What About Time Ranger Pro?

[George1971]

Hello Steve, I would like to share your experience with Time Ranger Pro. What is your general opinion about the detector and what are the pros and cons. Would you recommended for beach (wet and dry sand) metal detecting? Thanks.

[Steve Herschbach]

The Time Ranger Pro is the Bounty Hunter version of the F19 Fisher, which in turn is just a Fisher Gold Bug Pro with extra features. I’ve written extensively about these machines in the past. As far as I am concerned the Fisher Gold Bug, Gold Bug Pro, F19, Teknetics G2 and G2+, and Time Ranger Pro are all the same 19 kHz detector with same performance. There are some who think the F19/G2+/TRP improved on the silver performance, but if so it is splitting hairs. All that really differs is the stock rods and coils and various control features. But grab any of them and you are going to get the same depth, separation, etc. Any thing written about any of these detectors regarding depth and performance applies across the board. The only thing to pay attention to is feature differences between the models.

As 19 kHz detectors these are very strong on low to medium conductors, and “ok” on silver targets. The 19 kHz series are among the best detectors I have ever used for EMI resistance. Excellent all metal operation. Excellent separation in trash, right up there with the best with a small coil. They are very light, simple control sets, and huge coil selections.

Weaknesses would be salt water operation. Does the machine tune out the salt and run stable? For sure. Does it get great depth in saltwater? No, it’s a single frequency detector. Get a multifrequency or PI for serious beach detecting. Also, for silver coins it does well but not top tier due to the 19 kHz frequency.

Bottom line the First Texas 19 kHz series are very solid and stable detectors for those most interested in medium to low conductors (relics, gold, jewelry) but still very suitable for coin detecting, especially in trashy areas, where depth is not as important as separation. Works as well on a saltwater beach as can be expected of a single frequency detector, but there are better options for the same money if that’s the primary use.

Prior threads discussing the FT 19 kHz series

Bounty Hunter Time Ranger Pro with optional NEL coil

[Steve Herschbach]

Fisher Gold Bug - No manual ground balance - ground grab only

Fisher Gold Bug Pro - Adds manual ground balance to Gold Bug feature set

Teknetics G2 - Gold Bug Pro with a different rod and coil configuration

Fisher F19 added the following features:

• Pinpoint in both disc and all metal modes
• Main volume control
• Ferrous volume control
• Notch accept or reject
• Notch width control
• LCD backlight

Teknetics G2+ is a F19 with different rod and coil configuration

Bounty Hunter Time Ranger Pro is a F19 with different labels (and possibly coil)

[GB_Amateur]

Nice table, and it emphasizes why the Gold Bug DP is a bad deal (relative to its twin sisters).  Even the two headphone jack feature isn't a given, AFAIK.  The F19 is $50 more than the TRP but you get a different coil.  Better coil?  Wrong question since coil is a function of your intended usage.  I really like the 5"x10" as an all-arounder and a native gold coil.  But many prefer the 7"x11", particularly relic hunters, I think. 

The 21st Century Gold Bug development and marketing history is an interesting story.  (You can find an article by engineer Jorge Saad here in their 2013 World Treasure News.)  They considered not including a discriminator circuit/capability at all since it was being marketed to detectorists looking for native gold and they didn't want to poison the well in that camp.  Eventually they relented, but kept it two tone, threshold adjustable discrimination only (i.e. no notching).  The original (straight Gold Bug and the Pro) came with 5" round DD coil (only).  The 'DP' model was released later when it was realized (or maybe they knew it all along...) that even with just 2 tones it was a decent relic hunting detector.  First Texas's widely sold 7"x11" coil was more appropriate for that application so it was the packaged stock coil, not the 5".  The only other coil First Texas ever made for this series is the 5"x10" DD.  I don't know if that came out as an optional addition from the start.  When I bought my GB Pro in August 2015 they had a two coil option package version (5" and 5"x10") and I sprung for that.

 

[George1971]

Thanks, great post!

[Steve Herschbach]

If you can handle a little pink, you can get an even better deal right now on the Teknetics G2+ in pink camo. Same performance, different package, and a solid $100 less than the TRP while supplies last. I thought $399 was good and so $299 is great. Frankly, given the competition on the low end these days, I think the $299 - $399 is the right place for the F19 variants, and that the Gold Bug models should be even less based on features/performance. But just goes to show in retail the power of a name - people will literally pay more for a name.

[Steve Herschbach]

 

[Rick K - First Member]

The corner text is wrong - probably a cut-and-paste from text for the packaging of one of their other dozens of detectors.

I have one here at the house, here’s a photo of the side panel with more complete specs.

 

[Steve Herschbach]

Yeah, my box is the same way. I see stuff like that a lot in this industry. Half the White’s MX Sport ads on the internet show the display for a prototype that is different than the actual model, but nobody ever seems to care or notice.