locators

[blacktabs 3]

Surely amongst all the members on here we could come up with a simple locator set up a lot cheaper than what they sell for after all its only a transmitter and reciever somebody on here must know enough to knock something up thats just as effective for a lot less money ANY IDEAS LADS atb

[Kay 3,709]

To be honest i think Deban have the monopoly simply because the markets kind of limited , not many companys going to get there designs patented if there not going to sell in there millions each year

 

i dare say the basics are simple to someone with an electronics background

[scarecrow243 24]

the easy way is to open them up and see what components are used then add up what it would cost to buy them from maplins etc

[Quixote 9]

The circuit's physically pretty simple. The problem is in identifyng the IC chips as Deben very kindly scrape of the serial numbers so you can't ID them

[The one 8,598]

I took mine to the electrical dept at my uni the guy said he could make one for pennies but with all the numbrs scored off the components it might take weeks to identify them

[stealthy1 3,964]

So how would some one go about looking at at the patent for a Deben locator, surely there must be some were where the design is stored for copy right reasons, the parts would be labeled on there would they not?

[higgins 75]

been interested in this idea for a while now and i think the best route is to design your own so as not to infringe

any patent/copyright laws etc.You would need to study the plans for pulse tansmitters and then either get the help of an electronics enthusiast to build it.Back in the eighties i used to make my own locator collars from a kit supplied to me

by the designer,but i still have no idea what the I.C chip was as he sealed it with resin,i'm fairly sure you could find out

what chip could do the same job,but for me the real obstacle would be to build a receiver calibrated to receive the signal from the collar,although a receiver could easily be made by a knowledgeable electronics guy as the principles of receiver designs are very much similar to most receivers.The collars are 'active' transmitters,there are some tracking devices which are pasive,but you would need to design a collar that is 'active' and uses batteries to give more power

for the pulsed signals to penetrate ground and radiate strong signals for the reciever to pick up.As i said i'm interested,but still searching for some easy circuit schematics and of course the help of an amateur electronic hobbyist

to build a prototype.Most of the schematics are non directional and also thery haven't offered a dedicated receiver,they can only be picked up on normal FM radios between 88mhz-108 mhz and the signal would not be stable.the only one that would be worth building would have to incorporate directional and depth signals at the moment most of them would be either too complex or maybe too expensive to design in the beginning,so for the moment it looks like Deben will be the only supplier for a while.

 

Higgins

Edited October 25, 2009 by higgins