Shenandoah Digger

Totally agree with you. If First Texas produced an F19 Turbo, where you could turn up the sensitivity to the point of being unstable, I'd buy one in a minute.

I've owned an original Fisher F19 with the elliptical coil since they were released. I guess I've owned a hundred detectors or more starting with a Relco in 1969. The F19 is still a very capable detector, and ID's at its full depth. I've found as many relics with the F19 as I have with all my others combined, simply because I like using it. And I can give it to a first timer after a few minutes instruction and they will be successful. It also does fairly well in mineralized ground if you know the machine. I bought a Time Ranger Pro recently and am glad I did. Neither is the deepest detector you can buy, but their ID is accurate throughout their depth range. I picked up an Xterra Pro Friday from Cabela's. It's a lot of machine for the money, as is the Quest X10 Pro and the Simplex, among others. I've owned all the Xterras over the years and love the tones of the Minelabs. The Pro has a lot of great features and I'm sure it will be a good performer. I own a convenience store/deli and talk relic hunting with a lot of my customers. Many ask me what to buy as first time relic hunters. The Pro is not the answer. There's just too much to learn there for a first timer, and would probably end up in a closet in short order. It's a fairly advanced machine.

My first detector was a Jetco Treasure Hawk that I got for Christmas in 1969. Found tons and tons of junk with it down to about 2 inches. Got me hooked though. I bought that Ground Hawk about 20 years ago and I'm not sure if you ever tried that one. Nice machine and I should have kept it, but I traded it for a camo Fisher F19; by far the best relic machine I've ever used, and I've used most of them.

Back in 2007 I heard of a guy in Tennessee named Ken Ray who owned an electronics shop and built his own detector, called a Ground Hawk. I called and talked to him and decided to order one. It was similar looking to a Fisher 1266 but was much lighter and well balanced. It was a relic hunting demon. I took it to an organized hunt in Culpeper, Va. where the ground is difficult for all VLF machines. I was able to dig many CW bullets and a few buttons down to 8 or 9 inches, and the machine reported them as non-ferrous. Of course like a dummy I sold or traded it in a few years for something else I wanted to try, because that's what dummies do. And Ken's been out of business for years and they are impossible to find. I sure hope someone appreciated mine more than I did.

I'm from Virginia and contacted them through their website. I had a lady there email me in the middle of the night (daytime for them) and said to send it in and they would repair it. I sent it in and a few weeks later they sent me a Q40 box with all new ingredients. Everything. Can't do better than that.

I traded for a Q40 a few years ago. When I got it, it wouldn't ground balance. I contacted Quest and was told to send the control box and the coil in for repair. In a few weeks they sent me a brand new detector, with an additional coil. Nice people to deal with and they responded quickly. Last spring I ordered an X10 Pro for my grandson to use in the water. When I saw how well it worked, I had to get one for myself. It's my ride along. I would use it anywhere and not feel like I was at a huge disadvantage. All for $199. I don't have plans for a Deus II or a Manticore, but I'm sure I'll buy a V80. Whatever you've heard about Quest, I can tell you they make good detectors. They're not just First Texas copies. Not even close.