Geotech

Those are the pics I've seen.

Flex Multi Frequency. My guess is that it's like Equinox in that there are different frequency blends for different modes. The pod is obviously waterproof and even has what looks like an M8 or M12 connector, making me think that they have a hard-wired coil option for water hunting in addition to wireless coils.

Something similar has already been done. The White's VX3 had the exact same hardware as the V3i but the features (all software) were considerably stripped back. However, all those features are still in there and can be progressively enabled with the right passwords. I think there were 4 levels: the VX3, 2 levels in-between, and the V3i. The thinking was that when a customer got good with the VX3 he could then "buy up" to the next level for, say, $99. It would have had the benefit for White's that a new customer would be less likely to overbuy and get frustrated with the V3i, and for the customer that they could buy only as much as they wanted. The "upgrade" was never implemented, mgmt didn't like the idea. Please don't ask me how to do it; it required running the unit's serial number through a passcode generator that only White's had, and I'm certain that even that has been lost.

David is in poor health and is mostly retired, though he continues to dabble as he can. I do have some unsanctioned side projects but they go slowly.

Yes, I've been reading this thread. No, no one else at FTP has likely read it, or will. As usual the criticisms are largely deserved. Here are some specific responses. The original topic was about canceled products and I think that has been addressed. Products like the F2/F4/F5 have been replaced by the F11/F22/F44 and the F70 by the Patriot. I suspect the CZ3D is getting canceled because it doesn't sell. It's an expensive hand-built detector that has low margins. FTP has 3 metal detector brands but one engineering dept. At least in that respect, it is not a disjointed effort. I have designed products for all 3 brands. [History: The old George Payne Teknetics bought the Bounty Hunter brand and released some new BH detectors (Big Bud & others) until the whole thing went bankrupt. John Turner of El Paso (of Jetco and Techna brands) bought the BH/Tek assets and produced BH detectors. This is where BH got its reputation as being crap. Eventually FTP bought BH/Tek and cleaned up BH quality and reintroduced the Tek brand. The intent was that BH would be sold through big box stores and Tek through more traditional dealers. FTP then bought Fisher, primarily for the utility locators. Fisher quality was also crap and FTP cleaned that up. FTP continues to make products under all 3 brands as they still have different sales channels. In some cases they share circuits and software, in some cases not.] The Fisher web site is an embarrassment. A few years ago it was professionally redesigned but never published. I just checked, the new design is still sitting there so I don't know why it has not been published. The new one looks pretty nice. Yes, the new 12" 00 coil was designed for a new detector model which has been in development for several years. I haven't heard anything about it in quite a while. There have been suggestions that "all we need to do" is revamp the CZ, digitize it, add wireless, make it waterproof, improve deep iron ID, faster target recovery, and add blendy-bleedy audio. That's called "a completely new design." FTP has been working on new multifrequency projects for many years but I don't know what is currently happening there. On processor speed, processors have been fast enough for quite some time. Target recovery response is a strong function of the filter implementation (some in analog, some in DSP) and how the audio is processed. I recall back in the day when I used an XLT... target separation wasn't bad for those days but I found the menus to be sluggish. Then the DFX came along with double the processor speed. The menus were sure snappy, but target separation was the same. I'm sure they used the same filter and audio algorithms. It's a matter of recognizing what needs to be done (fast recovery) and designing the filters that will do it. Back then fast recovery wasn't on the radar but depth was, and there is some trade-off between the two. This is pulling from another thread, but I saw the well-deserved feedback on the new GB2. Yes, it was done because the weird ground pot went obsolete. I had 2 proposals; first, replace the weird pot with a normal 10-turn pot and keep making the GB2 more-or-less as-is. Meanwhile, design an all-new GB3 with a digital back-end, auto tracking, and wireless. A co-worker and myself even built a prototype that worked pretty well but needed the usual polishing effort. It failed to generate any interest. Currently I am not involved in any hobby detector design except for the Impulse, and that is not my primary focus (it's security products). Like everyone else here, I can also see what is happening, just like I did at White's. I have no delusions about where we are at and where we need to get to. Like at White's, it's particularly frustrating that I work here and can do nothing about it. Whatever happens will happen. But I will say we are not intentionally driving for Tesoro Cliffs. [Addendum about White's: When I was at White's I could see clearly that there was no planned succession beyond Ken's funeral, other family members sure weren't the answer. There was some discussion on an employee buyout but it fizzled and by the time I left the writing on the wall was in large bold font. A once-stable Engineering dept. became a revolving door of new faces and no continuity of knowledge. The company was set up to fail, and the plan succeeded.]

MF with 5 frequencies is what I heard.

I had a GTI2500 a long time ago. I used it once relic hunting with the 12.5 imaging coil, it's the only detector that has ever injured me. It was so heavy that, after a 1 day hunt, my shoulder had a sharp searing pain and I could barely sleep that night. However, at the time (15 yrs ago or more) it was the deepest all-metal mode detector I had ever used. Disc mode, not as impressive. I eventually sold it. I had, and still have, the 2-box attachment for it. I remember testing it and not being very impressed with it. The best 2-box I've used is the TM-808, which is probably a rarity now that White's has closed. It's one of the few models I think Garrett should strongly consider producing. A better choice for void detection is the Discovery TF900. Good luck finding one of those.

FBS is the same as BBS. V3 MF was never patented. I doubt Apex used BBS tech. The rumor is*, NM named it the Lightning because, instead of a vibrate option, it has a conductive handle that delivers an electric shock when you go over a good target. Especially noticeable when hunting in salt water. *Because I'm starting the rumor.

I don't think it's heat build-up, one unit failed on a cold start-up. I think is a bad solder joint on a chip where thermal cycling eventually breaks the connection and... pfzzt.

I'll tell you what I know, which ain't much. I have no idea how an AQ ended up in India, maybe FTP sent it or maybe he got it through some back channel. But that YouTube channel isn't run by FTP, someone else created it. Also, the website & Facebook page Steve mentions don't belong to FTP. I'm pretty sure the website belongs to Alexandre. A problem has developed with the AQ Ltd in that a voltage regulator has burned out in 3 customer units. Production is suspended until the problem is identified and corrected. They wanted El Paso people to do the analysis but that has not yielded any results so I'm hopeful Alexandre & I will get some material to analyze. Meanwhile, the mechanical design has been changed to eliminate the external battery pack and put the batteries in the tube. Probably when the AQ goes back in production it will be with this scheme and the Ltd will be done. I agree, this whole thing has been poorly executed. Sorry, wish it had been different. Wishing is about all I can do these days.

The 16V limit applied to the TDI, some people probably assumed the SL was the same. They are different designs. The FQT7N10 are FET transistors, used as reverse battery protection. Unfortunately I see they have a max voltage of 25V. It is not an easy matter to find a higher voltage rating, but would be easy to hack the board to reduce the voltage by splitting R41. It will require some documentation and photos and my SL is indisposed at the moment. Meanwhile, anyone intending to run the SL above 20V I recommend swapping some caps. They are: C2, C4, C5, C8: 1000uF@35V C33, C34, C35: 100uF@35V These are probably SMT and are buggers to get off. There are a couple of 16V caps in the audio stage but they are on a regulator that maintains 11.2V regardless of battery. I did that so audio volume remains the same if you use a bigger battery.

The original TDI was limited to a max battery voltage of 16V. I designed the SL so it could take 20V and will probably be OK up to 25V. That's the rating of the power supply caps and anyone not comfortable running caps all the way to their rating (I'm not) can swap them out for 35V caps. The next limitation are the voltage regulators which have a max rating of 30V.

As I recall, XP was the first to have integrated wireless headphones in the GoldMaxx. They were/are proprietary. White's was second, also proprietary. Then Garrett, proprietary again. Minelab's first wireless was also proprietary. And the non-integrated AirHeads were also proprietary. All this because e.g. Bluetooth of the day had too much latency. There was no other way to do it. Then CSR introduced Bluetooth with AptX-LL which has low enough latency to work with detectors. Minelab adopted this in their new wireless. I think some others have as well. And the latest BT 5.2 has an integrated low-latency audio that beats even AptX-LL. So I expect going forward detectors will move to BT 5.x. Meanwhile, those old detectors with proprietary wireless are what they are, and there's no fixing them.

If you still have a problem with disc shift then a worn pot can definitely cause that in the Tejon design.

It's not a "4.7," it's a "Y.7." This means it's pre-release beta software. The only released version was 1.0, there were no updates.

White's wireless HPs use a proprietary comms protocol. Nothing else will work.

I wish I weren't the only person at FTP reading this thread.

GB = 50k (I've also seen 10k) Sens = 100k Thresh = 100k Disc1/2 = 100k VCO - don't know that one. Pots are often marked, you may have to pull them to see the markings.

You can't change the password without help from the "factory." Since the factory is closed, that's now either Garrett or Todd Marshall. I'd put my money on Todd.

I know how to create new programs, but you are correct. It's not top secret, it's Top Secret. Shhhh, don't tell anyone!

If you know how to create a new program, then you know how to get Top Secret access. 😉

I could tell you how to do it but it's Top Secret.

Quite honestly, I have no idea.

What's an FZ-12?

My input often counts for very little around here, but at least I managed to convince them to put the clevis in the middle of the coil. The original 11" DD was designed to look cool (although to some people it looks awful) and not for functionality. Hopefully the 12" is a step in the right direction. The slight wedge-shape is again an unnecessary attempt at aesthetics but fortunately doesn't seem to create any problems. I gotta say, I took it into the surf and it was hands-down the easiest coil I've ever pushed through the water.