What Is Very Low Frequency Technology?

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VLF, very low frequency is also known as induction balance. It is probably the most popular detector technology in use today. In a VLF metal detector, there are two distinct coils.

The transmitter coil is the outer coil loop. Within it is a coil of wire. Electricity is sent along this wire, first in one direction and then in the other, thousands of times each second. The number of times that the current’s direction switches each second establishes the frequency of the unit.

The receiver coil is the inner coil loop and contains another coil of wire. This wire acts as an antenna to pick up and amplify frequencies coming from target objects in the ground.

The current moving through the transmitter coil creates an electromagnetic field. The polarity of the magnetic field is perpendicular to the coil of wire. Each time the current changes direction, the polarity of the magnetic field changes. This means that if the coil of wire is parallel to the ground, the magnetic field is constantly pushing down into the ground and then pulling back out of it.

As the magnetic field pulses back and forth into the ground, it interacts with any conductive objects it encounters, causing them to generate weak magnetic fields of their own. The polarity of the object’s magnetic field is directly opposite the transmitter coil’s magnetic field. If the transmitter coil’s field is pulsing downward, the object’s field is pulsing upward.



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