Modified the Cibola today - 10 turn GB pot and a toggle.

[pinenut]

Hey gang, was a little bored so modded my first Cibola today. Added a 10 turn Bourns potentiometer for ground balance adjustment and a spring loaded toggle for the pinpoint function. I think it came out nice but can't give it a proper testing 'till the weather gets better.

Still have to add the GB knob, one of the bigger ones that match, like on the Bandido II μMAX:



The toggle in the same place as on Tejon:



The pot used... I put an O-ring on to center it in the pushbutton hole and used some "solderwick" to ground the pot to the faceplate. Solderwick gets sandwiched between pot body and shielding of faceplate, grounding the pot.



After removing the original GB trim pot and cleaning off solder pads (just so the job looks clean and nice), the new potentiometer's leads are soldered in through the back of pc board, and then trimmed flush. Shown here before I trimmed 'em off:



Wire extensions to toggle switch have heat-shrink so everything is insulated and pretty. Looks nearly factory. Not worried about warranty; this Cibola was bought used, so no warranty anyway.

After I give it a full field testing, I'll comment on how it works compared to the Vaquero. I suspect it'll run very smoothly, especially with the 10 turn GB.

 

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[walnut]

Hey gang, was a little bored so modded my first Cibola today. Added a 10 turn Bourns potentiometer for ground balance adjustment and a spring loaded toggle for the pinpoint function. I think it came out nice but can't give it a proper testing 'till the weather gets better.

Still have to add the GB knob, one of the bigger ones that match, like on the Bandido II μMAX:

View attachment 1405788

The toggle in the same place as on Tejon:

View attachment 1405792

The pot used... I put an O-ring on to center it in the pushbutton hole and used some "solderwick" to ground the pot to the faceplate. Solderwick gets sandwiched between pot body and shielding of faceplate, grounding the pot.

View attachment 1405797

After removing the original GB trim pot and cleaning off solder pads (just so the job looks clean and nice), the new potentiometer's leads are soldered in through the back of pc board, and then trimmed flush. Shown here before I trimmed 'em off:

View attachment 1405798

Wire extensions to toggle switch have heat-shrink so everything is insulated and pretty. Looks nearly factory. Not worried about warranty; this Cibola was bought used, so no warranty anyway.

After I give it a full field testing, I'll comment on how it works compared to the Vaquero. I suspect it'll run very smoothly, especially with the 10 turn GB.

Very nice!

But aside from the warranty, I thought Tesoro will not even work on one modified?

Let us know how it compares to a Vaq. I remember Keith Southern wrote that the two had a different chip on the board. He also said that the Vaquero seemed to like "round objects" better. Who knows. I'd have guessed they are the same.

 

[pinenut]

what, me worry...?

Very nice!

But aside from the warranty, I thought Tesoro will not even work on one modified?

Let us know how it compares to a Vaq. I remember Keith Southern wrote that the two had a different chip on the board. He also said that the Vaquero seemed to like "round objects" better. Who knows. I'd have guessed they are the same.

Thanks. I'm not worried about Tesoro working on it; as it seems to be functioning just fine. Full test in a couple days (I hope..). What I've noticed about Cibola vs Vaquero is that Cibola seems to have a smoother, slightly longer duration tone when sweeping over targets...but that's with the stock GB trim pot. Not sure if or how this 10 turn pot will change that characteristic...but I had to try the mod. If this works as expected, I'll be doing another Cibola I have, my high-tone version. This one I just did is a standard tone. Got 'em both pretty cheaply, specifically to mod.
I'll have more to add after testing in a few days. Been snowing here the past three. Need a little...

 

[68kaiser]

I am waiting like a kid for Xmas morning... To here the report.

 

[fltacoma]

If all goes well, you wanna work on mine?

 

[pinenut]

If all goes well, you wanna work on mine?

Anything is possible...

The one I just did seems to be working nicely (air tested inside the house...). Big difference in depth between full + and - on the GB; at least 3".

Maybe it's 'cause Cibola is intended for less disiplined sweep speeds (?), but Cibola does have a "sweeter & smoother", longer duration tone over coins than Vaquero. Guessing this means that sweep speed can be slightly faster with C than what the V likes, and a "too fast" sweep is something I'm often guilty of, especially with the light 5.75" coils I like. I noticed this smoother tone on both of my Cibolas before any mods, and it's still that way with the GB modded one. Could be that's why many folks say the modded Cibola runs "smoother" than Vaquero, though some may equate smoothness to just being quiet while sweeping; I don't know. At any rate, a stock Cibola seems smoother to me than the Vaquero, and the 10 turn GB pot will let you set GB right at the edge. Should be a great combo, something others have stated for years.

I suspect that tone smoothness may have something to do with capacitor values used in C vs V, so I'll have to open both models up and make component comparisons... Could be an easy mod for the V, to swap out some caps and make it run like the C... We'll see.
I can already tell that the Cibola is gonna' be sweet.. I'd be out testing today, but I need to shovel a long drive to get my car out and drive down the hill... Maybe tomorrow.
Here's the back yard a couple days ago; it's a foot deeper today:

 

[fltacoma]

I wonder what would happen if you switched the chips between the two detectors?

 

[68kaiser]

Waiting for a report is killing me...... Killing me.......

 

[pinenut]

Waiting for a report is killing me...... Killing me.......

I haven't even been out of the house 'cept to poop the dogs and shovel my driveway. May go down the hill to try it out today. Not much fun detcting through a foot of snow, but there's an old camp spot I like about an hour away. Probably muddy there, but at least not frozen.
I have a feeling it'll work great. I'll let you know...

 

[pinenut]

took it for a walk today...

Swapped the disc knob to the GB pot, then added a big thumb knob to the disc (I needed a knob and that's what I had). Went out for a couple hours, to a camp spot I'd already been through a few times with the Outlaw and Bandido. There's always more if you keep looking, and the modded Cibola worked nicely, finding a small handful of clad.
The GB adjusts perfectly for a "power balance" in disc, which is more negative than a neutral balance in all-metal. Started out with disc set below nickel, but with so many melted aluminum blobs around, I bumped it to where zincs start to break up. I was running the stock 9x8 and noticed that I needed to keep adjusting the disc setting more with it, than the 5.75" coils; was going from gravel to composted leaves to wet soil...
Ground was changing all over, but this Cibola was equipped with a 10 turn GB pot! I wouldn't normally use a fixed GB machine in that area, but the tweaked Cibola worked fine. I really don't like the stock low tone this one has, and the GB didn't seem to make it as "special" as some folks say a GB modded Cibola is...but in fairness, I only gave it a couple hours. Seemed pretty much the same personality as the standard Vaquero, but with a finer GB adjustment. I'll have to try it with a 5.75" concentric (what I usually use in that trashy area), then decide whether I really like it or not. Next time I'll also take my standard Vaquero, so I can try 'em both back to back.
Meanwhile, it's now basically a Vaquero; at least, that's how it feels to me.

 

[68kaiser]

Sweet.. Thanks for the update.. Looking forward tonhownthe smaller coil is.

 

[eyemustdigtreasure]

Brave soul! Agreed, it should be a fantastic machine, with the ground balance, as the Cibola has
a wonderful discriminator!
My Cibola works fine, and lucky for me, as I'd screw it up, if I tried to modify!

 

[Stoof2010]

Looks exactly like how mine turned out!!
At neutral are you in the middle at around 5 turns when balanced?
I know you've seen my post how far positive mine goes to balance.
Wondering how yours turned out.

 

[Stoof2010]

Chances are mine could just be my soil.
Now I can't recall all mine and ass soon as the ground thaws I'll test them all. Definitely find a very clean area to make sure I'm not balancing to something down there.
But I had tried in different spots. Also as many have said, as long as it balances lol

 

[pinenut]

Stoof, around here, this one balances in right around 6-1/2 turns from full negative. Not right in the middle at 5 turns, but I'm fine with it. Just having the ability to GB a Cibola makes this mod worthwhile, but the 10 turn pot makes it sweet. The nicest thing about using the 10 turn, is that it makes finding the edge of where it's at max depth with minimal (or no) noise, so much easier than with the stock 3-3/4 turn pot.