Jim in Idaho

Ants, especially harvester ants, have a genetic predisposition to carry back the heaviest items they can find. It's thought by scientists it has to do with maximizing the return for the energy expended while foraging. it may also, in places where it gets cold in the winter, that the heavier items placed on the mound do a better job of protecting it from the elements. The mound is a critical component of the ant's nest.

Jim

Great work, Bentley!!!! I really appreciate your efforts, and the link.

Jim

I'd really like to have these, myself....thnx!

Jim

I  have no idea why some SL's tolerate the higher voltage, but some do not. Mine seems to tolerate it well, but I started limiting my max voltage to 16.0. My Sadie also works fine at the higher voltage, but I don't find it superior to my Whites 7.5DF. According to Carl Moreland, the SL should tolerate voltages as high as 18.0, but may require a couple of component changes to do that. I know of only one SL that wouldn't work at 16v, and that one was in the UK....maybe the soil there was the problem at higher voltage...don 't know.

Jim

I was just metal detecting close to the impact center of the Beaverhead Crater a couple of weeks ago. It's about 8 miles west of where hiway 93 crosses Willow Creek Summit north of Mackay, Idaho. No visible evidence at all, unless you're an expert. Wandered that country for years, back in my fur-hunting days, and nobody back then had any idea that was an impact crater. It's interesting that Idaho's highest peak (Mount Borah) is right on the crater rim.

Jim

Be advised that some aftermarket coils will do this, and also some SL's don't readily take to increased battery pack voltage. Juast sayin'.

Jim

You're right, as usual, Steve. The frequency thing actually started with flight, and radios. The engineers knew that the laminations in transformers were extremely heavy, and figured out they could get the same performance with much smaller transformers by simply raising the frequency they operated at. The new digital welders take advantage of the same principle, as do the inverter generators.....same results in smaller, lighter packages. Before solid state, the aircraft radios operated at 400hz, rather than the 60 hz of ground-based radios.

Jim

I'm thinking, Gil, that a switch for the hi-gain might be a nice feature.

Jim

Both D20 and 21 are three-lead diodes. The jumper only goes across 2 of the 3 connections on diode D21. It goes across the bottom 2 connections in the pic, as shown. Also, everybody interested in this mod should understand these are very tiny components. They require a magnifying light, and good soldering skills, with a decent quality soldering station. At least IMHO...LOL I was a radar tech in the Air Force, and doing this mod taxed my skills. I've done 2 of Reg's mods to my 2013 unit, and I recommend them. At some point in then future I'm going to do the jumper across Test Points 2 and 31, too. I wasn't aware of that until Gilbert's post, so a shoutout to him, and a thumbs-up

Jim

Bear in mind that on SL's made since 2015 have D20, and D21 removed, and the jumper across the correct 2 legs of D21. This was a factory mod. if you want to perfor4m this mod on your pre-2015 model here's a pic showing which legs the jumper goes across on D21. It also shows D20, and C56, which can be removed.

Jim

Many thanks, Carl. I'm not going to get into it that deep. I thought of raising the wattage of R9 because I've a read a complaint that it was getting hot with the raised battery voltage. I haven't seen it in mine, but thought it might start showing up if I went to 21 volts, as in a 5-cell pack.

Jim

Carl, I've run mine as high as 16.8 without problems, but now limit the voltage to 16.0, just to be safe.

But, I've been thinking of a 5 cell battery pack limited to 20v. Might have to raise the wattage of R9 to dissipate any additional heat.

Jim

Boosted packs help, but everybody should be aware that Carl, the TDI SL designer, has stated that the SL will tolerate voltages to 22 volts, but if you're running above 20, you should swap some capacitors for higher voltage-rated caps. The SL does tolerate higher voltages than the standard TDI series, however.

Jim

I made a 24" coil for my TDI SL. Works great!

Jim

I've never been stranded, in the more than 50 years I've spent in the outdoors. Closest I came was a 3/4 ton Ford 4x4 that had a rebuilt starter fail. I also made the rookie mistake of parking it facing uphill against a wall of brush...REALLY dumb! So, I rolled it backwards until the two track leveled out. Then I had to use the Rokon to pull it around and down to a sloped section of road. All this while alone, I might add. Then I had to use the Rokon to get it rolling, drop the Rokon, unhook the rope, and jump in the cab to get it in gear. Took several tries to sort it all out, but finally got the truck started, the Rokon loaded, and back to the camper. At 72, I doubt I could do that now....LOL

1 hour ago, GotAU? said:

Jim, I very much agree with you! Good thing is at least some of the cars, particularly Toyotas and maybe others, have a built in door key and there’s an inductive pad behind the start button so if you hold your fob up against it, it will get enough power to activate, even if the fob battery is dead.  Now if you accidentally smacked the fob with a rock or something, you're out of luck.  Guess you’d have to hope that you brought enough water to wait for help or at least for a safe walk back! 😉

I don't have to worry about it. If the Dodge ever pukes, I'll spend my money finding, repairing, and driving another one of the same year. I will never own, or buy a new outdoor vehicle, unless the morons currently in charge force me to.

Jim

1 hour ago, fi4451 said:

Another reason to have 2 sets of keys handy, I had a key FOB fail once went I went to leave the desert(middle of no where).  My car would start and run for 2 or 3 seconds and then turn off (car thinks it is a fake key and stops).  At that point,  I wasn't sure what was going on and was nervous that I may be stuck..  Luckily, with my second set of keys, I had no problem  and my vehicle started and ran fine.  It was an "eye opener"- gotta love technology!

Some of these new-fangled automobile electronics were NOT designed for outdoorsmen...LOL

Jim

11 hours ago, Gold Catcher said:

Not sure about that. Car theft is common even without keys left. It is an equal nightmare scenario to come back after detecting and the truck is gone. I always have my keys with me and at a safe place in my backpack.

I didn't suggest leaving them in the vehicle....dohhh. But, hide them nearby.

Jim

Yup...Carl doesn't owe anybody an apology. he's an extremely valuable resource for everybody in this hobby and industry. He's been a great value to me, for sure.

Jim

Never, never, never carry your keys away from your vehicle. A basic rule for all serious outdoor people. The keys accomplish nothing without the vehicle, so why carry them away from it?

Jim

15 hours ago, oneguy said:

Will do Jim....  LOVE that valley down there.  When I was  looking for a place down there I was really big into shed hunting and my guess is that area would beat the hell outta the thick brushy steep country here.  Was curious if the wind mill crap ever got going in the valley?  If so (?) I'm glad the house deal fell thru...  take care!

No windmills I'm aware of, Scott. Haven't been up there this year, however. Leadore's pretty sleepy...LOL Most of the ranch land there is owned by Karl Tyler. He was raised there, but went into the auto business, and made several fortunes. Started out washing cars at a dealership. He's a good guy, and serious hunter. I think he still has the Chevy dealership at Missoula. He's really tried to help the Leadore area. I've got a friend with a gold operation just over Bannock Pass from Leadore. He's on Jeff Davis Creek.

Jim

On 9/23/2021 at 5:45 PM, oneguy said:

Both are special places, spent almost equal time living in both with a few more years now in Montucky.....  Seven or eight yrs ago I made an offer on a second home down in Leadore about 3 miles from town...deal fell thru....

You get down in the Leadore area, Scott, I hope you'll let me know. I know that area pretty well, and spend some time there. Would enjoy meeting you.

Jim

Whatever I use is going to require a pretty big reduction drive. I'm going to need some serious torque, because of the depth. Not too worried about speed. The ground I'd be drilling is pretty soft. Might try an auger drill, but using homemade core drills rather than an auger. The starter motor idea is pretty good...thanks! Will still need a reduction ring, and the frame to hold it all together. Just so happens I've got an old starter motor off my Massey diesel tractor. Probably won't get to the drill until late winter. Need to build the P.jig, and then I've got to remodel one bedroom on the house, and still have plans to head down to Winnemucca for some nugget hunting this fall...assuming the weather allows it.

Yup....I'm going to get back to that hunt next season. I got a little burned out and quit for awhile, but it's time to get back. I've got some pretty good ideas on the search, and tools for it. I'm drawing up a Pleitz jig right now that will be portable, and run on 12v. That'll reduce water use. I also went through my pics of what I call Little Valley, and noticed I'd identified a spot that I thought at the time was the remains of a kimberlite pipe near where I'm finding all the indicators. I need to build a 12v core drill so I can get down a few feet to investigate. Still, thinking on that.

Jim

I spent several years prospecting for diamonds in the Green River basin in Wyoming. never have found one. Last time I was there I left a couple of 8" x 48" sluices in two dry washes. Went back to check them last week. They were completely covered by sand/mud/gravel, so no longer working as sluices...LOL. But I cleaned them out and reset them, and in one, in an area that has produced the most diamond-indicator minerals, produced some nice gem quality chrome diopside, including one 1.46 carat piece, which is pretty rare for Wyoming. Thought you gem-heads might enjoy the pics. Also a pic of some other diamond indicators that were in the sluice, including ilmenite, and spinel.