Tarsacci Metal Detector

[Chase Goldman]

16 hours ago, Denny said:

$1539 is what I paid.   Equinox is very good detector but I already have a ctx 3030.  

3030 and Equinox are just 2 completely different beasts so this statement  kind of throws me.  They perhaps compliment each other but there are a few things each does way better than the other.  The Equinox, with its superior recovery speed would probably also do extremely well in the environment you just described vs. the 3030 and would probably be able to easily hold its own with the Tarsacci in this situation from what I know about the Tarsacci based on discussions here.  
 

But admittedly, I have no first hand experience with it so I could be wrong.  Tarsacci looks to be a great machine with an innovative niche focus,  but perhaps hampered in value because the limited production requires a pretty steep price point in order to recoup the R&D investment.  

That being said, I am all about using diverse vlf detector designs because even though the fundamental induction balance principle is used across the board, the different ways manufacturers choose to process signals and the variation in processing capabilities (e.g., recovery speed)  and how the target information is filtered and conveyed audibly and visually to the detectorist.  So despite the Equinox and CTX multi frequency implementation being different, they are both ML so I can see the attraction to trying out a different manufacturer’s machine, especially when they are trying to do it a little differently than the others.  

Regardless of all that, great finds!  Congrats.  Sounds like you worked hard for them and you seem to have a good handle on the Tarsacci.

[Denny]

13 hours ago, kac said:

Does they facets refract any light (rainbow) or just flat reflections? Take a loupe to it. Diamonds don't refract light.

Isn't a hybrid VLf with phase shift? What exactly is that?

It is not a genuine diamond.

 I don’t know if it’s a VLF or pulse?  Maybe the designer engineer will chime  one day and tell us.

[Denny]

3 hours ago, Chase Goldman said:

3030 and Equinox are just 2 completely different beasts so this statement  kind of throws me.  They perhaps compliment each other but there are a few things each does way better than the other.  The Equinox, with its superior recovery speed would probably also do extremely well in the environment you just described vs. the 3030 and would probably be able to easily hold its own with the Tarsacci in this situation from what I know about the Tarsacci based on discussions here.  
 

But admittedly, I have no first hand experience with it so I could be wrong.  Tarsacci looks to be a great machine with an innovative niche focus,  but perhaps hampered in value because the limited production requires a pretty steep price point in order to recoup the R&D investment.  

That being said, I am all about using diverse vlf detector designs because even though the fundamental induction balance principle is used across the board, the different ways manufacturers choose to process signals and the variation in processing capabilities (e.g., recovery speed)  and how the target information is filtered and conveyed audibly and visually to the detectorist.  So despite the Equinox and CTX multi frequency implementation being different, they are both ML so I can see the attraction to trying out a different manufacturer’s machine.

Regardless of all that, great finds!  Congrats.  Sounds like you worked hard for them.

I bought the tarsacci to replace my Garrett ATX for beach and water finds.  It is detects deeper than the equinox  in salt water and heavy blacksand according to users I know who use the tarsacci.  I only use the ctx 3030 for deep Silver coins at parks.  I wasn’t trying to compare the equinox to the  ctx.   

The marketing of the tarsacci is not the way I would have gone. It seems to be word of mouth I don’t see any kind of advertisement I understand it is a company with limited funds and to keep costs down they decided to not advertise.  This will probably work for some companies that have a good reputation for good detectors but for a company starting up I think it is important to have a good marketing/advertising plan on all the metal detecting forums.     The release of the AQ I feel will slow sales even slower.       Not a VLF or pulse I hope we can hear the truth of what it is from the designer/ engineer.  

I really am enjoying the tarsacci it’s very similar to the T2 which I still use for demos and tot-lot gold.

[Chase Goldman]

3 hours ago, Denny said:

I wasn’t trying to compare the equinox to the  ctx.

Yep, I guess I misinterpreted what you were saying  because the way you phrased it, it sounded like you were implying the Equinox was redundant to the CTX.  Thanks for clarifying that.

A few avid salt beach hunters here have praised the Tarsacci for its depth in wet salt sand and surf.  Exceeding, Equinox on depth under similar conditions.

Not sure the difference would be as great for FW situations.

 

[Steve Herschbach]

23 hours ago, Denny said:

Not a VLF or pulse I hope we can hear the truth of what it is from the designer/ engineer.  

The Tarsacci is what people commonly call a VLF.

VLF just means Very Low Frequency and was once meant to apply to a certain class of induction balance detectors. There are only two basic types of detectors. Pulse Induction, and Induction Balance. Or another way of looking at it, Pulse Induction or “Not Pulse Induction”. People through common usage now call Induction Balance detectors VLF detectors.

Pulse Induction is easily identified by the current to the coil completely shutting off and back on in an alternating pattern. If that is not happening, it is not Pulse Induction. Induction Balance has a continuous current flow to the coil. Minelab recognizes that Induction Balance as a term has fallen by the wayside and now refers to “Not Pulse Induction” detectors as Continuous Wave detectors, a nod to the continuous current.

These two methods got confused when people started calling Pulse Induction “Time Domain” and Induction Balance “Frequency Domain” in a reference to how they normally process found targets. The problem is the terms are not mutually exclusive. You can apply Time Domain processing to Induction Balance detecting.

So called Hybrid detectors use Time Domain processing techniques in an Induction Balance or Continuous Wave detector. Minelab has done this for a long time in all their multifrequency detectors starting with BBS and on up to Multi-IQ. It’s not new nor is it magic. Various marketers and tech heads want us all to think so and so keep it all hidden behind confusing terminology and vague explanations. Do not be mislead. There is only Pulse Induction or Induction Balance/Continuous Wave as the basic technologies. The magic then is in signal processing, and that can be frequency domain, time domain, or a combination of the two. Standard VLF is frequency domain, standard pulse is time domain, hybrids use both.

Tarsacci is a Continuous Wave detector employing Time Domain processing. Multi-IQ is a Continuous Wave detector employing Time Domain processing, as are all FBS and BBS models. Minelab purposefully obscured this for a long time as it is their “secret sauce”.

To sum up, detectors are either Pulse Induction or Not Pulse Induction. Not Pulse Induction detectors are referred to as Induction Balance or Continuous Wave detectors. Continuous Wave detectors that use Frequency Domain processing are commonly called VLF detectors. Continuous Wave detectors can also additionally employ Time Domain processing and historically this has been obscured by the manufacturers. These detectors are now trending towards being called Hybrids.

I get the sense that Tarsacci have purposefully kept sales slow and quiet initially because the early buyers were actually late beta testers. Tom said as much on his forum. Keep it slow while the bugs are worked out rather than have a bunch to recall. They may also have limited production capability. Now that the design is being locked down they will probably ramp up the marketing. I will be surprised if they break out however. Five years ago while prices for everything were all still high they had a better shot, but we are entering a period of intense price and performance competition that will make it hard for Tarsacci to be anything but a niche detector with a small audience at the higher price it is being sold for given the rather basic user interface and complicated operation.

[Denny]

2 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

The Tarsacci is what people commonly call a VLF.

VLF just means Very Low Frequency and was once meant to apply to a certain class of induction balance detectors. There are only two basic types of detectors. Pulse Induction, and Induction Balance. Or another way of looking at it, Pulse Induction or “Not Pulse Induction”. People through common usage now call Induction Balance detectors VLF detectors.

Pulse Induction is easily identified by the current to the coil completely shutting off and back on in an alternating pattern. If that is not happening, it is not Pulse Induction. Induction Balance has a continuous current flow to the coil. Minelab recognizes that Induction Balance as a term has fallen by the wayside and now refers to “Not Pulse Induction” detectors as Continuous Wave detectors, a nod to the continuous current.

...snip

Thanks Steve for the info.

I hope they do well.    I really enjoy using the tarsacci and it’s not that complicated.    

 

[Steve Herschbach]

I wish them well also... competition is the name of the game. I really appreciate you joining the forum and posting about Tarsacci for that very reason. 

Tarsacci Specifications & Data

[Cal_Cobra]

On 11/21/2019 at 9:08 AM, Denny said:

It is not a genuine diamond.

 I don’t know if it’s a VLF or pulse?  Maybe the designer engineer will chime  one day and tell us.

It's neither, in the words of Tom D. "It is not quite a VLF..... and it's not quite a PI. "  He further stated "The new MD8000 Tarsacci is neither VLF or PI. It is a Multi Domain based platform."

The designer is Dimitar Gargov, he designed the Coinstrike, Goldstrike, ID Edge and Excel for Fisher before they were acquired by FTP.

The folks I know that have one aren't saying much on the forums for a reason, and it's not because it's a dud. 

[Chase Goldman]

6 hours ago, Cal_Cobra said:

The folks I know that have one aren't saying much on the forums for a reason, and it's not because it's a dud. 

Good point.

[dewcon4414]

Me and Cliff have showed some of our finds.   Those guys in Calf are keeping a real low profile lol.   Ok lucky to beach hunt so price isn’t as important to me as it might be to a dirt hunt.   It was a bit higher than an Xcal.... but to me by time I moded my Xcal and did repairs there ya go.  The Nox has put the price breaks on about any new detectors.... even used.   But I’ve sold my CTX and 2 Xcals.  My problem with the Xcal was repairs.  The last one I sold ... the coil was cracked .... pulled two almost news ones .... and both of them cracked.  I’ve went thru split coils, bad cables, knobs, PP switches, batteries.... well ya get the point.   This machine thou....I’m very impressed with the build quality.