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Nokta Impact Versus Minelab Gold Monster In Australia


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I have been checking out the dealers about the impact and I think the Impact suffers from the same issue with the 3 frequencies in the same way the Eureka Gold did/does in that it seemed to work better in one of the frequencies because many have said the Impact is quieter in the 20khz setting but it is noisy in the other frequencies, when because they are lower by rights they should be quieter,  So if that is the case then maybe the coils are optimized at 20khz,

3 frequency machines seem to behave the same except the V3i but they are too complex for my liking, where I would rather detect than mess with settings, either way I am not sold on the Impact, which is a shame because I was really taken by its features but the reality is it is not a step up from what I already own and mine has earned it's place in history and that is something that I am not prepared to risk loosing.

J. 

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The Impact is still a versatile detector just at home on the beach in wet sands looking for silver pieces of eight on Florida beaches and in the Australian goldfields.You cant say so about too many detectors. There is a use for any situation; .the 20 Khz is for gold nuggets.!4 for gold jewelry and silver and 5 for deep silver.Do doubt Nokta have designed this unit to bring in as much sales as possible.They will sell well in Europe and Russia which combined is a huge market.That is why it came out first.I have no doubt they will bring out the Impact Gold in 2018 which should  feature only 20 KZ and fewer modes and more appropriate default settings for finding hunting nuggets. They did this with the Fors series but I did not like the side positioned menu on the box.If not for the Impact I would have bought a Racer 2.But I prefer the Impact to others because it has the vital two tone option in all metal mode and this feature to me puts it ahead of all other VLF,s. They have included a menu at the back of the manual and at one glance explains everything.Without that I agree it would be a very daunting machine to operate to its full potential. If someone had not stolen my Whites 5000D with 16 inch coil I would not have bought the Impact although it was a 37 year old detector.But for what we wanted it for just mucking around in the bush it was ok.Also I see no point for you in buying the Impact as the Whites MXT will serve you well enough.

Mike.

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Well Mike as machines go the Impact is the best "new" all rounder on the market at present, The thing that has impressed me the most is when you look at the screen because all the info is there so there is no searching menus to find what you want and I really like that, and knowing that it handles the hot ground was a major concern, No VLF is ever going match a PI in hot ground but the Impact hangs in there just the same. another great feature is the large VDI numbers, No more squinting under shaded areas.

J.

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John,I was nearly ready to buy the Fors Gold+ and saw the Impact was being released soon.Before that I was looking at the 705 and Eureka.In the meantime I saw the screen on one of the Racers and it was so much better as you say, so I decided to go for the Impact.Also I rang Nenad and asked him which of the two I should buy and he recommended the Impact.All I really need is the two tone all metal mode and its stability in very high mineralisation to be able to use it in the GT. in Victoria.As I previously said VDI numbers are not reliable as some targets read out numbers in a range from 19 to 85. And the tones are really good on the Impact. For a AUD 1280 price tag on this machine it is a good all rounder for beach and goldfields for those looking for an inexpensive machine and to get their butts out of the lounge chair and lead a healthier lifestyle especially for retirees . Rob.

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Hi John, I will have to tweak that up a bit.

I have indeed posted a huge amount of information about the Impact over quite a few threads.

http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/tags/nokta impact/

I have not done a setting by setting in depth comprehensive type review and do not expect to. There is so much information already about it from so many sources it would seem redundant. The bottom line is the Impact is a very powerful detector that like many pushes the boundaries of what can be done at any given single frequency. The long thread by Tom Dankowski (referenced at threads in the link) is very instructive in detailing the the battle faced to get the Impact to equal the F75 for depth in milder ground. The takeaway once again is that there is this wall for max depth that many good VLF detectors reach and then that's it. The Impact also has Deus like response times making it one of the faster machines in dense trash.

The detector is nicely balanced and so does work better with large coils than machines with no weight underarm.

Just another great all around detector.

Was there something specific you were curious about?

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Thanks Steve,

well I was wondering how it stacks up to the VLF's of the past IE the F-75 and the MXT and the 705 and the Gold Bug Pro, because all four of these machines are still relevant even today, I guess I am wondering are there any new machines that inspire because so far I just don't get that wow factor from any of the machines from the last 5 years or so like I did when I bought my first Ol faithful,

Like you say we hit the wall way back but I was kind of hoping there was a glimmer on the horizon,

J.  

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I still have to find gold with the Impact on Australia,s Victorian goldfields. Went to a surfaced area near Maryborough where many years ago my mate found a 1 oz. nugget a a 30 oz nugget 6 feet apart in a few minutes. Detected there for nearly 2 days in GEN all metal mode and found nothing but some silver foil and hot rocks.I did not find any other metallic rubbish.Area very clean.As previously stated I am in two tones when in GEN mode and the rocks give nice quacking sound.

Got bored and started testing the Impact on a squashed drink can lying on the ground. In GEN mode it was giving a good signal at a puny 12 inches and petered out at 15. In DEEP mode I got 24 inches and petered out at 27 inches.Thats double, so why bother using GEN mode?

Again I buried a 1.5 inch diameter rolled up piece of foil 8 inches deep in the red clay in the surfaced area and GEN picked it up nicely with a shrieking very high pitched tone signifying it was non ferrous metal. However in DEEP mode I was getting a loud sharp signal 12 inches above the ground, but not the very high pitch sound as in GEN, So no contest between the two.The ground varied from 50% to 80% on the mineralisation meter but DEEP mode just kept on plodding on irrespective of the settings and made a mockery of GEN mode.

With the default setting of 40 in the tone break any hot rocks did not give a tone but a broken static sound in DEEP mode and was rejecting them.To look for gold nuggets I reduced the tone break to 15 so as to not get the same outcome , and if I want to hear all iron and hot rocks maybe even lower to 5.

The moral of the story is the goldfields have been picked clean of nuggets over the last 40 years and we need to be very lucky or know our machines capabilities perfectly and be very persistent in order to be able to one day find a nice gold nugget.Its ironic that 37 years ago you had a much better chance of finding large nuggets with a Whites 5000D than you have today with much better detectors.

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