METAL

Keith Brindley
DETECTORAlthough this metal detector is certainly
small, it does require a few extras. C3 SW1
.n.
finds buried You don't need a car battery for
100n

treasure and avoids power, a rucksack (to put it all in)

and a six-foot dipole aerial to make
nailing through the the project work but you do need a small transistor
water pipes with radio. BATTERY
_LV
The metal detector works by transmitting a
this simple but weak radio wave carrier signal around itself, which
effective metal has to be picked up with a nearby tranny.
detector The carrier signal main frequency is in the
vicinity of the lower end of the longwave band
(around 120kHz) and is of sufficient strength to
interfere with a radio within about a foot or so, NOTE:
tuned into the medium or long wave. The inter- 01 = BC182L
L1= HAND MADE (SEE CONSTRUCTION)
ference is heard as a whistle from the radio's loud-
speaker. As the whistle changes frequency, you Fig. 1 Circuit of the ETI Metal Detector
know the metal detector is approaching a metal or
metal-like object. easy on the heat. Solder only one leg of each
Sensitivity is pretty good considering how component at a time then leave the component to
simple the project is. With a remote pickup coil cool before moving on to solder the next leg.
metals can be detected from a distance of six On stripboard it's probably best to stick to a
inches or so. Even when the pickup coil is mounted conventional order, still maintaining heat pre-
on the project's case (as ours is) metals can be cautions. Insert and solder the single wire link,
detected from around three or four inches. followed by resistors, capacitors and the flying
leads to peripheral components. Lastly insert the
Construction transistor Q1 and, when you've made it, the coil.
Two ways are suggested to build this project
either on PCB or stripboard. Both methods are
- Whichever construction method you choose,
check that no unwanted solder links or bridges are
straightforward and apart from a few points are present between component leads.
The coil L1 needs to be wound. First, find a
more -or -less self-explanatory.
On PCB, construction needn't follow any
particular order, although it's probably best to
former on which to wind it -
something with an
external circumference of about 220mm, although
leave the transistor and coil till last. Whatever, go this measurement is by no means critical. For
reference, we used the widest part of a 250m1
HOW IT WORKS
The circuit is a Colpitt's oscillator, formed around tran- pick up the oscillations. Fortunately, oscillations are not
sistor Ql which is connected as a common base of a pure sine wave nature, so many harmonics of the

amplifier. Positive feedback is applied from collector to resonant frequency are also formed, going right up
emitter via the AC potential divider formed by series through the long and medium wavebands and beyond.
connected capacitor C2 and C3. The project functions as a metal detector simply
Capacitors C2 and C3 also form one arm of a parallel because the actual inductance of the resonant
LC circuit. The circuit's resonant frequency is given by frequency's coil varies with the proximity of local
the relationship: metallic bodies. Ferromagnetic bodies particularly
concentrate the magnetic flux within the coil, so
f=
1

increasing the coil's inductance and lowering the

2nv'(LC)
resonant frequency of the oscillator.
and is around 120kHz. Conversely, we can calculate A local transistor radio is used to pick up the weak
from the relationship that the coil inductance is around carrier signals produced by the metal detector, along
0.88mH. Try it for yourself. with a carrier wave of another radio transmission (of a
Coupled in this way, the transistor amplifier becomes more legal, broadcast nature). The two carriers
a weak radio transmitter, transmitting a carrier wave heterodyne (interfere) to produce an audible beat
frequency of around 120kHz. Now, this is actually frequency from the transistor radio's loudspeaker. The
slightly below the frequencies which are normally found beat tone is stable, until a metal object approaches the
on the dials of long and medium wave radios (long wave metal detector's coil. Then the coil's inductance varies,
is typically from about 150kHz to 300kHz and medium causing the resonant oscillation frequency to vary and in
wave is from about 500kHz to 600kHz). This means
1 turn causing the beat tone to vary. So the user hears,
that if the metal detector's transmitted carrier was pure, simply by a change of the beat tone's pitch, that the coil
long wave and medium wave radios could not be used to is somewhere near a metal object.

88 ETI TOP PROJECTS 1988

 PARTS LIST
RESISTORS (all '/,W, 5%)
R1 150R
R2, 3 33k

CAPACITORS
Cl 10µ 16V axial electrolytic
C2 2n2 ceramic
C3 100n ceramic

SEMICONDUCTOR
O1 BC182L

MISCELLANEOUS
SW1 Push -to -make
LI Hand -made coil (see text)
PCB. Case. Type PP3 battery and clip. 30swg enamel
covered copper wire for coil U.

BUYLINES
All parts are easily obtained from component suppliers.
The case used was a Type 1 general purpose Vero case.
Fig. 2 The component overlay for the
The PCB is available from the PCB Service.
Metal Detector PCB

bottle of Sainsbury's Baby Lotion - no prizes or

guessing who's been left holding the baby! Alter-
precaution you need to take is to mount the coil on
the outside of the case (if it's on the inside its induc-
natively, a piece of thick card about 110mm long
could be used to hank -wind the coil. Make 100
turns of 30swg enamel covered copper wire,
-
tance is fixed primarily by the PCB and associated
components not by metals you wish to detect!)
or better still, remotely.
leaving sufficient ends to connect between the
coil's final position and the PCB.
When you've wound the coil, fasten it Setting Up
together in two or three places around its circum- Setting up is simplicity itself. Turn on your radio
ference with tape and slip it off its winding former. and, while you press the metal detector's push-
Adjust its shape to suit. button on/off switch, adjust the radio's frequency
Before you solder the ends of the coil into the tuning control until you hear a whistle. When you
PCB, make sure you scrape off the enamel from release the push-button the whistle should stop. If
the copper wire for about 5mm from each end, so not, the whistle isn't caused by the metal detector
they can be soldered. If you are using polyurethane and you should re -adjust the radio's frequency
coated insulated copper wire, there is no need to tuning control.
scrape off the insulation as the copper is self - Test the metal detector by moving it closer to
fluxing on application of heat from a soldering iron. metal. The whistle from the radio will change
Any suitable sized box can be used to house frequency.
your project, although the PCB is exactly the right Now you're all set to find your fortune buried
size to fit the box used (see Buylines). The only real in the compost heap in the back garden.
ET1

Fig. 3 Stripboard
component overlay. Note
there are no track cuts
required for this design

ETI TOP PROJECTS 1988 89