kac

Only bronze coin I had on hand was a usa large cent and also tested with a seated dime. GB the machines in area of testing. Put 3 nails on brick separated by a block of wood  and discriminated out the iron then put one coin directly below to test.

Gold Racer would give a broken signal with stock coil in disc 1. In all metal mode you could tell there was multiple targets but not enough to stop you in tracks.

Apex with 9" ultimate got iron only

Cibola with 8x9, picked both coins out but would break on tone in one direction.

Tejon with 5x10 wide scan would hit in one direction but very broken in another. Tejon with 8x9 hit target well in both directions, little broken in one direction.

D2 9" was iron only in 14 khz range and 40 khz range. X,Y screen would indicate multiple targets. Not sure if I would dig that though, usually hesitant on the speghetti lines but still new at the machine.

Like I suspected the concentrics did better of the machines I tested.

34 minutes ago, ysabxe said:

Everything is in comparison but important thing how MD eleminates ground... Most clear places already hunted... Old vilages whe peoole leaved always have many small iron peaces in the ground (MDs even not sounding on them). You think you have good separation to find interesting stuff? Just try to place small peaces of rusted iron on the ground or brick (see test)... and smile, your MD will not see even medium size coin on 3" (no mater what freq. you chose) 

Depends on the machine and where the phase is split between ground and target discriminators. Some machines have agressive settings making them easy to coin shoot and do general detection but can mask out easily while others are able to detect below desireable target range ie minerals.

Extremely high frequency machines with very sensitive coils can make detecting for coins and relics exhausting when there are large concentrations of targets.

I see in one your videos you tested against the Orx with 9" HF coil. that machine in particular with that particular coil masks out terrible around iron. I had one and got rid of it as thin iron would make only the phase meter jump and machine didn't any iron response around rust. As a coin shooter and jewerly machine its nice but not for relic or old sites.

I recently got the D2 and it does not have that issue, nor does my Tesoro's, Multi Kruzer, AT Pro, Apex or Gold Racer.

All of those with DD coil will respond to iron over other targets so if there was a nail over a silver there is a good chance the silver will not be heard and only the iron. This is not fault of the machines but just DD coils in general. Again Concentric coils don't have that issue.

Tesoro's used coplaner concentric and DD (wide scan). They also used much lower frequencies. High frequency machines will push high conductors up close and give the user less of a gamut between targets in that range. High frequency machines also give a wide gamut on low conductors which can give the user a more finite discrimination at the lower end towards iron. In general the lower frequency machines are easier to do coin and most jewlery hunting. Concentric coils have a less directional signal which tends to blend targets allowing the user to use threshold discrimination to trim out the lower signal revealing higher conductors. This only works within reason and obviously can't toss a rail road spike over a trime and expect to pick it out with any IB machine but is effective when there is high iron contamination, halos from rust in the ground and small flat iron like old tinned can pieces.

Monte's success was more due to using concentric coils over dd's where you can trim out iron from higher conductors. Tesoro's have always been good at that.

DD coils and in particular smaller and eliptical offer better separation in high trash areas over smothering round dd's.

90khz would probably be too ground sensitive. In the areas I hunt hot rocks and coal would be the issue. The depth of the machine is determined by the power of the machine and coil design. Good relic frequency ranges are 5-30khz range, more ground noise the lower frequency makes it easier to discern targets from it. Many early nugget machines were in the lower frequencies.

10 hours ago, D&P-OR said:

This is a perfect example of "it doesn't pay to get frustrated"!

Ever see the size screws they use inside an iPhone....

Late posting here but when things are held down with mounting tape you can use fishing line to split it from the part. Just slip along an edge and work it back and forth like a saw, take your time.

Changed the battery in my iPhone and hear ya on the reality that it isn't always as easy as people say.

Been using the rechargeable lithium 9v as well as aa's. Have had the aa's going on 6 years now, they look like hell but still run good.

Silver base it should id like silver on your machine, gold would be much lower in the aluminum range and gold that does not have copper in it or very small gold can be below a nickel. All the chains and chain pieces I have found have been in the foil range including chunky 10's

Again do a scraping and acid test if it looks solid.

Silver jewelry isn't typically gold plated.

Acid test and scraping to see if it was plated is best option. 92.5% could be 18k gold.

Any scrapes on the chain to show if it was plated? Never know if they put the wrong clasp on or not.

Also toss it under your detector and see if it chimes in under a us nickel or up near coppers.

925 is a purity mark.

Found this puttering around an old park, wasn't very deep and happened to be near a junk brass ring so I thought this was a clunker too and just chucked it in my pouch.

Ring is silver, no hallmark on it, probably worn off.

PD ends fit really tight, almost too tight. I have the plain pointer but no diving coil. Even changing the protective sleeve is hard to do.

As for the Gold Racer control box leaking I am not surprised. I had a flaw where the spru enters the gate on the mold that had some suckback from injection molding as there was a screw post inside causing the thick wall. When demolded this can cause a fracture. Took me forever to figure out where the leak was. Thought it was were the connector was, then the seal, then where the panel was as i saw dirt under the pad.

Tried to get replacement parts but None seemed available. This panel is the same on Anfibio and Gold Kruzer. If you plan on dunking and never have before bit of packing tape over that area should prevent it from drowning.

I ended up repairing with a slury of abs and acetone so its good to go now.

I find myself second guessing targets with VDI machines more than analog. VDI are nice for coin shooting but for relic hunting I hunt more by size, depth and threshold break to get an idea of the target. Of course hunting mid and low conductors in in high trash areas can be a daunting task with analog machines.

It's actually the coil that unmasks a higher conductor out from a lower conductor. I have 2 machines that can reveal a trime 6" below an old iron nail. Old BH 505 and my Tejon with 8x9 concentric.

Nice job getting rid of those pull tabs for the other guys :)

Thin chains can be tricky as there is a limited range that most machines will detect them.

Sounds like the chain your looking for is pretty beefy and should be between foil and nickel range. If it's balled up it's easy, if it's strung out it could be a little trickier.

Most waterproof machines should work fine. 20 years ago is a big span in time and hopefully someone didn't beat ya to it and find it already.

Raider coils depth isn't much more than the vipers depth. Viper coil is a very good general purpose coil. Ultimate 9 is a little better than the viper on silvers but has less separation. I use the 9 for woods hunting where there is a lot of underbrush and the round coil is easier to work in those conditions.

I would choose the Reaper over the Superfly as it is more robust and probably edges it out a little on depth but has a little more coverage. Good choice for the wide open areas. As for weight the Reaper isn't that bad and you can always shorten the shaft up a bit.

I had a Superfly fail on my Multi Kruzer at the connector. The connector is plastic and works itself loose. ended up resoldering and sealing it but not that confident in the coil anymore.

I also had a Nel Big fail internally as well as a Mars Tiger fail internally. The cables don't show any signs of damage. Putting pressure from end to end on them does not give them a spark of life. Both those failed on the Rx side. My guess is they have a cap inside on a board that died.

Lastly the Reaper has Garretts warranty behind it so any issues can be quickly resolved.

Only one hole on top so probably not a plate but more of a tag?

Looks like it's enamaled filled.

8 hours ago, IdahoPeg said:

The most I could make out is HOFF…not enough to go on🙁

Isn't that always the way? :)

6 hours ago, karlchick said:

FYI, here is the notice on Regtons website:

It has been brought to our attention that NEL coils for Apex units have a small glitch that’s unlikely to affect many users however it’s there. In MS mode ONLY the ability to detect larger high conductive targets is diminished or non-existent, large Silver targets are affected however Gold is not affected, this will only affect saturated salt, wet sand users, as that is the only place you would use that mode. For this reason, we have reduced the price of these coils to reflect.

Are you saying it iron wraps where large silver sounds like iron?

I have 3 coils on my Apex. Stock Viper, Ultimate 9 and Reaper.

Of those coils the viper has best separation with fair depth and very good stability. My first viper had an issue and Garrett replaced it right away.

Ultimate 9' has slightly more depth and handles coin spills and does not iron wrap.

Reaper coil is only a little bit deeper than the other 2 coils. Handles the salt like a champ and even pretty stable in some of the crappy iron infested grounds. It isn't quite as good on small targets as the Viper but is a good coil for open fields for coin and relic hunting. Downside is it is bit heavy so I end up swinging it closer to my feet.

Recently I picked up a Viper to replace the stock coil on my AT Pro and to compare those the depth is nearly the same, Viper is slightly hotter so I found I need to drop the sensitivity on it just a bit where the stock coil I could run flat out. Viper is also slightly less sensitive to small targets, ie chains. Few targets finds from quick hunt other day. Chain is white gold, pendant near clad is plated junk.

Snag the 6x9 coil for that legend and do some jewelry hunting. Should do well.

HH

Looks like there is text around the rim on one end. Might be able to look that up.

Thought Garrett only had a 2 year warranty. Good to know they upped it to 3 years.

Best thing is toss them an email and they will answer that.

Legend is a good choice if you do any salt water hunting or water hunting for that mater. My Kruzer sprung a leak, I was able to repair the machine, replaced the internal battery but it leaked again. Turned out to be on the front panel where the keypad rubber meets the acrylic face. Something to be aware of. I believe the Legend housing is bit more refined and haven't heard of any leaks on that.

I still use my MK but just on land for coin shooting for the most part.

One note though, if your Kruzer or Anfibio battery seems to run out faster than it did when new make sure the thermal sensor is on tight against the battery. I had to wipe down the outside of the battery housing with IPA until it wasn't greasy and put the sensor on and secured it with clear packing tape.

Worked then died sounds like something died on the board, probably a cap.

You may find one for sale cheaper than service can get you a new control box but might not hurt to ask.

Best bet is contact Nokta for replacement if reset doesn't work. I don't believe Nokta has any real repair in the USA. No idea what it will cost but they should be able to tell you.