Uncle Willy
New member
How about running on light like my wrist watch does. !5 minutes of exposure to any kind of light will run it for 180 hours.
Bill
Bill
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You are right, as advances in electronics take place, smaller, quiter circuits are developed which need less power to operate. It really does make you think that anything is possible. Alas, the requirements of feature laden circuitry made from discrete components will set limits on the size. Unless, of course, the makers can develop their own proprietary, encapsulated chipsets - - the development COSTS of which which I doubt any of us would care to pay.
Take that foot detector, for example. It IS small already ....and it's very basic.
Add real features, especially the useful processing and ergonomic related ones and size reaches a finite limit. The cell phone is another great example. Good thing you mentioned it.
They COULD actually get much smaller, but YOU wouldnt be able to work the controls! And since Motorola and Nokia CAN expect to sell them by the millions, they DO invest in development of proprietary circuit designs.
Too, the real reason they were able to go smaller and LESS powerful was that the infrastructure to support them has jumped forward by leaps and bounds - mostly because everyone is willing to pay for it! The old bag phones were really high powered radio units, as the now-familiar towers with their "cells" of coverage didn't exist at the time. Knock them down, and you'd be right back to bag units.
But what do I know, I just have a degree in electronics and am a member of an industrial ergonomics design group. Hey , I've been wrong before... but I might be mistaken about that.
Take that foot detector, for example. It IS small already ....and it's very basic.
Add real features, especially the useful processing and ergonomic related ones and size reaches a finite limit. The cell phone is another great example. Good thing you mentioned it.
They COULD actually get much smaller, but YOU wouldnt be able to work the controls! And since Motorola and Nokia CAN expect to sell them by the millions, they DO invest in development of proprietary circuit designs.
Too, the real reason they were able to go smaller and LESS powerful was that the infrastructure to support them has jumped forward by leaps and bounds - mostly because everyone is willing to pay for it! The old bag phones were really high powered radio units, as the now-familiar towers with their "cells" of coverage didn't exist at the time. Knock them down, and you'd be right back to bag units.
But what do I know, I just have a degree in electronics and am a member of an industrial ergonomics design group. Hey , I've been wrong before... but I might be mistaken about that.
Hmmm..voice activation? How big are the microphones, their associated ciruitry - and the circuitry required to decode and implement voice commands? Can we go smaller?
Sure, DetctorPro already has, as have others. Can we, within the near future, when you also crave feature laden units? Probably not.
Sure, DetctorPro already has, as have others. Can we, within the near future, when you also crave feature laden units? Probably not.
Mick in Dubbo
New member
Sounds good to me Bill.
Mick Evans.
Mick Evans.
Hmmmm, solar power. Thats an idea I hadnt thought of. While your watch is not intended to emit a quantity of RF power (maintaining which takes no small amount of juice), this is an idea with some merit.
Measure the area of the solar panel on your watch, and see how much of the total face area is given over to it. That would be a factor in physical size of the unit. Plus, while solar current generation has gotten better, it is still fairly inefficient, leading back to a sizeable collector on the top surface of the housing
But, Someone mentioned lithium based cells, one of the more advanced areas of chemical cell storage. So, consider this astute detectorists:
Without changing size much, what IF you could run your detector indefinately (or near to it) on solar recharge? What would you think of that as an advance?
Measure the area of the solar panel on your watch, and see how much of the total face area is given over to it. That would be a factor in physical size of the unit. Plus, while solar current generation has gotten better, it is still fairly inefficient, leading back to a sizeable collector on the top surface of the housing
But, Someone mentioned lithium based cells, one of the more advanced areas of chemical cell storage. So, consider this astute detectorists:
Without changing size much, what IF you could run your detector indefinately (or near to it) on solar recharge? What would you think of that as an advance?
John 'n' W.Va
Active member
n/t
Uncle Willy
New member
This watch runs on solar or artificial light. The entire face seems to be the collector. I would like anything that would run forever on light energy. If greed didn't run the world such things would already be.
Bill
Bill
Uncle Willy
New member
You may not always be right but you're never wrong. 
Bill
Bill
John 'n' W.Va
Active member
I have a 12 volt, water proof solar cell. I put a multiple adapter on it. We use it on many things. When we are at the beach my daughter listens to the radio all day. I could mount it on my back and adapt it to the Ace.
Back mouunted solar cells? A vest or hat made of collectors? The entire housing of a detector festooned with them, awaiting the first tree branch or dropped trowel to damage them?
Seems that its all a tad impractical. I suspect batteries are here to stay - especally for Bill, who stays in the shade.
Is that an umbrella I see in your glass, there Bill?
Seems that its all a tad impractical. I suspect batteries are here to stay - especally for Bill, who stays in the shade.
Is that an umbrella I see in your glass, there Bill?
DavHut,
All you have to do I look at the brains of the detector and see that they can get much smaller. I have added manual ground balance and threshold to my Whites Classic 3 and IDX. and man those components are large and really spread out on the board. There has been much improvement to the size of the components on the Prizms as I have looked. Prizms have room to shrink also. The Ace series circuitry is much smaller than the Prizms - but are spread out on the board so they could get smaller also.
Think about the memory upgrade (RAM) that can be purchased to fit the same slot on computers in either 256 MB to 1 gig or larger. I believe that rechargeable Lithium Ion batterys will help shrink the detectors much smaller. Since I spoke of the cell phones in some past posts. Why does the control box have to be larger because we demand more of it? I now have a very tiny phone that is voice activated.
All you have to do I look at the brains of the detector and see that they can get much smaller. I have added manual ground balance and threshold to my Whites Classic 3 and IDX. and man those components are large and really spread out on the board. There has been much improvement to the size of the components on the Prizms as I have looked. Prizms have room to shrink also. The Ace series circuitry is much smaller than the Prizms - but are spread out on the board so they could get smaller also.
Think about the memory upgrade (RAM) that can be purchased to fit the same slot on computers in either 256 MB to 1 gig or larger. I believe that rechargeable Lithium Ion batterys will help shrink the detectors much smaller. Since I spoke of the cell phones in some past posts. Why does the control box have to be larger because we demand more of it? I now have a very tiny phone that is voice activated.
Uncle Willy
New member
Now there's a plan. Will it power an electric lawn mower? 
Bill
Bill
I agree with you, things can become smaller - theres no doubt of it. But did you ever see Jurassic Park? In the movie there is a scene where the mathematician makes the comment,"You were so busy doing this, that you never stopped to ask if you should."
SO what would be to gain if detectors WERE smaller. How could you see the screen with all those ID features we love? Some of us dont see so good, these days, you know.
What if it was voice activated? Personally Id feel goofy talking to it. How about we let it talk to YOU. Even worse, say, in a trashy hunt site.
The coil is a function of physics and cant really get smaller, if you want to maintain depth. Unless you can pump more power into the field - which would require electrical storage devices, aka, batteries.
Detectors have gotten lighter and more compact in the last 30 years and Im certain they will continue to do so, to a degree. But, what that will get you is a detector that is easier to swing for longer periods. We have that now in the Tesoros, the Ace and The Minelabs that are coming out. Remember to change designs is a drastic step, requiring much investment and research on the part of the maker
In the end will all this gain you much more performance? I rather doubt it. Im sure it can be done - but to what end? Just to say we could?
SO what would be to gain if detectors WERE smaller. How could you see the screen with all those ID features we love? Some of us dont see so good, these days, you know.
What if it was voice activated? Personally Id feel goofy talking to it. How about we let it talk to YOU. Even worse, say, in a trashy hunt site.
The coil is a function of physics and cant really get smaller, if you want to maintain depth. Unless you can pump more power into the field - which would require electrical storage devices, aka, batteries.
Detectors have gotten lighter and more compact in the last 30 years and Im certain they will continue to do so, to a degree. But, what that will get you is a detector that is easier to swing for longer periods. We have that now in the Tesoros, the Ace and The Minelabs that are coming out. Remember to change designs is a drastic step, requiring much investment and research on the part of the maker
In the end will all this gain you much more performance? I rather doubt it. Im sure it can be done - but to what end? Just to say we could?
Your right DavHut we can only get a little smaller with detectors. I'm very happy to use any detector under 3 pounds as of now. I think the Ace series sent a message to all manufacturers. Make it better,lighter and priced right and people will buy by the thousands.
I have been working on a panel mount ground balance for the Ace 250 like I did on my Classic 3 and IDX. If successful - it will make this little $200.00 detector perform like a $600.00 unit.
I have been working on a panel mount ground balance for the Ace 250 like I did on my Classic 3 and IDX. If successful - it will make this little $200.00 detector perform like a $600.00 unit.
I'm not going to build a panel. I have a great place to put the manual ground balance trim pot. The only problem is that Garrett was so efficient in the building of the housing that there really is only two places to put it. I have ordered the specific mini- potentiometer due in this week. It was the smallest I could find that had the same specs as the surface mount trimmer. I will see if it fits. I will keep you posted.
Uncle Willy
New member
I'll be interested to hear how that works out.
Bill
Bill
I will post the pixs. I can't wait until my trimmer comes in.(hope it physically fits) Can you imagine how hot the Ace Turbo 250 will perform! I have just made what I believe is the sweetest tector stand for the 250. I will post the pixs of the GB and stand at the same time.