil design.
Needless to say that this person will receive a free Pulse Devil
detector as soon as production begins. Yes my friends, the idea was
that good. Your ideas and wish lists are extremely important to me.
OK, the final pre production version is now being built. I am
extremely confident with the final design.
Several Pulse Devils will soon be on their way to different parts of
Oz to my selected testers. Doug is the test manager for Victoria.
Thank you all for your patience. As I have often stated, I am self
funded with no partners or investors. This has meant having to take in
work every now and again to pay the bills which in turn has caused
delays in my work on the Pulse Devil.
I hope to meet every last one of you when I come down to visit. All
the very best, Dave. * * *