Nokta FORS Gold Metal Detector

[Steve Herschbach]

Nokta Engineering is a company based in Turkey since 2001. It appears they are looking to cash in on the Africa gold rush with a new detector model called the FORS Gold.

I have to admit to being biased towards mainline name brand detectors. I want warranty service backed up in the US and widespread parts and accessory availability via a US based dealer network. I also prefer to own detectors that are well known and therefore easily sold when and if I decide to do so.

However, there are interesting things happening outside the US when it comes to metal detectors, particularly in Europe. Minelab is proof the US manufacturers get complacent and ignore market demands in other countries. Minelab addressed desires in Australia for better prospecting detectors and European manufacturers are pursuing detectors made to extract non-ferrous targets buried in piles of ferrous trash.

So I do keep an eye on what is going on elsewhere, just in case.

In all honesty the Nokta FORS Gold appears to me to be "Just Another Mid-Frequency Gold Detector". The market is awash in VLF detectors running at 12kHz to 20kHz set up to do it all while being good on gold. The Nokta FORS Gold hits the 15kHz sweet spot in a 4.3 lb multi-use package available through US importer Kellyco for $699. It comes stock with a 7" x 11" DD coil and has a couple coil options, a 5" round DD and 13" x 15" DD.

Not too much here out of the ordinary but I did find a couple things interesting. The unit has an LED flashlight built into the handle that illuminates the coil area. But what I really found intriguing is a built in handle vibrate mode much like we have in the Garrett and Minelab pinpointers. This could be a real aid for people with extreme hearing issues and in fact might allow a completely deaf individual to effectively metal detect with having to have eyes glued on meter. I like that.

10/16/2014 Update - I now have a Nokta FORS Gold. See my very detailed review at http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/352-detailed-review-of-the-nokta-fors-gold-nugget-detector/

More Information on the Nokta FORS Gold Metal Detector

[Steve Herschbach]

Do to demand on another forum Ray Mills and I each have a FORS Gold on the way for evaluation purposes. I have to admit I am looking forward to giving it a spin.

[azblackbird]

Do to demand on another forum Ray Mills and I each have a Fors Gold on the way for evaluation purposes. I have to admit I am looking forward to giving it a spin.

 

Unless Nokta has some vastly superior technology up their sleeves, I'm guessing the detector is more or less a knock-off (internally) of one of the entry level Gold Bugs... if even that. Funny how they're really pushing that detector on to the Africans, who as you well know are avid buyers of anything counterfeit or sub par.

 

I've seen some of the posts and videos regarding the Velox One and let's just say they quite don't add up. The best one is the guy and his buddy in AZ traipsing down a well traveled wash wearing tennis shoes and metallic boots, and then all of a sudden discovering a whopper 24 gram gold nugget lodged next to a boulder. I got a good laugh out of that one, especially with his tennis shoe shorn buddy carrying a steel garden trowel to dig with. Not only that, the guy really goes to town with his pick in digging that nugget and other trash up. No scraping off the overburden, no real dirt sorting, just hammering away with his pick as if he knew how deep the target was. Something just don't smell right. I'm calling BS.   

 

http://youtu.be/UCTzOx61CiY?list=UUN5MkSFq8jZY7X3ix3uvkJQ

[Steve Herschbach]

I am all for competition and as long as the machine performs adequately that is all that matters. The tech behind mid-frequency VLF is well sorted out so I do not expect miracles. However, the reality these days is the Europeans are the ones pushing VLF technology forward so I will not discount them out of hand. It may very well end up being the US manufacturers trying to knock off tech from overseas and not the other way around. They were all asleep at the wheel with Minelab and it could very well happen again.

[azblackbird]

However, the reality these days is the Europeans are the ones pushing VLF technology forward so I will not discount them out of hand. It may very well end up being the US manufacturers trying to knock off tech from overseas and not the other way around. They were all asleep at the wheel with Minelab and it could very well happen again.

 

You know what's funny? Pretty much all major detector manufacturers (whether overseas or domestic) have an extensive library of patents regarding their technologies. I only found 3 Turkish patents on Nokta Detectors, and those that I found were very vague to say the least. Most had to do with detector aesthetics and functionality, and nothing really to do with any actual underlying technological features. They have no patents in the US that I could find. Like I said… something smells fishy. 

 

But hey… who am I to quibble about the Turks jumping on the gold bandwagon. If they can make use of somebody else's technologies and package them up for their own gain, more power to them. That's what competition is all about… right? 

[Steve Herschbach]

You do not need new patents to build a better detector. You need better software and faster processors. Everybody is riding on someone else's back when it comes to detector patents. Look up George Payne.

[azblackbird]

You do not need new patents to build a better detector. You need better software and faster processors. Everybody is riding on someone else's back when it comes to detector patents. Look up George Payne.

 

Ya got a point there Steve. Looking forward to you and Rays review on this detector. 

[Ridge Runner]

Steve and  Azblackbird

  With all the talk on detectors that are VLF with the ID numbering system I had to pull my Eagle 2 out.

I'd tested this small rice size you could almost call a nugget. Now dig this. My Gold Bug Pro and the GMZ couldn't detect it. The Eagle 2 Has a prospect mode so I put it on that and it detected that nugget at 3/4 inch. Now how about that using a 6 inch coil on the Eagle.

 

Az the White's Eagle 2 came out in about 1991 but a short time before was the Eagle. This is the only time I know of that White's offered a chip for 125.00 to make your Eagle to a Eagle 2. Oh the nugget I was testing with came from White's I believe in 1972 when they came out with the Goldmaster 66 TR.

I'd got the 66 TR and in this plastic case I had three small gold nuggets I've given two away to friends so I'm down to one.

  Chuck Anders   

[Rick Watkins]

Ya know it's probobly the first detector company that has a decent price and will work for them in africa and has strategic locations around the gold belt should make a killing off pure volume and parts alone.

I dont think i would like to stay and run a store there though after looking at the overall conditions, and after watching posts from some of the guys that have been there.

[Steve Herschbach]

All the way from Turkey!