mh9162013

Thanks, but I did that re-calibration when I first got my F-Pulse and it made no noticeable difference.

I did a little more tinkering around and I have started to notice that my TRX will sometimes get "stuck" like phrunt described. It usually happens indoors and after I've brought the TRX close to a large metal object. Most of the time when I move the TRX away, the pinpointer stops beeping and vibrating. But sometimes, it'll continue when I pull the TRX away from the target. To stop the TRX from being stuck, I can quickly press the button to retune/detune the TRX. Also, sometimes just moving or pointing the TRX in a particular direction will stop the full on beeping and vibrating. However, this is usually an indoor thing and it's easily remedied my the retune/detune. I'm going to do more testing outside, but from the limited outdoor testing so far, this isn't as big of a problem (the getting stuck). EDIT: I did some brief air testing outside as well as inside. When I swung around the TRX like I was doing inside, I noticed the "stuck" issue and some EMI/EFE falsing just as if I were inside. But when using the TRX in the dirt to find a target, it's basically the perfect little pinpointer. So I came inside, turned on my TRX and starting looking for my metal pipes and nails in my floor. When doing this, the TRX worked perfectly; no falsing, no getting stuck, no nothing and I could find the metal in my floors consistently and without issue. I used my F-Pulse after to confirm my TRX's findings. But then, when I lifted up the TRX to point up, or I stood up and pointed around my TRX, I got the falsing. So this potentially explains a lot. As I mentioned before, I'll do more testing, but it looks like I'm finally getting a better understanding of the TRX's fickleness and why some people seem to never have a problem with it while others do.

Sounds like a valid theory! I was thinking earlier today about the Garrett re-releasing the TRX and I still don't think that's gonna happen. Then I thought about what the Garrett Carrot 2 might look like and I figured it might be a TRX in the Garrett Carrot's body. But then I thought about what Carl said about EFE and how certain types of tech in pinpointers tend to be more sucepctible to EFE. I have concluded (possibly incorrectly) that Garrett won't make a TRX-like pinpointer b/c what makes the TRX so good is also what makes it so annoying. One of the great things about the Garrett Carrot is its consistency in terms of dependability and performance. It's not the most sensitive to coin-size targets and it's not the best on gold. It's not the best for saltwater beaches and it doesn't have the best ratcheting or closing range. But it's a solid performer. So by turning the Garrett Carrot 2 into a TRXv2, you lose a lot of that. I think this "trust" shouldn't be disregarded. One of the reasons I'm still reluctant to replace my F-Pulse with the TRX is b/c of the TRX's apparent ficklenss. It reminds me about military equipment. Yes, the private sector will often have tools that perform better. But they won't have the robustness that military-grade equipment will have. I will do more testing with the TRX before I make a final decision...

The thought has crossed my mind...😄

I've watched some official White's Youtube videos showing the TRX and they recommend always turning it on with the tip touching the soil.

Stories like these make me thing that the issues many people have with the TRX (or any other pinpointer) are due to differences in production. Whether it's a discrepancy in the production process or the company modifies the product, I'm beginning to think there are at least two versions of the TRX, just like there are two versions of the Fisher F-Pulse.

The TRX is also able (on 3 sensitivity) to pick up a few small peices of gold while the F-Pulse on medium sensitivity can't. Of course, I'm not a prospector, but I guess it's good to know that ability is there with the TRX.

From my extensive Youtube research between the TRX and Mi-6 or Mi-4, it appears that the Mi-4/6 pinpointers are the only ones that have a closing range or ratecheting ability that rivals the TRX. As for sensitivity to small items, I can't comment on either except to say the TRX does very well on coins (no surprise there, though).

Keep in mind that I'm testing the F-Pulse on medium sensitivity because using it on max means it bottoms out or overloads when even a coin-sized target is still relatively far away, so it's a worthless setting to me.

I don't have any salt water beaches nearby, but I believe you in that the F-Pulse will be better suited for saltwater beach hunting over the TRX. And that's another reason to potentially keep the F-Pulse over the TRX b/c I hope to hunt beaches some day... As for running my TRX in my mineralized soil, I'm pretty sure that retuning/detuning the TRX when I pressed the button while the tip was toucing the soil (or turning it on with the tip touching the soil) dramatically reduced the range. When I was doing indoor testing the other day, #4 sensitivity on the TRX falsed a lot, so I was constantly retuning/detuning it to quiet it down. And when I did, I noticed a 0.5 to 1 inch loss in overall detection range. However, even with this reduced range, it was often still better than my F-Pulse in not just overall ratcheting ability, but maximum detection range, too.

I did some hunting today with the TRX and F-Pulse in my heavily mineralized clay soil. Both falsed slightly on the clay, although the TRX moreso. But both were easily quieted down by quickly pressing the button with the tips touching the clay soil. After quieting down, the TRX showed noticeably more detecting range (but nothing O-M-G worthy) and still smoked the F-Pulse when it came to total closing or ratcheting range. However, when I did these outdoor tests/hunts, the TRX was on #4 sensitivity and the F-Pulse was on medium sensitivity.

I have yet to do extensive hunting with the TRX, but its "detects at the tip" feature seems to be useful, although it might take a few hunts to fully get used to.

Thanks to @GB_Amateur, I am now the proud owner of a TRX and I compared it to my trusty F-Pulse. A picture is worth 1,000 words. Also, I have beautiful penmanship and I'm just looking for a way to show it off, so please enjoy the following pic. Legend: F-Pulse B = When the F-Pulse "bottomed out" or "overloaded." This means the pinpointer vibrated and beeped at its maximum level and stayed that way even if the pinpointer was brought closer to the 9V battery. This is the point when your pinpointer can't tell you if you're any closer to your target. TRX B = When the TRX bottomed out or overloaded. #F-Pulse = When the F-Pulse consistently first started going off on the 9V battery target. *TRX = The closest point when the TRX first started going off on the 9V battery target. !TRX = The furthest point when the TRX first started going off on the 9V battery target. A few notes: The dead 9V battery was used as a target. The TRX was on #3 sensitivity level and the F-Pulse was on medium sensitivity. Both were on virbrate + beep. The TRX smoked the F-Pulse, but I'm still not sure which I'll keep. The F-Pulse feels a lot more substantial and robust. Plus, that gasket on the TRX seems...untrustworthy. The TRX's max range varied a bit. The max ranage varied b/w the *TRX and ! TRX tick marks. The distance b/w TRX B and *TRX or !TRX is its closing or ratcheting range, and quite the range it has! I knew it was good in this respect and it did not disappoint.

Update: Did some more testing with 2xAA Eneloops and it seems like the TRX is a smidge more stable, but not by that much. It does seem that the variations in max detection range is a little less pronouced, but it could just be because my neighbor turned off his cordless telephone, who knows. So the bottom line is that my TRX doesn't lock up like phrunt's. But I do observe the EFE and experience inconsistent performance when it comes to overall detection range. However, the maxing out point, aka: overloading point, remains consistent, though.

I just got a TRX (used) and it's really fickle. I did some testing inside my house with an alkaline 9V battery and oh boy, it seems sensitive to EMI, as its performance will depend on what room I'm in. But below are some general observations. As expected, max sensitivity (4) is twitchy as heck. On 3 sensitivity, it's fairly stable. It might twitch a tad if I hold it up or move the probe around, but nothing that prevents it from being useful or being too annoying. This observation also exists on 2 sensitivity. But what's most interesting is that inconsistency I get from the max detecting range. Depending on my EMI conditions, the TRX will detect a copper penny anywhere from 2 to 2.75 inches away. Every time I turn it off or turn it on, I get a different reading. And sometimes, when I turn on the TRX, it gets twitchy and I press the button once and it calms down. But after I do that, the TRX only detects a penny (on 3 sensitivity) roughly 2 to 2.5 inches away. So this "retuning" will prevent the TRX from getting its max range. However, when the TRX "bottoms out" is almost always the same, with the max vibrate and sound pulse occuring within the same 2 mm window. But the max detecting range of that copper penny can vary by about 20 mm. I'll do some more testing with AA eneloop batteries soon and see if I get different results. So far, I really like the TRX's closing range. But I don't care for the inconsistent performance, where often, 3 sensitivity will have less overall detection range of a copper penny than my Fisher F-Pulse on medium sensitivity. And yes, that F-Pulse will have some variation in its performance, but its the variations are small.

So why do some pinpointers do that while others don't (even though they're the same model)? Slight differences in the Earth's magentic field and the pinpointer itself? I remember Steve saying that it's really hard to consistently manufacture coils on a mass scale.

Sounds worse than I thought. I just couldn't fathom the idea of a company increasing the prices of almost decades old machines. But I guess if the cost of production go up that much, there's no other option. But then again, some of them were overpriced to begin with...

Wait, what?

This is a tricky question, b/c what Garrett lists as the AT Pro's MSRP is way too high. Based on what else is available, the AT Pro is probably a $250-$300 machine. But Garrett doesn't price it that way. So most sellers try to sell it used for $400-$450 (or so). On the one hand, it's what the market will bare. But keep in mind that what the market will bare isn't the same as being able to sell something rather quickly. For example, if I listed a used Equinox 600 for sale right now, I could probably get $450 shipped for it. But it might take several months to sell. But if I listed it for $350 shipped, I'd sell it in a few days. If your friend wants to sell his AT Pro within a few weeks, he should expect to get $300 to $350, in my opinion (based on what I see listed and selling on Facebook). And this assumes it's a basic, stock set up with maybe the MS-2 headphones. If he's willing to wait a few months for someone to come along who doesn't understand metal detectors (which is a lot of buyers), I think he could get $400 to $450. Please note these estimates are for selling a machine in person, for cash. Oh, and the 20 hours of use? Means little. What matters is that it's no longer under warranty and whether or not it works properly. I bought an AT Max used with less than 8 hours of run time on it. Didn't work properly after using it for just a few hours. I also bought a brand new, never used AT Pro and it didn't work properly either.

Then my Pro-Find 35, when I had it, was acting abnormally, b/c it didn't do that at all.

According to the TRX manual, it should be able to run off of NiMH AA cells. And b/c Eneloops are some of the best consumer-grade AA NiMHs readily available, I imagine they should work. If it's worth anything, Eneloops work just as well in my F-Pulse as alkalines...and didn't Geotech design that pinpointer, too?

Oh, I get that. But remaking the wheel is a lot easier than reinventing the wheel. So taking the V3i's hardware and software, then updating it to take advantage of modern tech would, presumably, be a lot easier than starting from scratch. However, it seems like w/e advantages that V3i had are not big enough to warrant such an investment. Assuming this is true (and I believe it is, based on what you, Geotech and others have said), it must mean that w/e tech the Apex is based off of shows greater potential than w/e tech the V3i used. So that tells us a lot right there. It also might hint at what's next from Minelab. Specifically, we probably won't see an FBS3 machine and instead will see an MIQ2 machine or something completely different that none of us have seen yet. I'm gonna lean towards an MIQ2 machine, though.

Those are relatively very easy fixes. So I'm wondering what's taking Garrett so long to release an updated V3i. Must be a financial rather than an engineering decision...

Where were these observations made?

In my area, the higher the GB number (on the Equinox or AT Max) the hotter the soil and the more likely I'll get falsing with my pinpointer.