Opensource Archaeological Magnetic Gradiometer

This is a project to develop and open-source magnetic gradiometer for archaeological surveying. The sensor head consists of two Speake FGM-3h flux-gate magnetometers (~£20 each) per pole which appear to give an effective resolution of 1-2 nT. The output of the senors is a TTL signal whose frequency typically sits at around 60-80 kHz, the difference between their frequencies indicating the field gradient. Unlike some other projects no mechanical adjustment for zeroing is required. The frequencies are measured using a Teensy 3.2 board along with the temperature at each senor to allow for thermal drift adjustment. The Teensy calculates the field gradient outputting to a Raspberry PI for further processing and local storage.

I am interested in promoting real-science projects in schools and the community. As an A-level physics teacher I have some years experience in project development with students both in my college and local schools. The experience gained by students is invaluable and makes a tremendous addition to a university or apprenticeship application. I want to promote geophysics projects more heavily via projects to monitor aurora, lightning and infra-sound.