Hoping For A Nokta / Makro Pulse Induction Detector

[GB_Amateur 1,985]

Just another thought to "kill two birds with one stone":  For the counterbalance to accomodate heavier coils, have a way to attach spare battery packs.  This allows you to carry the battery spares on your person (pocket, backpack, etc.) when not needed for counterbalancing but easily used as counterweight when a heavy coil is mounted.

 

[Joe D. 137]

The cost to make a light waterproof case is negligible at this point! May as well just make it submersible to ten feet like the Simplex, Equinox, or AT series! It should also break down or collapse small enough to fit into a backpack! You all covered the battery options well enough!     ( both would be nice)! 

    Here's my argument on waterproofness: Say you hike in somewhere you are unfamiliar with to do dry detecting, but end up near a stream or wash and see some promising wet locations! You only have the one detector; dry only except for coil! Do you risk a dunk with this machine if you slip, or have the piece of mind of a waterproof unit! Seems like an easy choice to me!

Now obviously salt water is a different animal, and requires different software that may not be compatable in a PI detector! I'm only talking inshore locations! But it would be nice to have the "get wet" ability!

[Tahoegold 3]

4 minutes ago, Joe D. said:

The cost to make a light waterproof case is negligible at this point! May as well just make it submersible to ten feet like the Simplex, Equinox, or AT series! It should also break down or collapse small enough to fit into a backpack! You all covered the battery options well enough!( both would be nice)! 

    Here's my argument on waterproofness: Say you hike in somewhere you are unfamiliar with to do dry detecting, but end up near a stream or wash and see some promising wet locations! You only have the one detector; dry only except for coil! Do you risk a dunk with this machine if you slip, or have the piece of mind of a waterproof unit! Seems like an easy choice to me!

Now obviously salt water is a different animal, and requires different software that my not be compatable in a PI detector! I'm only talking inshore locations! But it would be nice to have the "get wet" ability!

This was exactly what I was thinking. The waterproof simplex is 2.9 lbs. Wading across a river or walking along smooth bedrock with water is a concern. However, Like others have said, if weight/cost makes this too heavy/costly, I'd rather have water resistant and a rain cover. If I need to I can put the unit in a plastic bag to keep it dry in my pack while crossing rivers. However, It would be nice if it was made so that if I just dropped it in shallow water, and grabbed it real quick it would still be ok. I don't see myself buying a $2000 detector. I don't detect enough to spend like that. I just need to battle high mineralization and locate heavy metals in bedrock. However, a unit that can find small gold (around a grain) by using a small coil to get into the crevices would be what I would need. And has good depth with a larger coil. Something that has different tones for iron and lead/gold would be ideal. It would need to be better than the Gold Racer in mineralized soils is my point. And, good enough so that I would not be tempted to spend more money on some other detector to get a complement to my Gold Racer VLF. I'm thinking if the unit is the same price as other brands and does a similar job, there would be a difficult decision to choose Notka/Makro. A light weight, low cost PI doesn't exist. And, if it does a good job, that would be a home run in my book. I think if anyone can do this its Notka/Makro. They dont have a PI unit and don't have to be concerned with customers having an expensive version and getting upset. Like others, Dry ground is my primary hunting ground. I don't need bells and whistles if it keeps cost down and weight down.

[phrunt 6,338]

Waterproof isn't vital, rainproof is.  A built in speaker with good volume is a must! The less I have to take with me the better. I will say it again support for Minelab GPX coils is vital.  There is absolutely no point starting all over again with coils when the GPX probably has the biggest range of coils ever made for any detector and now X-coils has also started to make and sell excellent GPX coils there is an even bigger range coming to market.

A lot of the people wanting a light weight PI maybe coming off a heavy GPX so will already have a collection of coils they'd like to use, having GPX coil support would attract these customers too.

If it's going to be a great seller, I believe support for GPX coils is a must.  Buying a whole new range of coils because a new PI detector comes out doesn't appeal to me at all.

[Steve Herschbach 22,545]

Waterproofing a VLF and waterproofing a high power PI are two different things. Just ask Fisher.

[Tahoegold 3]

5 minutes ago, phrunt said:

Waterproof isn't vital, rainproof is.  A built in speaker with good volume is a must! The less I have to take with me the better. I will say it again support for Minelab GPX coils is vital.  There is absolutely no point starting all over again with coils when the GPX probably has the biggest range of coils ever made for any detector and now X-coils has also started to make and sell excellent GPX coils there is an even bigger range coming to market.

A lot of the people wanting a light weight PI maybe coming off a heavy GPX so will already have a collection of coils they'd like to use, having GPX coil support would attract these customers too.

If it's going to be a great seller, I believe support for GPX coils is a must.  Buying a whole new range of coils because a new PI detector comes out doesn't appeal to me at all.

I agree with all of this. What if the detector can be sold without coils? Coils are sold without detectors. Same coil set, different detectors to use them?

   I don't own a PI unit and would need a coil with it. I'd buy a matched coil made by Notka/Makro if it is made for this unit. They seem to do a great job with coils.

[Tahoegold 3]

8 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Waterproofing a VLF and waterproofing a high power PI are two different things. Just ask Fisher.

I believe you Steve. I won't hold my breath just so I could have water proofing. I really dont have to have it if it increases cost/weight to make it too close to other detectors cost/weight. I'll throw a plastic bag around the unit if I have to if it keeps cost down. Bottom line is weight/cost.

[phrunt 6,338]

A lot of people buy a GPX and never use the coils that come with it, straight away buying a aftermarket coils.  I've used my stock GPX coils once 😄.  I bought my QED without any coils as I already had a range, it's not a bad idea to have an option with no coil to keep costs down.  I like the way QED is doing it where it can come with a coil but you get a choice of the coil you'd like with it out of their range of available coils or you can do no coil at all.   It'd just need the detector and coils in separate boxes to make this possible from a dealers point of view I guess.  They may end up getting stuck with a bunch of coils though as people opt for aftermarket coils.

[BeachHunter 539]

How about a PI coupled to a multi frequency design with discrimination?

[Joe D. 137]

Hey Steve,

Is the heat the PI produces the main issue with a waterproof case? If so, i understand what your saying! Like sealing the vents on a computer eventually burns it up! But haven't there been PI's made for beach hunting that were waterproof? Or do they depend on being underwater to cool the unit? And i guess where there's heat, there's a heat sink that adds weight, and takes up valuable space!