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Difference Between Nokta Fors Gold And Fors Core


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Nokta FORS CoRe metal detector

The Nokta representative has said that the Nokta FORS Gold and Nokta FORS CoRe are basically the same detector. The FORS Gold was intended as a machine marketed for the prospecting market, with much of that being in third world countries. They wanted to make it clear the machine was intended for and capable of prospecting for gold and the best way to make that clear is in the name.

The FORS CoRe is literally aimed at the coin and relic market, and the name is derived from that - Coin & Relic.

The two detector are obviously different colors with different decals. But how about operationally? They currently are the same price so why chose one over the other?

The decision was made to simplify the FORS Gold by removing one operation mode - the Conductive Ground or COG mode. The COG mode expands the ground balance range to include not only mineralized ground but also the conductive salt range. We would best recognize this as a salt or beach mode. It is intended primarily for beach use however it may also very well have applications for alkali salt flat detecting and would be a good prospecting option to have. The FORS Gold can compensate for conductive salt ground by the more drastic measure of increasing the ID Mask setting until the signal from salt ground is eliminated. This works but employing ground balance as in the COnductive Ground mode is the preferred solution. For this one simple reason I recommend people buy the FORS CoRe instead of the FORS Gold since they are the same price at this time. Do note that by adjusting out the effects of conductive salt you also eliminate small gold signals since the two overlap. This is just the trade off you make to be able to operate a detector on conductive ground.

There is one other operational difference between the FORS CoRe and FORS Gold that I am aware of. From the manuals:

FORS CoRe TONE:

It allows you to change the audio frequency of the threshold and target warning tones according to your preference. There are 5 different audio frequencies ranging from treble to bass. Tone change does not affect the iron tone. It is active in the General Search, DI2 and COG modes. It is inactive in the Discrimination 3 (DI3) mode. It changes the audio frequency of the threshold sound in the General Search mode and the gold/non-ferrous metal sound in the DI2 and COG modes.

FORS Gold TONE:

It allows you to change the audio frequency of the threshold and target warning tones according to your preference. There are 5 different audio frequencies ranging from treble to bass. Tone change does not affect the iron tone. It is active in the General Search and Boost (BST) modes only. It is inactive in the Discrimination 3 mode. It changes the audio frequency of the threshold sound in the General Search mode and the gold/non-ferrous metal sound in the BST mode (TONE 02 -TONE 03 - TONE 04 - TONE 05).

NOTE: YOUR DEVICE WILL START IN BOOST MODE TONE 4. WHEN USING THE BOOST MODE, IF YOU CHANGE THE TONE SETTING OF THE DEVICE TO 1 (TONE 01) THE DEVICE WILL PRODUCE A SINGLE TONE FOR ALL METALS (GOLD, NON-FERROUS, FERROUS) ENABLING YOU TO HEAR SMALLER GOLD NUGGET SIGNALS MORE CLEARLY.

Note that DI2 (Discriminate, 2 Tones) on the FORS CoRe and BST (Boost) appear to be the same mode. It is possible BST has been tweaked for extra performance while prospecting but frankly I doubt it. The big difference is that it appears BST can be switched from a two tone discriminate mode to a single tone discriminate mode. This in effect changes the FORS Gold into a simple beep dig unit reminiscent of something like a single knob Tesoro. Just set the ID Mask to wherever you want and dig everything that beeps. By going extra low the division between ferrous and non-ferrous can be set better than on many other detectors - could be something here a person can apply to good advantage.

A lot of detectors if you set the discrimination control to zero there is still some built in ferrous rejection. They are not true "zero disc" units. Some are calibrated to give you a true zero disc setting, but the Nokta units go beyond this. The control incorporates not only the ferrous range but drops all the way down into the ground range itself, allowing for a very nice ability to fine tune the discrimination ferrous range from 0 - 40.

Nokta FORS VDI Chart

0 - 5 Hot Rocks
5 -25 Mineralized Ground
25 - 35 Salty and Alkali Soils
10 - 40 Ferrous Targets (Iron, nails)
40 - 50 Foil, Small Gold
56 - 58 US Nickel
82 - 83 Zinc Penny
84 - 86 US Dime
88 - 92 US Quarter
95 - 99 Hot Rocks

To sum up, at the same price I still think the FORS CoRe is the way to go. I have suggested to Nokta that they need to make the FORS Gold slightly less expensive than the CoRe in recognition of the Gold lacking a mode the CoRe includes for no extra charge.

More information on the Nokta FORS Gold

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  • 2 months later...

I was reading on the Nokta website, it says the Fors gold has a Boost mode "BST" wich finds deeper gold without hot rocks, instead of "COG" Conductive Ground mode. Is this the same thing? I am planing on ordering one this week.

Thanks for all the information you post its really helpful

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The FORS CoRe has General (All Metal), DI2 (Discriminate Two Tones), DI3 (Discriminate Three Tones), and COG (COnductive Ground - Beach Mode).

The FORS Gold has General, BST (Boost, but just another version of DI2 two tone discriminate as described in the first post), and DI3. There is no COG mode on the FORS Gold, instead you get the mono tone option in DI2 (BST) as described in the first post.

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Very informative, Thank you Steve.  I've been watching the Nokta line for a while now, thinking of ditching  my DFX for it.  I'm inclined to go back to the GTI but these detectors from Nokta have had me in snits from the observations.  At the same price and with just a bit of tweeking it seems you've uncovered something I can't get from observation.... and a limited *god the GPZ was a pitch HAHH* funds I've got on hand.  I love the GTI's depth and target analysis however its a flop when you get off reservation and try for minerals and metals in some very hot country.  DFX is no prom queen either off reservation in the areas I've trudged about.

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The FORS CoRe has General (All Metal), DI2 (Discriminate Two Tones), DI3 (Discriminate Three Tones), and COG (COnductive Ground - Beach Mode).

The FORS Gold has General, BST (Boost, but just another version of DI2 two tone discriminate as described in the first post), and DI3. There is no COG mode on the FORS Gold, instead you get the mono tone option in DI2 (BST) as described in the first post.

You are the MAN STEVE! I read your post a few times last night and I went with the Fores Core, I ordered it today! They said it might 2 weeks because I'm second in line :(

But thanks again appreciate it

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At only $595 new with two year transferable warranty the FORS units are a steal. I do think the CoRe is the best choice for most people simply from a resale standpoint, plus, the COG mode may be helpful on alkali ground (salt flats). As far as I know it is every bit as good on gold nuggets as the Gold model, which was done mainly as a marketing move.

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Steve,

I have held off on buying the Nokta Fors Gold in anticipation of the Macro Racer Gold.  Which do you think will be the superior machine?  Will the Macro Racer Gold be a lighter repackaged Nokta Fors Gold?  

Also,  how sensitive is the handle vibration?  Will the smallest bird shot set it off?  Does this vibration happen with a false?

I have been learning a tremendous amount from all the great content on this site.

Thanks,

Rick

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On 3/23/2015 at 8:32 PM, Bullit said:

Steve,

I have held off on buying the Nokta Fors Gold in anticipation of the Macro Racer Gold.  Which do you think will be the superior machine?  Will the Macro Racer Gold be a lighter repackaged Nokta Fors Gold?  

Also,  how sensitive is the handle vibration?  Will the smallest bird shot set it off?  Does this vibration happen with a false?

I have been learning a tremendous amount from all the great content on this site.

Thanks,

Rick

Here is the youtube that explains the vibration well

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On 3/23/2015 at 8:32 PM, Bullit said:

Steve,

I have held off on buying the Nokta Fors Gold in anticipation of the Macro Racer Gold.  Which do you think will be the superior machine?  Will the Macro Racer Gold be a lighter repackaged Nokta Fors Gold?  

Also,  how sensitive is the handle vibration?  Will the smallest bird shot set it off?  Does this vibration happen with a false?

I have been learning a tremendous amount from all the great content on this site.

Thanks,

Rick

Hi Rick,

Basically, the vibration replaces or supplements the audio by feeding the same signal to the vibration device. The stronger the audio, the stronger the vibration. If a false audio signal is strong enough it will also produce a vibration.

However, at least two nugget hunters have noted that faint hot rock signals do not produce a vibration when a small nugget will. I suspect these are borderline cases where the hot rock audio does not have the same "edge" as the audio produced by the small nugget, and so no vibrate signal on the hot rocks where they were. I have not replicated that myself and in fact other than playing with it have not used the vibrate function. It is a great idea and feature but reality after 40 years of detecting is I hunt by ear.

The Racer is basically a FORS CoRe stuffed in a lighter package but there have been some tweaks. DI3 for instance is more powerful on the Racer than on the FORS models. The Gold Racer is taking everything learned with the FORS units and tweaking again specifically for use as nugget detectors. This is reflected in the fact that no date has been announced for release yet because the Gold Racer is still under development. If they just took a FORS Gold and stuffed it in a Racer box it would be out already.

One area I hope is addressed with the Gold Racer is the tendency of the FORS models to easily overload. This is ok most of the time and can even be a feature of sorts in a park as it alerts you to shallow targets. But in very hot ground the units can go into continuous overload. This is mainly a problem in Australia but I have run into small areas where it happens. No amount of turning the sensitivity down helps, the units just become non-functional. They are very, very high gain detectors, and I think they need a lower gain mode to help deal with extreme mineralization.

Basically, jury is out and nobody knows for sure but I am cautiously hopeful the Gold Racer might knock my socks off for a VLF. I think because of balance issues the FORS are inherently better for those wanting to use the big optional coil a lot. The Racer feels best with the stock or even the small coil option. The Gold Racer will come with the 10" x 5" DD coil as stock, said coil not even being an option with the Nokta units at this time. The machine the Gold Racer needs to match or exceed is the F19 Fisher.

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While we r on the subject of the Nokta...

I see the prices have dropped significantly... My concern is has the quality dropped as well... Maybe an off base question but I'm wanting to order one but feel alittle skeptical now...

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  • The title was changed to Difference Between Nokta FORS Gold And FORS Core

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