Within the world of treasure hunters, metal detectors are a kind of special objects with the aim of making a lot of easy money for those who own these gadgets. A metal detector is an electronic device that is capable of emitting a sound every time you approach it to the metal .
These devices usually go to ground level, to emit sounds when they pass near a metal object. All this can be done thanks to physics , since the metal detector has a wave system that is capable of sounding a speaker when we are near something that emits metallic waves. Thanks to this, the device will whistle every time we approach some place with some kind of metallic object inside it. A person with a metal detector may be able to go anywhere trying to see how the metal feels attracted to the metal detector. For example, many treasure hunters go on the beaches, trying to find lost coins and money that could have been lost.
This profession is a bit legendary and it is not uncommon to see them on the beaches in the summers and looking for something that you could have missed all day. Although normally they do not find anything, it could be the case that someday they had a stroke of luck and they won a lot of money at one time. This kind of detectors are sold in stores and are quite expensive.
Bounty Hunter Land Ranger Pro Metal Detector
It is not surprising that the profession of treasure hunters is being exercised mainly by ex-soldiers, who possessed a metal detector thanks to their work. The truth is that for what we are going to find on a beach , it is not worth paying hundreds of euros for a metal detector, which will not bring us that benefit unless we have the stroke of luck in our lives. Besides, not everyone has time for that profession. But, what if I told you that you can make your own fully functional metal detector with practically 0 euros ?. Surely you would not believe me , but you have to believe me because it's true, since today's metal detector is the lowest cost you will find in the world. You really only need small things that you have at home, such as an old calculator and an old portable radio, one that nobody uses anymore because they have mobile phones. Besides being cheap, the metal detector that I will teach you to assemble is done right away , so you can have it ready to work in a few minutes.
It could be said that it will take you much longer to read this article than to fabricate the metal detector, so that you can see how little we are going to take to do it. Without entertaining me anymore, here is the definitive tutorial of the homemade metal detector, manufactured with a calculator and an old radio as main components of it, we go there with the low cost metal detector.
What do you need to build a homemade metal detector?
- A portable radio that can tune AM frequency.
- A portable calculator.
- Scotch tape.
- A broomstick.
- Metal to test.
Instructions to build a homemade metal detector
Explanation of the invention:
The first thing we are going to do before we start explaining how to make this fabulous homemade metal detector , is to explain a bit how the invention works, that is, to give a kind of little theoretical talk so that you learn how a calculator will work together with Adhesive tape to a radio as a metal detector. Again we have the answer in physics, specifically in the waves, which are responsible for colliding, in particular the waves that the calculator emits and the waves that the metal emits. Here it is created as a kind of circuit, in which the waves that our calculating machine emits collide with the waves of the metal, a sound that can register the radio in AM frequency, in which it is to capture this type of waves. This works because every time we approach a metal, the radio will sound on the airwaves, causing this to become a full-blown metal detector. That is, the metal must be very close to the calculator, otherwise it will not work correctly.
Tune frequency and increase volume:
The first thing we are going to do to be able to use the low cost homemade metal detector, is to take a radio from these old ones, from those that go to batteries. In this radio, we have to activate the AM frequency mode, which goes in a frequency range different from the FM range . In this range, we will be able to hear the waves that clash the metal and the calculator, however, it will not sound very loud. Therefore, what we must do to make this all work in the right way, is to increase the volume of the radio to stop in AM mode, without there being any radio tuned into it. Once we have done this, we have already configured our "speaker" of the metal detector, which will be the one to notify us in case we have seen an object of this type.
Paste the calculator and listen until a noise sounds:
Now it is the turn of taking our calculator, a calculator that will allow us to make the bases of real metal detector, since the waves that collide come from the electronic part of the calculator. We advise you to bring a large calculator, since small calculators do not have much force and will not work properly. What you need to do is join the calculator to the radio until they are glued, moving the calculator slightly over the surface of the radio. Once the waves of the calculator have been connected, it will start to sound like an analog TV noise not tuned to the radio, at which time we have to leave the calculator completely still in that position and move on to the next step .
Join the calculator and the radio:
Once the beep sounds and continues to sound while we have it all firmly in place, it is the turn of joining the calculator and the radio, so that this position is maintained permanently . The best way to do it is to take our rod of insulation tape and cover both parts until they are completely joined. Yes, try that the fastening is always strong, because if we allow the calculator to move too much, we are going to get the metal detector to break down and that the invention has gone to hell. You can also use zeal or bodybuilder's tape, however, I have chosen the tape because it is the best way to do it, mainly because of its aesthetics.
Test the metal detector:
Once we have the metal detector ready and it continues ringing, it is time to do the test, that is, to check if this detector really works or instead we are here wasting time. Take a metal object that you have there, such as a screw and stick the screw to the calculator. This will start to sound like a radio beep, which will be louder the closer we get to the screw. As we will see, the metal detector does not have much range, therefore, we will not be able to use it to search for metals underground, but only for surface metals, such as the aforementioned coins from the beach. If it does not work, this can be caused by many things, but the most common are that the calculator has been moved (the noise from the previous steps has stopped) or that the radio has run out of batteries. The more batteries there are, the more quality the sound will be, so try to keep the radio always having batteries left over and running. On certain occasions, it happens that we have inadvertently played the tuning wheel and we have loaded the invention. If this happens, remove the insulating tape and return to step 2 of this article to do it again, something for which nothing happens since it takes two minutes to do.
Perfect it and use it:
Now that we have verified that our metal detector works, it is time to give it some small touches to be used correctly . As we have to look for metal at ground level, we are not going to bend a lot for it, since it is certainly quite uncomfortable. What we are going to do instead, is to stick the stick of a broom to it, something that will allow us to have an extension for the metal detector. This will also serve to simulate a commercial metal detector, which is sold in stores and is very similar to the one we have manufactured. You can join the stick with Adhesive tape without any problems and start looking for treasures around the world as if you were a professional treasure hunter.