Roughwater

I enjoy the scenery when I'm driving but I like to get there even more. I don't know if I'm still up to it but I used to drive 12- 16 hours or more then sleep 3 or so and back on the road. I would pick up something to eat when I get gas. I drove to Alaska and back in 05 and 06. Really enjoyed the trips. Canada is really beautiful, some amazing lakes and mountains up there. Saw, Bear, elk, deer, goats, Caribou, Moose, Buffalo, even wild horses. But I was just passing through. When You first cross the border into Alaska you think you are about there then you see the sign - 421 miles to Anchorage. So you got a wee bit more to go yet. I had a riding partner with me on those trips anyway, my part Chow Shadow. A great dog! I probably drove on a couple hundred miles of Gravel road on the way where they were doing roadwork. Had a notion to get out and run the detector over the gravel but again I was in a rush, so didn't. I don't know if a pulse machine would do you a lot of good. Now, if you have a place that you can hunt where there isn't a lot of trash and the targets are deep or the ground very mineralized then a pulse machine is definitely the ticket if you don't mind digging everything. A pulse detector will go very deep. Maybe we can get together sometime and you can run the 5000 and see what you think?

Gambler, It don't sound like you are living up to your name. Sounds like you may not gamble so much on your detector decisions. Not saying that's wrong for sure, seems pretty wise but definitely ungambler like. Maybe that should be your name ungambler! I'm kinda waiting also to see how the MX sport shakes out too. Best Regards

I hear ya Ridge Runner. A few years back I broke down and bought a newer used 4x4 Toyota FJ Cruiser. Price was a good bit more than I'm used to paying but wanted a good off road capable vehicle for hunting and when the roads get icy. I liked it but the wife hated it, hard to see behind, back seat not real comfortable and can't roll back widows down but what I didn't like most was we took a trip to Ohio and back and couldn't even get 20 mpg highway. I think more like 18. I felt like for the money I should be able to get at least 20 Mpg. So to please me and my wife I traded the FJ for a 2014 Subaru Forester. My wife loves it, it's all wheel drive all the time and on my latest 40 mile trip I got 35 MPG. The 4 Cylinder in it feels like a strong 6. The 4 WD is excellent. We have 30K on it and it's never been to a shop or dealer. I change the fluids etc and exceptionally easy to change the oil. The oil filter sets right on top of the engine. I have never had a vehicle that I didn't struggle to reach the filter till now. So far fluids and filters are all it's needed. I am starting to see why so many love their Subaru's. I had never owned one before and they were never on my radar. It happened to be rated the small SUV of the year (2014) so I started looking at reviews of it and finally took one for a test drive. After test driving it, I test drove a Honda CRV and the Toyota Rav4 but liked the Subaru the best. Now that it's broke in some it will be my mini camper as I know I can't afford a real one and don't want to go back to less than 20 mpg. It's likely what I'll be driving across the country in this summer and pretty much living out of most of the time. I seldom do a motel on my trips. Gotta keep the price down. I hope I don't carry to much junk with me so I can leave a space in the back to lay down. Anyway that's about as much luxury as I can afford. I rather ruff it a bit and be able to afford to take a trip if I want. So that's my camper.

Definitely not what we want to find but thank God for the person who found him/them. When someone goes missing there is generally someone, sometimes many folks out there praying they will be found. There was surely a prayer answered for someone when their remains were found.

Sounds like a thoughtful cautionary statement. Thanks bowwinkles.

That's for sure a possibility John. I wondered also if there could be underground wires nearby or a big hunk of steel right under the fresh sod his coil is sitting on. I would hope however that he had the common sense to try it in other locations without the camera etc. Personally I don't think it's the best ideal either to turn on a detector with the coil flat on the ground over unknown ground. We don't know if the user is experienced with detectors or not so it's hard to judge if this is operator error or a real issue with the machine? My main concern now with this company is that the new owner of this machine claims to have attempted to contact the company but received no help. A different topic at this forum earlier talked about the demise of the Mom and Pop local detector store which I think is a bad thing for sure for us users. Had he bought it at a place like that he could have taken it back to the seller who would at a minimum, could have checked it out and determined the cause of the issue and if operator error could help the owner. As it is now, often times the seller will not take back an item and the customer is left to fend for himself with a large company who may be in another country and not have the best customer service. With a new company like this we don't yet know much about them or their customer service and that would be a major concern of mine if purchasing from them. I like it that Whites and Nokta/Makro seem concerned with their customer service and are making it known and even taking the time to communicate with us in this Forum and I feel that level of interest in their customers is pretty awesome!

Thanks John and Solitude, Reviews of the machines I saw on line were mostly good but I did see one youtube review where the detector was just going crazy. The user was finally able to quiet it some but it obviously wasn't working right. He claimed to try to contact the manufacture but no luck. They denied there was an issue at all and my take on it overall was really poor customer service by the company. Even if the the issue here is operator error, in my opinion I think the company should at least have a look at it to confirm but that didn't seem to happen per the owner of his new Deteknix Quest detector. I'm not saying it is a bad or good detector or company but buyer take due diligence, Just saying it's out there. There are positive youtube reviews as well.

A good question for Mr Boykin might be to ask if they need to dissemble the detector to reprogram it? I would hope if they were thinking ahead when they designed it they can just plug into it somewhere without disassembly?

Just when I was finally starting to spell Nokta right somebody comes out with a another company to challenge my bad spelling (Deteknix). They have a website (http://www.deteknix.com/ ) showing 3 models of their new detectors including a 19khz gold machine and a waterproof (we hope) beach machine. The pics of them look very modern with wireless headphones etc. and very light (under 3lbs). They also make pinpointers too. It's said they are made in China but there is a company address out of California so not sure on that. Do your own due diligence but they do look nice. Attached is some more info below mainly about the Quest diver model and a bit more about the company: https://www.deeperblue.com/deteknix-inc-launches-new-line-underwater-metal-detectors/ They are being sold on ebay already at 600 dollars: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Deteknix-Quest-Pro-Metal-Detector-with-Waterproof-9-x11-DD-Search-Coil-1601-101-/272136202677?hash=item3f5c94e9b5:g:jpQAAOSwoBtW2FQl Terry

John, I don't know if the extra money is worth it or not for the 5000 over the 4500 but I got my 1 year old 5000 used from a reliable dealer for only 2700 cash with 2 coils. So you may be closer to getting a 5000 than you think if you look around. Though the ATX for you might be better in some ways as they are water proof and handy but I think most agree the 5000 is probably better overall and upteen coils available for it. For me, I feel like I'm on the right track in seriously looking at the Racer 2 considering all the respect I see coming from folks much more experienced at this than myself. The Racer 2 also is not terribly expensive compared to some. But the impact also has my interest and I wouldn't mind also seeing how the MX sport shakes out in the end. Terry

I don't personally know anything about this one but appears it may be a Pulse induction probe and some use it snorkeling. Pretty good reviews on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Treasure-Products-Vibra-Quatic-2-Pinpointer/dp/B00281SWG8/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_sims?ie=UTF8

I went to Myrtle beach years ago starting on new years day for a couple days and you could get the best of rooms for cheap. Terry

It appears they still make the G2+ in camo and even in Pink camo. Ya wouldn't loose a pink one for sure and who would steal it?

Steve, It's a very powerful statement you make when you say: if you could have only 2 detectors it would be the GPZ/CTX. Someone else I respect a lot suggested the CTX as his first choice beach machine. I hesitate to go that route due to the cost of the CTX but I do see that it could take the place of at least a couple detectors. I know some seem to use it for prospecting with some success. What do you think of it for that purpose? Thanks in advance, Terry

Argyle, I've been away from detecting for about 10 years so I have a lot of catching up on different models but I'm getting there. I'm not familiar with the "Goldfinder". Is that the G-2? I was just looking back at your post as I have seen advertisements for the G2 but lots of folks say it's a fisher this or that so I never really followed up on it. I also see they make an upgraded model the G2 plus. I would appreciate your thoughts on the goldfinder. Thanks

John, I was a little confused too. Guess it depends on what you want to do with your machine. If for Relic and beach hunting looks like the relic would be great. If for gold, the Relic doesn't have the the ISAT feature so may not like hot ground. Based on 2 different posts by Nokta it definitely looks like the Impact will be released this year and will have 3 Frequencies, 4, 14 and 21Khz and that it won't be waterproof. But we don't know what it's intended use will be for? Hopefully it can be used for coin, beach and prospecting but unless we get more leaks we won't know till it's out. Like Steve said though it's not Dec 31'st yet so still could be a while. I need a detector by June so may hold off a bit and see. Terry

TDI with home made coil attached.

Wow, That works too. Thank you so much Nokta/Makro! Terry

Pic of same coil nearly completed. As you can see, not a lot to a mono coil but still takes a number of hours to build one by hand.

You could use a multimeter that reads inductance and read across the pins on the connector of a good coil and compare it to the same pins of the connector of the coil you want to use. Check the resistance as well. It's been a few years but I made a few coils for a Whites TDI detector. They were mono coils and actually worked pretty well. Part of the design requires that you make enough wraps to give you a specific Inductance. It think it's around .300 mh but doesn't have be exactly .300. Unless you have some electronics background it may not be something you want to do. You can get a usable meter for between 30 to 50 dollars. Probably much cheaper and simpler to just buy the coil weight or go with sand in the sock. The attached pic is a partially built coil i made. Not a lot to one, at least not to a mono coil. After getting the coil to the point that you see in the picture, put a thin plastic wrap around it and another wrap of fine mesh for shielding, a little soldering, stick it in a coil frame and your done for the most part. to to

9", Good deal, hard to ask for more than than from any VLF. Kinda of a bonus too with it being waterproof. Have you used it at a beach yet?

I second that. I would like a 20khz in there somewhere though. If we are dreaming why not go whole hog and give us a 1, 5, 15, 20 and 60. Multi or single frequency. Waterproof of course!

Californiagold, If I lived somewhat less than 2000 miles from you (assuming you live in California) I would definitely take you up on that offer! Appreciate you offering to post your findings. I'll be looking for them soon. Best Regards, Terry

Steve, That's what I'm thinking to do also and your opinion reinforces that thought. I like the 19khz freq of the Fors Relic but feel like I need the Isat option which as you say is lacking in the Relic. I also like the screen menu set-up in front of me of the Racer rather than on the side like the Fors. I may hold off a bit longer to decide and see what else might appear that could sway me but the Racer 2 is looking pretty good for the money and it's all around performance. If the Fors Relic had the ISat feature or the Fors gold had the Beach Mode I would probably choose one of them instead. Californiagold, Totally agree and hope they keep new detectors coming also.

Steve and Californiagold, Thanks for the info on the Fors Relic. In my search for the most Ideal Vlf all around machine under a 1000 $ to supplement my GPX 5000, I thought maybe the Fors Relic could be it working at 19khz and I needed it's beach mode. However, the lack of the ISAT feature looks as if it could pose a problem in hot ground. So now thinking maybe the Racer 2 would be a better choice at this time? The lower freq wouldn't be the ideal for Gold but it has the isat and beach mode, and features to keep me from having to dig all the iron trash. I guess maybe I'm looking for the same machine as Big Jim. Maybe a lot of us are. The Racer 2 Gold or Racer 2++ or whatever. It would be a 19 khz machine with all the bells and whistles of the Racer 2 and since I'm dreaming, also be waterproof! Maybe the rumored Impact would fill that need or most of it if it has several frequencies to choose from?