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  1. When I started this forum most people did not know that Bounty Hunter, Fisher, and Teknetics were in reality all the same company - First Texas. That holding company purchased those brands to trade off the cachet of their established names and brand following. It is therefore ironic to me that they are now abandoning the separate brands to a large degree. The once separate websites now all point back to just one - the new First Texas umbrella website. The old Bounty Hunter website http://detecting.com/ The old Fisher website http://www.fisherlab.com/ both redirect to subsections on the main First Texas website. The old Teknetics website is still up at https://www.tekneticsdirect.com/ but no doubt the new First Texas Teknetics subsection will replace it someday. First Texas is obviously abandoning small dealers fully now in favor of big box and direct sales. They have been repeatedly selling various models direct on Amazon and the FT website at under dealer cost. Hard to be a dealer when your number one competitor is your supplier. The Teknetics site long since morphed into factory direct sales and now the new site has everything factory direct, often with huge discounts. The main FT website does have a dealer application page still. It mentions a dealer listing page but I have not been able to find one. Maybe that is because of this requirement: To earn a spot on our dealer website page, dealers must have placed orders for a minimum of 20 units and sustain an annual sales goal of 100 units. Your dealer listing on our website will exclude your website address if your landing page promotes detectors from other brands. 100 units a year plus no mention of other brands on landing page specifically excludes small dealers. Only sell 80 a year? Too bad. I'm a businessman and business is business so I am not posting this as a swipe at First Texas. More a recognition of things changing with the times. The fact is many so-called dealers are just order takers competing on under the table price discounting out of garages and basements, not real brick and mortar operators. I understand why the companies, and not just First Texas, will be weeding these people out. Everything will go big box and factory direct eventually with only a few of the biggest online independent dealers hanging on over the next ten years. As price competition heats up so will the need to cut extra pockets out of the distribution chain. First Texas might be ahead of the curve on this a little but they are not the only company making these moves. Minelab is heavily promoting direct sales via Amazon and Garrett has a new factory direct website. My advice to anyone thinking of becoming a small metal detector dealer? Don't. Great deal on the Fisher F70, regular $375 and below dealer cost at $199 - almost makes me want to buy one, it's such a smoking deal! https://firsttexasproducts.com/products/fisher-f70-metal-detector-with-dual-coil-and-coil-cover-combo?variant=47452772335896
  2. I know many of you are aware, but I'm posting this for those who may not be familiar with the situation in the US regarding service. Until the end of 2023 Detector Center was the sole service provider for Minelab, providing warranty and non-warranty repairs of its detectors. Starting Jan 1 2024, Minelab has taken this role back in house for warranty repairs. However I just wanted to post a short blurb that Detector Center is still here.... we continue to complete non-warranty service of your favorite Minelab - be it a gold machine, coin detector, or water hunting detector, etc. Basically, if it's under warranty - get it taken care of by Minelab. But if it's out of warranty we can help.... as the techs are here and we continue to stock the vast majority of the parts needed to fix these detectors. Now in regards to some our favorite older detectors (15 years old and older) sometimes we run into the situation where there simply are no parts to be found.... unless we have something to salvage from another detector. So if you need a repair on something older, it is best to give us a call and talk with one of the techs to get a feel if its repairable or not. Also we can sell you some small parts that are otherwise hard to obtain through your dealer.... not all are listed on our website so don't be afraid to ask if something you need is not listed.... 🙂 In the event you need to set up a repair it's easy - just go to https://www.detectorrepair.com and follow the links to set up the repair... or give us a call at 814-283-4270 to discuss your options. Thanks for your time everyone, and to Steve for letting me post this here.
  3. Just a reminder. Minelab USA offers a 15% discount on any Minelab metal detector from the MAP (minimum advertised price) to U.S. active or honorably discharged members of the military. Proof of past or active service is required and must be verified by providing a copy of a DD 214 or Military ID to qualify. The discount applies only to a metal detector purchase - parts and accessories do not qualify. This discount is not available in conjunction with other special promotions or individual dealer concessions. With discount the $899 Equinox 800 is only $764.15. The Minelab GPZ 7000, normally $7999, ends up being $6799.15, a savings of $1199.85
  4. Can anyone confirm whether or not the warranty is transferable, thanks.
  5. I bought a used atx off ebay. I was disappointed to say the least by its performance. The seller agreed to pay for repairs to make it right. I shipped the atx to Garrett for repair, and explained that the coil seems overly knock sensitive even on stable ground. They replaced some battery trays and o rings and sent it back. The ebay seller reimbursed me for the repairs, and he was off the hook. I convinced myself the atx worked better than before, but I was still not confident in it. I had to assume this is just how the Atx performs. Against all advice and even my own gut feeling, I ordered a new 8" mono coil for it. Everything I've read about the 8" coil was mostly negative, and suggested it was noisier than the DD coil I already have. To my surprise, that new 8" mono coil runs so much smoother than the DD coil. It is a pleasure to use, and gave me confidence in the ATX. This however made me think I was right about my DD coil being faulty, and my window for having the ebay seller pay for that was long gone. I emailed Rusty at Garrett with my concerns and disappointment, that I felt they did not properly diagnose my atx when I sent it to them. Rusty replied with an email, that truly showed he understood my concern, and he actually cared about this situation. After a long conversation on the phone with Rusty, he too was curious why the 8" mono ran so much smoother than the coil I sent to them to check. He flat out said, he's sending me a new DD coil. I thanked him and reassured him that if there wasn't a SIGNIFICANT difference in performance, I would ship it back to him at my expense. The first part of the video is the original DD coil in question. I start out in stock sensitivity of 10, then bump it to max 13. I show the frequency scan and ground balance for that one to show its done, but to keep the video short, I skipped showing that part on the 2 new coils. It was however done on all 3 coils. All video was shot in the same spot at the same time. 1st coil is original DD coil. 2nd coil is new 8" mono. 3rd coil is new DD that Garrett sent. I can't help to believe, the original coil is faulty, after doing this test.
  6. Well, judging from their wording on their results for H1, I don't think those hanging out for a new GPZ have much to look forward to, nor those thinking that Minelab has something up their sleeve to target the Algoforce. You can read the full report here. "RoW revenues continue to remain remarkably resilient, despite a challenging macroeconomic environment. Newly released products of Manticore, Equinox 700|900 and X-Terra Pro have contributed to the growth in first half FY24 revenues. However, as the first anniversary release date of these products passes, revenues are expected to normalise during the second half."
  7. Hey Gang, I got some news that will make Doc's Detecting even more responsive to my customers than ever before. We have always prided ourselves on Great Customer Service and fast shipping. We have recently made some major purchases and plans for the future. To be clear I have never used any illegal drugs in my life, never even smoked. That's not that kind of high I'm talking about. But the ol' Doc ain't as young as he used to be. Carrying boxes up on the top of 12 foot high warehouse shelving, by having a 50 lb box on one shoulder and one hand on a shaky ladder is getting a bit too scary. So started looking at Fork Lifts, but I would have to widen my aisles and we really don't put things on pallets. We stack the boxes full of SWINGY THINGYS, SAGA Swing Arms etc on upper shelves, and as we need them we bring down a box, open it, put it in a large clear plastic bin that we pick from to fill orders. So in talking to the FORKLIFT company the salesman says, you don't need a Fork Lift, you need an ORDER PICKER. I said, "I am the ORDER PICKER!" He said no, let me send you a picture. So I went to California Wednesday and picked up my new ORDER PICKER. It's only 29 inches wide. The tray in front will carry over 200 lbs, so it will easily take 4 or 5 boxes of merchandise up with me to put on shelves or retrieve a couple off of a high shelf safely. The bottom below the tray will carry 360 lbs, so you can move a quantity of merchandise around the warehouse to where you want to store it. This would have been the bomb when I was putting up Christmas tree lights on the house this past Christmas Season. More BIG NEWS Below the Pictures. At the end of 2024 we will be moving to a NEW WAREHOUSE that I purchased that is being built as we speak. This Warehouse Complex, is really cool. There are 29 units and you actually purchase your unit. It's a gated complex. It's like a Home Owners Association. There is a really great Club House with roof top party area with bar-b-q grills and the like. Inside there are meeting rooms and areas that can be used for like a mini show. The Complex is called "The Stack." It is located 3 miles from my home in the hottest new area of Henderson. It is 1/2 mile from the Henderson airport and The Raiders Practice stadium and the two large Amazon Warehouses. I must be crazy to think I can keep doing this stuff forever, but I love it, and I see no end in sight. You guys have helped Doc's Detecting Supply grow at an amazing rate and I am eternally grateful. I thank you for your support and I will continue to try to bring you some of the best innovative accessories in the Detecting Prospecting Industry. Doc
  8. Just a reminder. Minelab offers a 15% discount on any Minelab metal detector from the MAP (minimum advertised price) to U.S. active or honorably discharged members of the military. Proof of past or active service is required and must be verified by providing a copy of a DD 214 or Military ID to qualify. The discount applies only to a metal detector purchase - parts and accessories do not qualify. With discount the $799 Gold Monster 1000 is only $679.15. The Minelab GPZ 7000, normally $7999, ends up being $6799.15, a savings of $1199.85
  9. It almost seems like I'm the only one with issues with these companies. And that's not a bad thing. I'm actually glad to hear most people have good experiences with them. If @steve herschbach would like to remove this post, I am fine with that. My issues will work themselves out, and honestly I don't want to hurt any company that does a good job for the majority of their customers. My issues may be big misunderstandings, along with lack of communication. And I feel wrong for starting this thread.
  10. Just watched a Minelab Australia video saying across the board price increase of approximately %25 for all metal detectors. Manticore is listed in Aussie dollars, same as Canuck dollars as $2199. New price January 1st. $2699...
  11. Now that White’s has closed the factory in Sweet Home, these are the officially designated places to have warranty work and service done. Garrett has purchased White's, and will continue to support the product, with manuals here. Centreville Electronics (East Coast) 9437 Main Street Manassas, VA 20110 (888) 645-0202 (703) 367-7999 Fax: (703) 367-0868 bobnpaul@centrevilleelectronics.net www.centrevilleelectronics.net Centreville Electronics Northwest (West Coast) 1550 Maple Pl. Lebanon Oregon 97355 (541)409-7263 www.centrevilleelectronicsnw.com centrevilleelectronicsnw@gmail.com Canada Ed Sebulski 21920 44A Avenue Langley, British Columbia, Canada V3A 9J3 604-532-8153 Use this Service Center for Older Water Detectors Specializing in repairing legacy White’s water detectors. Please call for other repairs. Warren’s Repair Center Freeport, Florida (850) 835-3344 warren32439@gmail.com Europe At last report the White’s facility in Scotland closed in November and is no longer accepting items for service: White’s Electronics (UK) Ltd 35J Harbour Road Inverness Scotland IV1 1UA Email: info@whites.co.uk UK Customers: 01463 223 456 International Customers: +44 1463 223 456
  12. Diggin' with Jase Giveaway | Garrett Metal Detectors A DAY IN THE FIELD METAL DETECTING WITH JASE ROBERTSON! You’ve seen Jase, his brother Jep, and their buddy Murry Crowe on the hit Fox Nation series Duck Family Treasure. Now, Garrett and Jase are offering you the chance to join them for your own treasure hunting adventure! WHAT DO I WIN? A day of metal detecting with Jase Robertson and a small group on an historic site where artifacts dating to the 1800s could be found. Each winner is allowed to bring one (1) detecting companion. A Garrett travel allowance of $2,500 to cover winner and companion’s travel and lodging to Monroe, Louisiana. A $1,000 merchandise credit on Garrett Direct for each winner to order any desired detector, Pro-Pointer, or Garrett accessories for the hunt (can be shared by winner and companion hunter). See Diggin’ with Jase Robertson Giveaway Terms & Conditions document on this page for full details. WHEN WILL THIS TAKE PLACE? One winner will be drawn on or about January 31, 2024, and another winner will be drawn on or about February 20, 2024. Garrett will then coordinate with winners and Jase Robertson on a metal detecting date that will take place soon after the end of the contest period (late February to early March 2024 time frame). HOW DO I ENTER? Visit Garrett Direct and make a purchase anytime between January 8 and February 19, 2024 OR To enter without making a purchase, complete the Entry Form on this page. (see below) WHO CAN PARTICIPATE? Giveaway is open only to individuals who are: (a) legal residents of the United States, (b) physically located in one (1) of the fifty (50) United States or the District of Columbia, and (c) at least the age of majority, as defined in the Entrant’s state of residence, or older at the time of entry. (See below for complete Terms & Conditions of the Diggin’ with Jase Robertson Giveaway)
  13. made a mistake with my order I knew he was on it and wanted to correct my mistake he got in touch and sending me the right one and the other letting me send back my mistake no extreme fees a spot on guy and you won’t go wrong with him he cares enought and cares respect over buisness a real trooper thanks for making my mistake pay off and deal with it like a trooper not many left like that these days Thanks Rob for stepping up to the plate and shine thanks
  14. As most of you are aware, Minelab Repair/Customer Care facilities changed locations and people. I want to share my 1st experience of 2024 with you. I called their Telephone: 1-877-SOS-MLAB (1-877-767-6522) expecting to have to leave a message as from many times past experience. In fact - I always thought it was quite silly they would use the "SOS" catch phrase in their #, when in fact getting someone on the phone was a given "NOT GOING TO HAPPEN"... Well I'm thinking...with the new facility and New Year, maybe a new outcome???? Yes, that's exactly what happened when I called and Scott Miller answered. No I did not have a SOS situation, but I know from years past, many a customers who received a new detector to only turn it on and NOTHING. Now that would desire an SOS most certainly. My concern was wanting to check the history of a higher end detector. I provided the serial # and ask when it was originally sold, where, if any repairs..what were they and when. When I take in a trade of someone's detector, I want to know as much details as possible. Scott did a great job of looking up and providing me the info I desired. Hopefully he and his partner Jason Kucer are always able to help make the Customer Care/Repair service as smooth as possible. At least this time, things went quite well and I am pleased. I can't promise they won't be able to pick up the phone every time, but at least the 1st time I tried in 2024 (Jan. 2nd) it worked.
  15. A Nokta/Makro P.I. machine... Now That could be a home run... The Gold Kruzer is playing out as I had hoped...But I am finding that I am very much desiring the other half of the equation, So a P.I. is now at the top of my list..
  16. I'm trying to keep up with a little business while soaking in some tropical waters....and drinks 🍸 during my Annual across the border vacation. I was just officially informed that the United States is also going to have a price increase at the beginning of the year. Hopefully it's not a big one but those who are thinking of getting a new detector might as well act now. Plus, there's some Christmas Promos. Hard to tell how much of a bite it will be. Interestingly, this find during the trip made me laugh so hard, some folks wondered what I dug that had me crying. I thought the metal in these was gold or platinum. Anyone on here in that field of work?
  17. I wonder if I’m reading this right. A huge price increase is coming from Minelab, like nothing ever seen before in the metal detector industry. Basically a 10-20% boost across the board on prices in Australia. No word yet on U.S. prices. The GPX 6000 will go up a solid $1000 Australian dollars and the GPZ 7000 will be over $10,000 again, as in $10,499. From https://www.detectorprospector.com/topic/24431-minelab-price-increases-january-1-2024/ There is also a special note in the Gold Monster “includes 5” coil only”. Does this mean the Gold Monster will no longer come with 10” and 5” coil, but come with the 5” coil only? While raising the price $200? And forcing people to lay out another $200 if they want the 10” coil. When I had the Gold Monster I never used the 5” coil at all. Seems like right out of the First Texas playbook with the Gold Bug Pro - sell it with the less desirable small coil to make people buy the coil that should be standard with the machine. It’s all pretty amazing. I was in business for my entire career in retail and even back in the 1970s when inflation was way worse than it has been these days, I’ve never seen anything remotely like this kind of price increase. It’s high enough I have to wonder if it will backfire. Obviously Minelab wants to make more money. But there is a point where a price increase reduces sales so much that a company ends up making less money, not more. This would seem to be pushing that limit and the results in future Codan reports will be interesting to see. No word yet on U.S. prices. Maybe it’s only the Aussies that need to get out the Vaseline. But if this is for real, I’d expect anyone who thinks they might want a Minelab detector to buy before the end of the year. And for dealer sales to plummet next year. The only good news is there is time to act before the price increase, and that sellers of used machines will see a good boost in value next year.
  18. This is a personal and U.S. centric perspective. When I started detecting over 50 years ago these were the main companies (alphabetical order): Compass Fisher Garrett Tesoro White’s Compass eventually went under, and was replaced by a newbie from Australia… Fisher Garrett Minelab Tesoro White’s Then much later Tesoro faded away and was replaced by another newcomer…. Fisher Garrett Minelab White’s XP And finally just a couple years ago, White’s shut their doors, with another newcomer becoming a major player…. Fisher Garrett Minelab Nokta XP Now again, this is just my personal opinion, and probably premature. The fact however is that First Texas (Fisher, Bounty Hunter, Teknetics) has been dying for ten years. Basically rehashing old product, with new attempts failing before they make it out of the starting gate. Given their marketing efforts, or l should say lack thereof, they are increasingly invisible and irrelevant. This was hammered home to me by the last three marketing questionnaires I got from XP and Minelab. They asked about the competition, Garrett, Nokta, each other, and even Quest. But no mention of First Texas brands. Clearly Minelab and XP no longer consider them to be competition. And unless Fisher pulls a rabbit out of their hat, and soon, I agree. But as far as I know all they have cooking is a PI and that’s not going to save the day. They need a top tier multi to get back in the game. Frankly, I think they are dead man walking - just my opinion. That being the case I really think we only have four serious competitors right now. Quest might be able to enter the ranks, but not yet. They have some good product, but no real visibility in this market. So for whatever it is worth, I think we are down from a Big 5 to a Big 4 at the moment. Either Quest or First Texas could reclaim the fifth position if either can advance their game beyond where they are at this time. Detector Company Movers and Shakers 2023 - the Big 4 Garrett Minelab Nokta XP
  19. Well, it appears the rumours of price increases for Minelab products are true. This from Lost Treasures in Australia, a dealer I trust and have bought from before. "Just to let everyone know that Minelab will have a price increase for all of their detectors and pin pointers coming in to effect on the 1/1/24. So there is no better time than the present to grab a machine before everything goes up next year." These are obviously Australian dollars. I'm not quite sure why there are two GPZ's on the list but I assume one comes with the 19" coil. It's impossible to put up the price of the Pro-Find 35 😛 I see this list and realize how much money I've burnt when I add up all my detectors 🤣
  20. As walking into a store and buying a detector is replaced by ordering one online factory direct sales are all but inevitable. Got this in my email yesterday. BUY NOW
  21. This is the biggie each year as Minelab tells investors why they should buy the stock or not sell it in the coming year. Main issue for Minelab subsidiary - collapsing African gold rush. But offset by good sales of new coin detectors. And nothing to really hint at any new models in 2024, just expanded marketing efforts. Though this is just a PowerPoint presentation from the actual meeting. Maybe more can be gleaned from an actual transcript if one is released. Last tidbit - Minelab gets a new General Manager, Ben Harvey. Will he stay the course, or maybe bring some changes in the way Minelab does business? https://codan.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Codan-Limited-AGM-2023-Investor-Presentation.pdf
  22. We don't know where to start to describe our feelings...this past week has been incredible and unforgettable! We hosted our distributors from all around the world at our new factory. They met the whole Nokta team, learned about our past, present and our vision for the future. They toured the factory and a part of Istanbul... we had presentations, meetings and discussions... we shared ideas on our new products and metal detecting...we ate (maybe a bit too much:-), we laughed, we danced under the fascinating lights of the Bosphorus and most importantly we all felt like a BIG FAMILY! We thank each and every one of our distributors and would like to express our sincere gratitude for their support and for being part of the best distributor conference held in this industry so far.
  23. Well, the 2023 Full year investor report fell flat for those hoping for news of a new GPZ in the 2024 period. I'm confident it's not happening as I have been for some time now; they appear to have no new detectors coming out in 2024 after the rush of new products to try build the growth in the Treasure side of detectors with less focus on gold. They now consider the current sales situation in Africa the new normal and are moving away from relying on the African market for metal detector sales, a far cry from a couple of years ago when every gold detectors box had African prospectors on it, along with their website and designing models with ease of use to target the African prospectors who don't care about learning a complex detector, they just want to find the easy gold as quickly as they can while it's still there with detectors designed for their needs such as the Gold Monster and GPX 6000. 2024 will be all about building sales of the existing new VLF detectors and getting into new markets like India, along with direct selling to the customers to increase revenue. I'm not overly fussed about no new GPZ coming in the near future, I highly doubt I'd be interested in it, time will tell of course but extremely unlikely I will buy one, especially not for ergonomics reasons, as Minelab's slogan says performance is everything and that's all I care about, and that's going to be the hardest thing for them to improve significantly over my GPZ + X-coils and my 6000, especially as I'm in milder soils and can run my GPZ in normal unleashing its full potential. You can read the report here Codan Limited - ASX Announcement - FY23 Full Year Investor Presentation And you can read the 23 FY results here, although nothing exciting in it, a lot of glamourising. Codan Limited - ASX Announcement - 2023 Full Year Results In summary, detector sales slowing, now relying on communications a lot more and they have significantly over taken metal detectors as their biggest source of income. They're doing quite well selling countermine detectors into countries such as Ukraine but even that's not enough to prop up the lagging detector sales. Note the bottom line, decrease in African Gold Detector (higher margin) revenues. I think we all know they significantly over charge for gold detectors.
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