DIY metal detector

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Finished up this nice White Surfmaster detector a few days ago. Honestly, I'm pretty stoked with how it turned out.:klap:
If you can't swing a high-end Metal Detector because of the price tag, but you know your way around some basic electronics, you can always build one yourself. Might as well have one lying around the house. Who knows when you'll need it.
I put a video on YouTube so you can see it. The footage isn't great—just shot it on my digital camera—but it works. If you're interested, feel free to try it and experiment.☕
I actually tweaked the schematic a bit to make this Metal Detector more sensitive, stronger, and more stable on wet ground. 🙂 I also played around with it more and modified it to find electrical wiring and metal pipes inside walls. It detects those really well. Way better than those big-brand wall detectors I've tried... I've tested a few of them. It won't pick up wood in the wall like those specialized ones do, though. I made the small coil using 0.3mm copper wire, right around 95uH, just so I wouldn't have to change anything when plugging it into the detector. I also added a simple circuit with three LEDs to show the battery level.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jsbQ11ZBQE

Good luck!
Warm regards from Mexico👋

Nice work! I’d love to try building one myself since I dabble in amateur archaeology... but I doubt I have the skills for it. 😁

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Find someone who knows their way around electronics to build this for you. It’s honestly not that complicated, and being easy to tune is pretty crucial. If the circuit diagram is done right, it should work perfectly on the first try.
I put this here just to make it easier for you guys to follow along with my testing and how I'm tweaking the schematic. 😉
Good luck to everyone!!!

Thanks 🙂

Greetings, rapiddriver152. I have been browsing various sites regarding DIY metal detector builds, but yours appears to be the most impressive by far. I am hoping the process isn't overly complex. Essentially, if it isn't too much trouble, could you post a schematic here along with a full parts list of the electronic components required? I have a few free days ahead of me and would love to tinker with something; this project looks quite intriguing. A few technical specifications would also be appreciated.😉Best regards,

I picked up a Garrett Ace a few days ago. After testing it out, I’ve concluded it isn't much of a gold machine—couldn't pick up a few pieces of gold jewelry nuggets at more than 6 cm. For ring-sized silver or coins, I'm getting maybe 20 cm. Small non-precious metal objects occasionally show up past 20 cm. A small garden trowel doesn't register beyond about 48 cm.
I'm not disappointed; my expectations weren't that high to begin with. My plan is to find enough decent non-precious finds to sell them off and fund a better detector.

Prospecting
I find it easy to navigate along the Atlantic Ocean, thanks to my coastal roots. But out here in the interior—where I actually grew up—I feel like a stranger in the forests of the Appalachian Mountains and the surrounding ranges I visited on a trip once (like the Blue Ridge Mountains or the Catskill Mountains). Even though I've identified several potential sites using old maps, I struggle to apply that logic to the actual terrain in the mainland. I want to try exploring some spots in the Appalachians, but I don't know how, given that I have nowhere to stay overnight and I'm wary of the wildlife. I also haven't figured out how to handle the winter, which isn't an issue back by the coast. I'm easy to please when it comes to comfort and can survive on minimal food and water, but I can't imagine just lying down under a tree in a continental forest and falling asleep.
How do you experienced detectorists manage staying at a site for several days? Do you sleep in your car parked near the location? I don't own a vehicle, so that option is off the table for me...
By the time you reach a location that matches an old map, trek through the terrain, analyze the soil and landmarks to pinpoint where an old settlement might have been (none of the structures remain now, likely because they were wood), and then start detecting thousands of square meters of that area, you're looking at days of relentless work, potentially around the clock. How do you veterans handle this kind of research?

Regards!